I have brunette hair and am looking to go blonde

So to be clear, time and money do not matter. I could even cut my hair short if that makes it easier.

So some back ground info-

I did highlights in High-school (2016) and absolutely hated the way they looked on me.

So in 2019 I decided I wanted to go blonde. That salon bleached my hair and colored it in one session and I was good to go, besides root touch ups. I absolutely loved it. And had it blonde for a year or two. Ended up letting it grow out and go back to natural color. But missed the blonde. However by that time the salon closed and moved out of state so I had to look for a new place.

This next line of events was two years ago. I told the stylist my past experience and that I wanted all over blonde. She told me that what my old stylist did was horrible and I was lucky to not have damaged my hair. She also said that it’s never done that way, and that the only way you’re supposed to do it is with balayage/highlights. When I told her I don’t like the way I look with that she said I’d love how she did it. Well I didn’t (I cried in her chair) and she told me it’ll look closer to all over blonde with my second appointment and to trust the process. So I did. And the second time it still looked no where near the all over blonde. So she swore the third time it be as blonde as I wanted. Third time, nope, still looked brown with blonde highlights. I kept going but eventually stopped as it never got close to looking the way I wanted it and it felt like wasting money when it was just making me hate the way I look.

I still really miss the blonde, but I am kind of fun shy of going to a salon again now. Not just because I didn’t get what I wanted, but because I felt like I couldn’t trust her.

So I’m coming here to ask,

Is there truly no other way than Balayge/highlights to go from brunette to all over blonde? As I said money isn’t an issue and if it takes multiple appointments I’m fine with that. I’ll even chop my hair short if that would somehow make the process better/easier. And if there is another way how do I make it clear to whatever salon I try next what I am looking for? Also how do I make sure my stylist and I are on the same page?

I’m not picky, and if I can’t have something exactly the way I want it that’s fine. If I can’t even get it close I’ll do something different and am down for recommendations. (Because I understand at the end of the day there really is only so much a stylist can do and hair is so different between people) But I also would prefer the stylist to be upfront about everything too, even if they think I’m not going to like it. And that’s probably what upset me most with the last one, was she swore it would look extremely similar to what I wanted every-time and it never did even look a little close.

I’d really appreciate some insight on this. Thank you!

Also if there’s a safe way for me to do it myself I’m game for that too, just not sure how I’d do it, as I’ve only ever box died it black and that was in middle school.