Who could forget Michelle Obama's hair on the night of the Democratic National Convention? For hair watchers like myself, there was pride -- awe, even. That hair?! It was shiny, it was bouncy. It was laid. That crown, my dears, was hairstylist Johnny Wright's work.

"It really didn't register the magnitude of what I was doing," Wright says of that night Michelle Obama stepped in front of nearly 80,000 at Denver's Mile High Stadium, minutes after he styled her coif. "Until she stepped out onto the podium did I realize, 'Wow I did that!' I was really happy with it."

Wright, who has been splashed all over the news in recent days because of a reality television deal with production company 44 Blue (first reported in the Hollywood Reporter on Jan. 21), is definitely on the fast trajectory.

The native Chicagoan first worked with Michelle Obama on the set of an Essence magazine shoot in March 2007 and was called back many times afterward to do the First Lady-elect's hair. In addition to styling her hair for the Democratic National Convention, Wright also styled Mrs. Obama for her upcoming Vogue cover layout.

"It was a lot of fun," he says of the upcoming glossy's cover shot by famed photographer Annie Liebowitz. "I styled her that day and did a little trim. I typically cut Michelle's hair when it's dry. For most black women, it's best to cut when your hair is dry and straight because you can cut it at the proper length."

The smooth-skinned Midwesterner with a disarming smile and comfortable demeanor could be described as a hair prodigy. Wright started doing hair professionally (that is, for money) when he was 12 years old. He probably got his skills from his grandmother who was also a hairstylist for over 80 years.

"My grandmother said I could comb neat ponytails when I was three years old, so I guess you could say I was a little child prodigy. Age 12 was when I really decided to do it," he says. "My first hairstyle was a French bun. The first time I did it, I put way too much weave in -- but I sort of got it the third time around."

Wright says that he worked at his first salon when he was 15 years old and raised his prices from $8 a head to about $25 (today he charges significantly more). After about a year at the salon, his parents built him a work space in the basement of their house where he worked until he was 21. He worked on clients there from the time he got home from school until the wee hours of the morning each day.

After attending Dudley's Beauty College, Wright began to expand his horizons by doing hair on photo shoots, hair shows and fashion shows, and in 2005, he was tapped to do his own radio program on WVON: 'The World According to Johnny.' Wright not only talked about hair issues, but other hot topics discussed in salons -- celebrity gossip, relationship issues and current events.

After some serious introspection, Wright decided to pack it all up and move to LA to shop a TV version of his radio show. L'Oreal/Soft Sheen Carson financed the pilot, and soon Wright left over 200 clients in Chicago (many of whom fly him back frequently) for the land of sun and dreams.

"I am extremely honored and grateful for what the universe has brought to my life," Wright enthuses. "My hands have brought me this far, and I am literally able to touch history."