Hey, what's up everybody?

This is Robert Hughes, your host of the Hairdresser Strong show.

And I have special guests Brianne and Jessica from Darling Nikki, which is a salon in Pittsburgh.

And if you recall or if you're tuning in for the first time, this is part two of a series where we are following them in their pathway through opening the salon, launching it and what the first year is like for being a salon owner.

So welcome Brienne and Jessica, thank you so much for coming and being and having us, like sharing with us your journey along the way.

Yeah, thank you.

Absolutely.

Hi.

So, so, yeah, so like if anybody is interested in opening a salon, this is definitely the series for you.

If you are, if you're, if you're wondering how to start a salon from zero and with like no clients, like say you want to move into a new town or like, you know, a lot of city, a lot of city hairdressers think fantasize and romanticize, or fantasize is probably the right word.

Not romanticize, but fantasize about moving into a smaller town and opening up a salon.

Well, you know, if you, if you don't have any clients, it could be challenging.

And so that is like, that is the really awesome thing about what you all are doing is you all like we've established last time that you have history in the industry.

So you're not like walking into the industry with no history.

As a matter of fact, you had quite extensive history if I recall, which I'm going to ask you to like give us like the, you know, the quick kind of recap in a second of like your, your backgrounds.

But you also aren't operator.

So you did.

It's not like you're starting a salon with clientele.

And so I look forward to hearing about this.

So before we get started with your update where you're at now, let's give us give a, like, like a high level elevator on speech on your back on your background and yeah, let's start with that for each of you.

So I have been in the industry for over 20 years.

I've been working as salon, you know, front desk and then salon coordinator, salon manager.

I was managing salons for a very long time from New Jersey to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, in Los Angeles.

I opened Angus Mitchell's first salon in Beverly Hills and then was back here in Pittsburgh and this salon became available and that's how I got here.

Awesome.

I also was pulled into salons as a front desk person by Brianne.

She called me one day and she said, I'M working at this great salon.

Come.

And I needed a job, so I went and loved it.

Then my path took me to New York to do design and then it took me to San Francisco and in Seattle I found my way back into a salon.

I was at Jean Ores Salon and Spas.

I was in their home home office and also in their contact center.

So I was constantly booking clients and managing people and relishing and loving it so much.

Moved back to Michigan and then Pittsburgh and had a call from my best friend who lives five minutes away and said we're buying a salon today.

And I said that's great because I thought it was she and her partner, she met me.

I'm.

I have a salon now and here we are.

Yeah.

Awesome.

So.

So last time we talked it was.

You hadn't opened yet.

Right, right, right.

And so you, you're.

You've opened.

When was Your open date?

December 1st.

We had a big party and invited tons of people.

Had pop up shops, had fun food, purple themed drinks.

I may or may not have made people a little bit more inebriated than I planned.

Totally fine.

They were delicious.

Very strong.

She made strong drinks.

Yes, I have a heavy pour.

And then the next day we were technically open for business.

Nice.

Nice.

And so what is the status with your staff?

When we opened we had one who was.

Her name is Peyton.

She's delightful.

She was fresh out of school.

School, newly licensed, so she did not have a book.

And that was all that we had to really start with.

And we did.

We started with her and actually a stylist had heard us on Hairdresser Strong and came to our opening because she was interested in closing her sola.

She had been in a salon for a long time and then she wanted to go off on her own.

Then once was on her own realized I don't want to do all this business, I just want to do hair.

I don't love being a business owner and doing all of this.

And she was looking to get back into a salon and so she came to our opening and we met her and she was delightful.

Delightful and wonderful.

And she closed her Studio on the 30th of December and started with us on January 1st.

So that's amazing.

I'm so, so happy to hear that somebody found somebody who and didn't leave the industry.

Like my biggest concern is hair stylists go going for either greener pastures or they want to kind of step into the business realm.

And, and which I encourage everybody to do.

Just going in eyes Wide open.

However, we do know that there it's tough and it's not for everybody and but we also, the data that I have is the vast majority of people, when they go to a suite and they don't make it, they're leaving the industry completely.

You know.

So it's really, really awesome to hear that.

And a matter of fact I hope that is a trend where people say that it's okay to try something and, and say that wasn't for me but I'm not gonna like stop doing hair, you know.

So that's super awesome.

And then also it also awesome that we were able to like this, like this, this, these videos and content was able to also help you all out.

So does that mean that this person's coming in with clients?

Yeah.

Nice.

Nice.

Awesome.

And so how's the, how's the new, newer person doing the one that you started with the new as in new into the industry and new to, new to hair.

He's killing it.

Her family is so supportive.

I love them to death.

And big, big family.

She has a very big family.

A lot of they, we have them rebooked every single time.

We've got mom, stepmom, aunt, grandma, sister, brother, father.

We got them all and they're, they're fantastic.

Telling their friends and she, yeah.

So she's starting to build and of.

Course and we're following our model which is we're never going to take clients from you.

So I've got people at my part time job that I have to pay other bills and they're coming in and getting their hair done and getting rebooked.

I have someone on the books for this Wednesday that I work with.

She's, it's her turn to get another trim.

So.

Nice.

You know that just made me think of.

I had a, I worked at a salon and the one of the owners, he was, he did hair but he was like really not trying to like he wasn't interested in like building new customers per se and he was more interested in like walking around telling people to go see his people and he would go to like all these like community events.

Like he was really in like the socialite scene.

So he was going, I mean whatever the scene is, there are lots of opportunities to connect with other folks and, and, and, and, and how amazing is it to get a recommendation that isn't, you should come see me like, hey, I know the perfect person for you.

One of the people that work for me is amazingly talented and they're just for you.

It's Such a.

When you're like, I could totally do your hair.

And it's like, can you.

You know.

Yeah, I have that a lot.

It's like, oh, could you.

Are you sure?

Okay.

Yeah.

I think that's awesome.

Okay, so tell.

Okay, so you've hired some new person.

You've been open.

I also saw that you were hosting a class.

Tell us a little bit about the things that you're doing to drive traffic into the business right now.

Running a promotion, of course, because we're brand new.

So first, you know, first haircut, you get 30% off.

And we printed out little cards because that does go far.

We're right in this spot here in Pittsburgh on a main drag, where it's just businesses, businesses, businesses.

So we.

And we have an apartment building right next door.

So we took our 30% off cards over there and left a huge stack at the front desk of the apartment building.

And we've gone up and down the street and given them to the businesses and say, hey, you know, we're right here.

Come on in.

Get 30 off.

We're also in an office building.

We're not a salon.

That's just like a freestanding spot.

We're in a whole building.

And so we've given the cards to everybody here.

There's dentists and doctor's offices, and they're walking by every day.

So they have our cards to give people, like, oh, while you're here getting your, you know, your checkup and your.

Your cleaning, you can just pop right over here and.

And get a haircut.

And knowing that men will be a lot more inclined to switch and come to a new place than women will.

I mean, men will do that a lot faster than a woman leaving, you know, her stylist to come.

We wanted to make sure that our.

Our two stylists were up on barbering.

So we had a barbering class.

That's the class that you saw that we were doing on.

On Social.

And it went really well.

And people feel much more comfortable and ready to attack all of these people that are going to start coming in and have started trickling in already.

It's just been a few days since we've had them out, so.

Nice, nice.

You know, so I.

My.

I was watch.

There's another video.

It's kind of going around all over the place.

I don't know.

Guy is.

I was just more interested in what he was saying.

He is a British accent.

He's doing.

Teaching, like, he's doing, like, foiling or balayage.

And there's a bunch of students around him and he's talking about, like, what you need to do to build your clientele.

He goes, do you.

He's like, I don't spend all my time, like making videos and pictures.

Like, you know, you need that.

But he's talking about how you need to go out and you need to invite the people who run the businesses around you so that they come in and then they tell the other business owners and their friends who are also business owners to come in and like, you kind of like.

So it sounds like that's what you're doing.

So that's awesome.

So are you.

Are there any other salons nearby you?

All that are.

Are like any different?

Similar, Anything like that?

Couple doors, two doors down in this building.

In this building.

But okay, you know, they've been there for like 30 years.

It's a very, just established kind of place.

They have like their specific clientele and that's kind of.

We are totally different vibe.

Much younger.

You know, I.

One of the, one of my other businesses that I run, there was a woman who was so excited to see on my, on that social media I posted about this and she's a therapist, and she was like, oh my gosh, you're right near my practice and I have so many, like my trans patients and I'm sending them like, it, like we're just outside of Pittsburgh.

And she said I have to send them like into the city to get gender affirming haircuts and all of this.

And are, are you guys able to.

To take them and.

Absolutely, of course, like, everybody.

So she came over and got a bunch of our cards and is giving them to her clientele so they have a safe place that they can come and don't have to go so far outside of their, you know, their little radio community.

Nice.

That's awesome.

That's.

I love that.

That's incredible.

So is this other salon not like, is it like an older space?

Older And.

And so they would not necessarily maybe be the place that a person who's looking for a gender affirming haircut would necessarily think to go.

Is that that type of place, generally speaking?

You like how I was very diplomatic, right with that?

We love them and they're very sweet.

But yes, I feel like just on site, if you were walking by, it might not look like a place that would be super welcoming.

And if you were judging a book.

By its cover, you would say, they don't do my style.

Gotcha.

Okay.

All right.

So that's a Big differentiator.

Your.

Your whole, like, the.

The style of the type, the type of customer, the type of haircuts, the type of, like, look is.

It's not just the vibe.

It's like the.

The production.

Like, what are you producing that's walking out the door is also different.

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah.

Okay, cool.

Well, that's great.

That's awesome.

Okay, cool.

So tell us, what are you.

I want.

We talked about doing a walk through, and we'll definitely.

We definitely want to see the spot.

I could see behind you that you've already done a bunch of stuff.

And I love that y'all are the hair and the, you know, the theme, the color themes and stuff.

That's.

I love the branding.

It's.

I'm a huge fan of the branding, so.

All right, so what.

What are you.

What.

Where are you at?

Like, I mean, I think.

Feel like we talked about where you're at.

What are you looking at for the next few months?

And in terms of hiring growth, this is a chance to, like, say what you want say and not only what you plan on doing.

We have a few other stylists that we have been talking to a few people that are in the same position as Megan, our second stylist, who I'm in a suite.

I don't want to be anymore.

I'm really not happy.

I'd like to just close that and not have that on my plate anymore.

And I think we talked about last time that I also have a shear sharpening business, so I'm not interested in going into salons that I already work in and just poaching their people.

So we're really looking for those sweet owners that just don't want to do it anymore and want to.

And want to come here.

So we've been talking to a few people and that's, you know, we have four chairs, but we're not necessarily looking for people who are just going to be here 10 hours a day full time, and we could have 12 people on four chairs and just do what works for everybody.

We really want to do flexible schedules and make that work for us and for our stylists as well.

So we've been building our education as well.

So you saw our barbering class.

We've got another class already set up for the stylists in a few months because we don't want to.

And.

And of course, they're telling us what things that they want to focus on and what education they would like us to get for them.

And so we.

We are a Summit Salon, which I think I told you last time, was because of your.

All of your episodes with Lori Green and everything that she had to say at El Marie Salon about Summit.

And we were like, we have to do.

We got to join Summit.

So we started with Summit from the very beginning.

So rather than switching things over, they're helping us build this the right way.

And so we're doing.

Talking about a lot of different education with them based on what our two stylists are asking for.

Exactly.

Nice.

So have you.

Have you considered inviting stylists, like, putting it out into the.

The local area, saying, hey, we have this class, you know, free class if you want to come in.

Or like, here, $10, you know, something.

They're like, I don't know.

Some people have different.

There's a whole psychology about whether you charge or not.

But, like.

But there's this whole, like, trend of.

Of salons hosting education and inviting stylists into those salons.

And I always thought that was such a great place to.

To, like, keep your salon as, like, you know, as something that people know about you.

You know, it's like.

Like, I know there's One salon in D.C.

that would do it all the time.

They're not around anymore.

Immortal Beloved.

They held hosted classes all the time.

And I tell you, it.

They became a place where people wanted to work because, one, it was a super dope space, and two, they had all kinds of great classes all the time that I didn't have to pay for.

Like, and I got.

You know, so I had to pay.

We had to pay.

But their.

But their employ the class for free.

It was like, that's how they figured it out.

They would bring in, like, you know, regional educators, but also, like, influencer educators and stuff like that.

And so have you thought about doing that?

Yeah, absolutely.

And we also have some others.

I mean, again, I.

I'm in salons all the time with my sharpening business, so I know so many people, and we've had conversations about that, like, let's get together, do classes together.

There's some other Summit salons that I know of that we were talking about, like, you know, joining forces and doing things together.

And.

And this space, the girl who had it before us was an educator, so she was always doing education here.

So we have a good space just kind of set up that we could really host a lot of people here.

So it's definitely something that we want to do.

Nice.

So this is great.

So I.

Okay, so what.

So far, what has been the biggest challenge or hill to climb or the thing that you're spending the most time working on to get through.

Like, for the.

For the person who is thinking about opening a salon and, you know, it's your first couple months of business, it's.

I would assume.

I would imagine that there is, like, things that people would never know unless they did it themselves.

I think for me, I think that the big thing was I'm going to be asking somebody to stop working wherever they are for the most part and come work here.

I mean, again, we got Peyton.

This is her first job, and, you know, she was.

She loved it, and that was great, and she's.

She's wonderful.

But if I'm going to ask somebody to leave where they are and come here.

I was really focused on the aesthetic and the vibe that we had to present and get that out of the way first.

There's so much more that has to come.

It's not about just, like, putting a few pretty things in a room and then calling it a salon and being like, I did it.

There you go.

Like, I.

I knew that there was a lot that was going to have to come after that.

But if.

If in order to entice somebody to want to come and be here, we had to have a strong.

Like you said, a strong brand and a vibe, and it had to be pretty, and it had to be a place that you would want to come and work in every day.

So we really.

I mean, we took over May 1, and we didn't open until December 1.

We took a lot of time really flipping this place around and making it as what we wanted it to be and how we wanted it to look.

So that.

That was huge.

And to be able to do that on a shoestring budget definitely took that many months to make it.

To make it happen.

So I think that was the first.

The first big thing was to just make it look the way it needed to look before we even could get into all of the other things.

But for me, my brain was all of the minutia of great.

It's pretty, but we have to be able to offer them something, and what we have set up has to make sense.

And so my brain was leaning more towards HR and compliance and all of these things in the vein that I knew them and leaning on my friend where it was.

Okay, well, what's the cosmetology compliance piece?

And we both had to rein each other in.

It's like, yes, I know you want the brand to be strong, but if we don't have anything to back up the brand, I'm gonna lose my mind.

And she said to me, if this doesn't look correct, no one's gonna come here, and it won't matter how many documents you have.

So we had to balance each other out, which is.

Was fantastic because now we have all of the things, like when we talk to ADP about payroll and what's going on, they're like, oh, wow, you already thought of that.

You already have this.

Like, yes, that.

That's handled.

Sure.

Tell me the spot.

I don't know.

Tell me the stuff.

I don't know.

Oh, I need that.

Great.

And Summit's been really great for that too, because of all of those holes where we were like, we're just gonna guess at numbers, and we're just gonna guess that this is gonna work.

And this is what our pricing should be based on the other salons in the area.

And this.

I mean, Summit really did such a great deep dive for us and helped us with all of those.

Those things, our commission structure and how.

What benefit kind of benefit package that we can put together and.

And everything to offer our stylists.

So that was a huge help and a big weight off of us to just figure it out.

I mean, everything online tells you, take your.

These last three months and run those numbers, and then that's how you move forward.

Well, what if I don't have three months?

Anything?

I'm starting from scratch.

So that was really daunting and really frightening to figure out how to set up those numbers.

And Summit was great and has really helped us so much with.

With figuring that out and feeling confident about that.

Nice.

Awesome.

Cool.

Well, let's.

Let's see the space.

Let's do.

Let's check it.

Let's check it out.

Let's do the walkthrough.

Let's check it out.

So.

So not to give you vertigo.

I'm going to close the video for a second and walk.

Don't think anything bad happened.

This is super exciting.

I have production value.

He would be so unhappy if I didn't do this right.

And I'll just.

I'll just cut this part out.

I think that's probably better.

Okay, we're gonna open all the way up, and we're gonna hit that video.

All right, cool.

Let's check it out.

Welcome to Darling Mickey.

Nice.

I love the accent of.

Of color that you have in here with the natural, earthy sextures.

Or even a salon.

It was a stonemason's showroom, so we have every type of stone on the wall that he could possibly have shown that he could do.

And we've had to figure out how to lean into that and make it work.

So that was great.

Nice.

Gonna go clockwise here.

All right.

Oh, nice.

I like it from this angle.

Like, once you're in there and you're sitting down, it's got.

It's got a whole different look than when you're walking.

And as we walk past the styling stations, you come into our coffee bar water station and reminded that you're filthy cute, and, baby, you know it.

You can wait here in our lounge until your stylist is ready for you, if she has not already grabbed you herself.

And then we're going to take a little walk through our hallway to our wash house here.

Nice.

A whole separate room for shampooing.

I like it.

It's like spa like services, huh?

Yeah.

And then our favorite room.

Whoever says that about bathroom, but our absolute favorite room is the bathroom.

I love that wallpaper in this.

In the stack of purple tower.

Straight back would be our color room and break room, and to the right is the laundry, but those are boring things that no one wants to see.

You saw this?

Nice.

No, this is great.

This is.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm excited for you all, having this all set up and ready to go and operational and growing your.

Growing your staff and growing their client, their books.

It's so.

That's all so exciting.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

So what.

Let's say.

Let's wrap it up with where let's talk.

I'm saying, I'm thinking let's connect in three months and we'll.

We'll connect.

So in three months, you all are going to.

Is the other class that you're about to have is gonna.

Is that gonna be between now and three months from now, or is that further out?

Then in May, we'll be going to the hair show in Seven Springs, so they'll get all of those look and learn classes there.

So.

Nice.

Awesome.

Well, I look forward to checking in with you all and seeing how.

How the next quarter treats you and what all the things that you've learned and all the successes you've had.

I think this is pretty awesome.

So thank you for sharing and walking us through your spot tonight.

Thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

Can't wait to talk again.

All right, take care.

All right, that was good.

I'm gonna stop the recording.

So.