It’s a super surreal moment when we think back to 2020 and remember the butterflies in our stomachs and the leap of faith we took by opening a whole new business amid a pandemic. If you’re new here or have never heard our story, we thought celebrating four years would be the perfect time to reflect on the past and our future goals! The real, the raw, and the authentic.
One of our biggest goals when dreaming up Luxe was creating a space different from anything else in our town. We wanted that allure of a big city, high-end salon while maintaining our roots with a welcoming atmosphere. We wanted a space for stylists and employees that created growth opportunities, strong leadership to help them develop through challenges, and a space to create a career more than just a job.
As we sip our coffee and look back at our “goals list” for the first year, this is what we really envisioned:
Hire Two Stylists
Provide a Simple IRA program and Match it
Provide Stylists with Two In-Salon Classes
Build the Savings Account to Cover Opening Costs
By month six, we had THREE stylists, a Salon Coordinator (Liz!), and hit our financial goals. It was surreal, and we never anticipated the support of the community in the way they showed up! A big learning curve for us was hiring staff - we stumbled our way through interviews, must have said something to make the team believe in our mission and goals, and slowly worked through the kinks that come with growth. A big thing was learning to give up control and trusting someone to do the tasks we had been managing ourselves. We knew we couldn’t sustain or be successful trying to work behind the chair, and do ALL THE THINGS. And along came Liz - she stepped in and took things off our plates, and helped to create the systems and culture. We would not be where we are without her (and the support of the Salon Coordinators she has helped us on board). Did we mention that Liz has since been promoted to Salon Manager!? As a leadership team, we have worked together to nail down excellent communication, Radical Candor (we read the book, and implemented it!), and navigated all the changes along the way. We knew for the success of the team, the Leadership Team has to run like a well-oiled machine to support them!
As we grew, we knew we needed more. We are not the type to ever settle for too long, so we invested in education for an assistant program and started to fine-tune that to fit Luxe. It was a HUGE step for us - we wanted to take our love and passion for education and extend to helping new stylists just out of school. It can be scary AF to jump behind the chair, and some stylists just aren’t ready. This allowed us the chance to help coach them not only on the techniques we have learned (some the hard way! haha) but also to the guest experience we have implemented at Luxe. We go as far as to focus on how to build relationships and hold conversations, down to the nitty-gritty of making sure the minor details are taken care of! And now, if you follow us, you know we went from Nicole as our first assistant (who has transitioned to the haircutting QUEEN behind the chair), to Abby - who started as our Youth Apprentice through the high school program, went to beauty school, and is shortly going to be full-time behind the chair.
Along the way, we have, of course, encountered the not-so-pretty side of business. We have seen our team change - grow and depart, and that’s HARD. Some situations truly tore us up, but everything always goes back to our mission and core values. And if something doesn’t feel right or align, we have learned (sometimes quicker than other times!) that we - to put it bluntly - have to cut ties. We learned through multiple business coaches and sessions, business books and podcasts, MasterClasses, leadership education, and some deep, deep soul searching. When they say owning a business isn’t for the weak, they mean it.
But back to the GOOD STUFF - right now our team is made up of seven stylists (Amber, Mariah, Maddie, Nicole, Abby, Annie & Ashley), two Salon Coordinators (Emily who’s a senior, and our current YA, and Makaleigh who’s also doing beauty school), and Liz, Salon Manager. Our team is SOLID and we are so grateful for every one of them! Each unique personality plays its role within the walls of Luxe and brings so much to each of the guests who come through our doors. Our culture is important to every one of us, and to be frank, something we are always working on. We pride ourselves that we don’t fit the usual salon mold of gossip and cattiness, and everyone will always have each other's back.
Summing up four years and not GUSHING about every detail is HARD! We are so proud of the amount of education we have taken (hello travel classes to FLORIDA + UTAH!) - we have hosted multiple classes for stylists from all over, and continue to add to the calendar. You hear us say we pride ourselves on being educated, but we truly mean it. Goals for the next year are limitless- we are looking to help each stylist find their niche and passion and show them how to grow that. We do that through one-on-one training and learning what their life goals are. We are looking into expansion plans as it’s easy to see we are outgrowing our current building - sad because we love this little happy place, but we need to find a bigger space to keep making notches on our goals. And then our guests, always always IMPROVING to provide the guest experience that we love to give to you. We can confidently say that we will continue to give you that Pinterest-worthy hair!
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