Emmy-Winning Hairstylist Abdiel Urcullu’s Journey to Success

This past January, Abdiel Urcullu, head hairstylist on the HBO original unscripted series We’re Here, was awarded the 2023 Emmy for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program. Then, in July, Urcullu was nominated for a 2024 Emmy award in the same category.

“We’re basically submitted for the Emmys every season. The network submits everything that they can possibly submit,” Urcullu says of the nomination and awards process. He recalls being in the workroom on a shoot for a Season 3 episode of We’re Here when the wardrobe and makeup departments discovered they had each won an Emmy for their work on Season 2. “Because it was a juried award, they got a phone call saying, ‘Congratulations, you won an Emmy. The ceremony is in two months.’”

Despite being excited for his fellow artists working on the show, Urcullu admits that it was a bit awkward when everyone who worked on making the drag queen hosts and the makeover subjects look so fierce was given awards except for those who styled hair for the show. “Then, for Season 3, I got a call while I was folding laundry,” Urcullu recalls. “It was hard to believe, and I didn’t say anything until after I found out that wardrobe also won.”

Despite being familiar with how the Emmy process had been working, the tension and anxiety are ratcheted up for the 2024 awards presentation that will be held on September 15. “This year, makeup and hair are nominated, but wardrobe is not. And now we will find out the night of,” explains Urcullu. “It’s extra-stressful because it was nice to know you had already won it. You could show up with all the confidence that it’ll be fine. It will be fine regardless, but I feel a lot more anxious about it now.”

Before he was styling wigs for a celebrated HBO series, Urcullu was teaching math and science to fourth graders in Houston while operating Wigs & Grace, his pre-styled and custom wig business, and occasionally going out in drag as his alter-ego Gloria Divina. “I’ve always been a creative person, and for me, drag was a creative outlet. I didn’t really enjoy performing,” he admits. “Local drag queens started asking me, ‘Oh, who did your hair?’ Then they started asking if they could buy my wigs!”

Even though Urcullu hadn’t realized there was a market for selling pre-styled wigs, he didn’t pass up the opportunity to become an entrepreneur—and he didn’t start his business blindly, either. “My parents have always been business owners. My grandmother on my mother’s side had a floral shop that my mom turned into a wedding shop in Mexico,” explains Urcullu. “On my father’s side, my grandmother had a jewelry store. We’ve always been business owners.”

Business for Wigs & Grace took off, and required so much of Urcullu’s time that he had to step away from teaching. “Eventually I met Kim Chi, who was on Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Urcullu says. “I did all of her package for Season 8, and she was such a good salesperson that by the end of the season, I did half of the cast’s wigs for the season finale.”

As styled wigs are fragile and very delicate, shipping them creates unique challenges for Urcullu. “Shipping most of the time is fine, but every once in a while, it’s not,” he says. “For the Season 9 finale of Drag Race, I shipped all the hair, including Sasha Velour’s ‘So Emotional’ wig, hair for Shea Couleé, and hair for quite a few of the girls.” After he had styled the wigs in Houston, they didn’t arrive as scheduled in Los Angeles. Flustered and panicked, he still delivered for his clients while also learning and evolving as an entrepreneur. “This was early on in my career. Now, I’ve learned to pad the boxes as much as I can, and not count on day-of deliveries,” Urcullu adds. “I have no control over how these boxes are treated. I know that they’re not treated well, so in addition to padding, there’s just a lot of hairspray and a prayer.”

For anyone thinking of starting their own business, Urcullu recommends that people recognize what sets them apart from their competitors and to put their unique persona into their business. “If you think you’re working a lot for someone else, just wait until you have to work for yourself. It’s never ending,” he notes. “Be prepared to pour your life into it, then get yourself a good network of friends that are willing to jump in when needed.”

Follow Wigs & Grace on Instagram at @wigsandgrace. To purchase wigs, visit wigsandgrace.com.