AMAZING STYLE IS EMPOWERING Mother-Daughter Team Claudia And Monica Diesti Help Keep Wellington Residents Looking Their Best STORY BY DEBORAH WELKY | PHOTOS BY ABNER PEDRAZA
Today, well-known local stylists Claudia and Monica Diesti work together to keep Wellington residents looking and feeling great. However, the life they are living today seems light years away from where it began. Claudia Diesti was only in her 20s when she grabbed her seven-year-old daughter Monica and whatever personal items she could carry and fled her homeland of Colombia forever. “I was in an abusive relationship and struggling through a really bad divorce,” Claudia recalled. The mother and daughter were able to stay with an aunt and uncle in Miami for a short time, but Claudia knew she had to move on. “I saw my self-esteem go down. I was not in the best place in my life,” Claudia said. “But I discovered that putting on a good appearance made me feel better about myself. When I had a good hair day, it empowered me. Empowered women feel good about themselves.” It was this realization that made her rethink her career goals. “In Colombia, I was studying to be a dentist — a different kind of beauty. But I had to quit college. When I got here, I needed a new beginning,” Claudia said. “So, I went to the Total Nails & Hair Academy in West Palm Beach to learn 26
may 2022 | wellington the magazine
to be a stylist. I learned hair cutting and coloring techniques.” Watching her mother, Monica also got interested in the beauty business. “I got interested through my mom, by watching her work,” said Monica Diesti, now an adult. “I was seven when she started to go to beauty school. She would bring the styling heads home to practice on, and I would play with them. When we moved here, we were running away from my biological father. We grabbed what we had and ran. In America, we couldn’t afford a babysitter, so sometimes she would bring me to the school with her. The owner was nice enough to let me sit on the side.” Monica always enjoyed all things art, even during her school days. “I was always very artistic,” she said. “I won art competitions in school and was always drawn to anything artistic or color creative. So that led me to want to be more of a colorist. I started out in salons just working as an assistant — doing shampoos, the laundry, making sure the salon was clean.” In the meantime, Claudia was speaking with a Realtor, looking to move to a place with the best schools for her daughter. The Realtor told her that Wellington has the best schools.