The Assembly Hair + Beauty Bar Story

As early as hair school I had the dream of starting my own hair salon. The journey to that dream began with my earliest experiences. It has been a wild one with many hard-earned lessons, frustrations, and disappointments. Looking back I would not change a thing. I got my start at an incredible salon in downtown Cincinnati as an employee. This led 4 ½ years later to wanting to gain more flexibility and income. So, I moved on to sharing a salon loft space with a friend.

There were early mistakes and growing pains in my hairstyling efforts. Disappointments really. It was all on me. I was trying to run my own business making novice mistakes and those were not okay. People trusted me and when I made mistakes I took them to heart. Professional hair stylist can not blame their clients. I felt accountable for the results.  It was easy to become discouraged by it all. During that time it became obvious to me that I needed more education, so I dug in.   

I became determined to research. A commitment to look into the most important aspects of the profession. This drove me to understand the science of hair. Hair is not like skin. It does not rebuild itself. There are critical points about technical hair care. The chemistry of hair and hair care and the dynamics of the hair itself. This literally blew my mind. I realized how much I needed to learn at the professional level of hair services.

The research exposed me to the many aspects of running a salon business. I  realized most hairstylists have little knowledge or experience in how to run their profession as a business. The reality of it all drove me to gain the education needed to operate a successful hair salon. The moment I left the “salon environment” I knew I wanted the salon feeling back and doing it better. There were conflicts along the way!

Overcoming the Lack of Comprehensive Professional Education

I had to immerse myself in professional education. I needed to become an expert in hair and hair care and master the skills of running my own hair salon business. Money and time became the conflict.

I knew I needed to know and wanted to know all things hair inside and out. I went to so many amazing classes and spent more money than I had on education. How could I jump forward without it? I had to make the sacrifice. This lead me to attend professional training all over the country, including Jamaica! 

This commitment helped me take my skills behind the chair to another level. I continue to soak up what top Tier education has to offer. My technical skills grew but I was on the grind more than ever. This led to the need to learn about business management itself. I was working hours, performing at a high level, and earning the least. I had fallen into the trap that statistically speaking most stylists just aren’t aware of.