Interview with Alyssa Haley
Date25 March 2026
Mediumborn digital audio file
DimensionsDuration: 38 Minutes, 54 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineCommunity History Project Collection
DescriptionAudio file of interview with Alyssa Haley. She was interviewed by Paola Evangelista on March 25, 2026 over Zoom.
Alyssa Haley was interviewed as part of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History's Community History Project discussing moments of change in her life.
Alyssa Haley is an artist, cosmetologist, and small business owner based in Hartford, Connecticut, where she was born. She describes herself as a daughter, older sister, partner, wife, and artist whose life and work are deeply shaped by family, creativity, and community. Today, her work centers around her salon studio, Born and Bred, where she combines beauty services, artmaking, object transformation, and relationship-building in a space that reflects both her personal history and creative vision.
Alyssa’s most significant moments of change include letting go of the expectation that others would create spaces where she felt she belonged and instead giving herself permission to build those spaces on her own. She reflects on moving away from more conventional office work, where she felt skilled but unfulfilled, and toward cosmetology, a trade rooted in her family lineage. Through that shift, she found a way to align her labor with her values, creating a practice that brings together service, artistry, and connection.
Today, Alyssa runs her own salon and creative practice at Real Art Ways, where she has built not only a business but also a meaningful environment filled with repurposed materials. Her work extends beyond hair and makeup into preserving flowers, transforming treasured objects, and creating keepsakes that help people hold onto memory and feeling. Her story invites listeners to think about change as both an internal and external process.
Alyssa Haley was interviewed as part of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History's Community History Project discussing moments of change in her life.
Alyssa Haley is an artist, cosmetologist, and small business owner based in Hartford, Connecticut, where she was born. She describes herself as a daughter, older sister, partner, wife, and artist whose life and work are deeply shaped by family, creativity, and community. Today, her work centers around her salon studio, Born and Bred, where she combines beauty services, artmaking, object transformation, and relationship-building in a space that reflects both her personal history and creative vision.
Alyssa’s most significant moments of change include letting go of the expectation that others would create spaces where she felt she belonged and instead giving herself permission to build those spaces on her own. She reflects on moving away from more conventional office work, where she felt skilled but unfulfilled, and toward cosmetology, a trade rooted in her family lineage. Through that shift, she found a way to align her labor with her values, creating a practice that brings together service, artistry, and connection.
Today, Alyssa runs her own salon and creative practice at Real Art Ways, where she has built not only a business but also a meaningful environment filled with repurposed materials. Her work extends beyond hair and makeup into preserving flowers, transforming treasured objects, and creating keepsakes that help people hold onto memory and feeling. Her story invites listeners to think about change as both an internal and external process.
Object number2024.79.99
NotesSubject Note: The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History’s Community History Project (CHP) is a public-facing initiative, focused on contemporary collecting, gathering items of the recent past as well as from events happening today. This program developed community historians to identify, document, and preserve their experiences as residents of Connecticut, and to share these experiences during a series of community presentations. The project focused on the theme "Redefining Moments of Change." Conneticans share stories of people or events who have changed their lives or how they have sparked change in the lives of others.Cataloging Note: Digitization and access to this collection is supported by a Congressionally Directed grant through the U.S. Department of Education.
On View
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3 October 2025
10 July 2025