Heather Oliver

Brand Director

Heather is originally from Missouri aka the Show Me State, but you might as well consider her a native North Carolinian because she’s been here since she was 10. Her parents moved from the Ozarks to Clemmons to escape the Navarro cartel—just kidding! Heather’s life in Missouri was nothing like what the Byrde’s experienced, but she does love the show Ozark (clearly). Her Ozark days were mostly spent jumping hay bales, playing in creeks, and exploring the countryside with her family.

Fast forward to 1998. Heather always had an appreciation for beautiful hair and makeup. As fate would have it, she landed a receptionist gig at a local hair salon in Winston-Salem, where she went on to become Front Desk Manager and Assistant Manager of the salon. She spent over 10 years there before pursuing a career that could better facilitate her passion and talent for writing and design.

After leaving the salon, she moved into the publishing industry, where she worked for a national motorcycle magazine for 13 years. She has since worked in the internet and payment technology fields, evolving as a writer/editor, content creator, SEO, and marketer.

Interestingly enough, the salon Heather previously worked at was where she met Alkali owner and CEO Amber Woodall, who also worked there as a stylist. Even after they both left, the two always kept in touch. In fact, Heather hopped back into beauty part-time after over a decade-long stretch and began freelancing for Alkali in 2019.

About five years later, and with another twist of fate, Heather officially joined the Alkali team full-time as Brand Director—and she couldn’t be happier at her new work home. Now she gets to use her skills in an industry she enjoys, has an incredible team, and gets to work for a person she loves and respects—win-win.

Heather’s current favorite hairstyle is long to mid-length hair with long layers and a pumpkin or red hue—she was born a flaming redhead after all. But she was a platinum blonde for many years and loved it, so that look is a close second.

Her worst hairstyle was when she just had to get a perm in middle school. It wasn’t that the perm itself was bad, but she hated how it looked. The saying “careful what you wish for because you just might get it” applies here. Live and learn, right?

When she’s not working, Heather spends most of her time writing songs (she’s a Hip Hop artist!), fiction, poetry, and developing mods for her favorite games. She’s totally obsessed with Skyrim and Starfield, but occasionally takes a break to play Fallout 4 and games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Horizon Zero Dawn, or Hogwart’s Legacy. Yeah, she’s a total fantasy nerd!

Heather is borderline obsessed with learning! She continually invests in deepening her knowledge and expertise in beauty, marketing, and all things content. She even took a cyber security course recently just for fun (yes, really). Here's just a few of her qualification highlights.

• 14+ years of cumulative experience on the administration and marketing side of the beauty industry

• Salon Today's Data-Driven Conference 2024​
  Oribe retail training 2024
  Davines product training 2024
  Environ product training 2024
  Back of Bottle product training 2024
  Trained on Aveda and Phyto retail (many moons ago)

• 15 years of professional writing and editing experience
  Bachelor of Science in Professional and Technical Writing

• 13 years of editorial design experience

• 8 years of  experience in online content creation, SEO, and marketing
  Technical SEO Certification 2024 | Semrush Academy​
  The Craft of Mobile SEO Certification 2024 | Semrush Academy
  SEO and SEO II Certifications 2023| HubSpot Academy
  Content Marketing Certification 2017, 2023| HubSpot Academy
  Advanced Google Analytics Certification 2019 | Google Academy
  Inbound Marketing Certification 2017 | HubSpot Academy