Hairdressing offers rewarding opportunities for entrepreneurs, especially women who create spaces that naturally inspire community, welcome diversity, and support individuality. The women interviewed here are salon owners who have built successful careers in the beauty business – but who see themselves in the people business – and share the challenges of being a woman in any business.
Kristyn Schmerk
Owner at ALTR hair studio, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
- Personal Instagram: @alchemyxhair
- Salon Instagram: @altrhairstudio
- Salon website: altrhairstudio.com
What inspired you to start a hairdressing business?
I’ve always been artistic – drawing, painting, and lettering – and to me, hair is just another medium. I fell in love with beauty early; my mom owned her own aesthetics studio and I started experimenting with cutting and colouring my and my friends’ hair. I knew then that I wanted to do it professionally.
What challenges have you faced as a professional woman?
I’ve struggled with mental health since my early teens. Navigating running a business with those issues is quite the balancing act. Our work is so giving, and it’s hard to pour from an empty cup. On the flip side, it is such good medicine – making someone feel beautiful and validated is so rewarding!
What advice would you give to women aspiring to be hairdressing entrepreneurs?
You don’t have to play by the “rules” of the industry. I didn’t go to hair school until I was 27 and opened my salon within a year and a half of graduating. If you are passionate about hairdressing (or obsessed like I am) and work your ass off, you will be successful.
Who supported or inspired you along the way?
A whole roster of strong, badass women has inspired me: my mom, my high school cosmetology teacher, and childhood hairdresser; my educators from Aveda Institute Toronto; and, of course, my razor-cutting idols Jayne Matthews and Lo Sabino.
How has Hairstory has helped you on your journey?
Hairstory isn’t just a product line – it has connected me to a community of folks in the industry with a passion for clean, non-toxic haircare. I have discovered educators who inspire me every day. Even though I am way up in northwestern Ontario, I feel a sense of connection to the Hairstory community.
Molly Black
Owner of Gem Salon in St. Paul, Minnesota
- Personal Instagram: @mollyblackstyle
- Salon Instagram: @gem_salon_spa
- Salon Website: gemsalonspa.com
What is your hair specialty?
I specialize in individually tailored, lived-in hair. I’ve learned to really hear people; the conversations allow me to execute what they want. The beauty industry can feel like a young person’s game, and at this point, I also specialize in aging. I love this industry and want to give back by creating a community of people who feel valued and realize their creative selves.
What inspired you to start a hairdressing business?
The idea of independence is what brought me to this career. I’m a third-generation stylist; my grandmother was also a stylist while raising 7 kids.
What challenges have you faced as a professional woman?
This industry is loving, creative, and fun! But, as artists and especially as women, we can easily be taken advantage of. I have had many dominating male bosses. I have four children, which also took time and energy away from my craft.
What do you wish someone had told you early in your career?
I wish somebody had told me to make a big move to be the best. I probably wouldn’t have heard them back then though, because I didn’t really understand my value as a woman or as an artist.
Who supported or inspired you along the way?
As an apprentice, I was and still am in awe of Pamela Cruz.
How has Hairstory has helped you on your journey?
As a salon owner, Hairstory has helped me bring retail back into focus. This industry is changing, and the concept of big companies selling you things you don’t need is outdated. I genuinely wish every product line used the Hairstory business model.
What or who inspired you to start a hairdressing business?
After years in a toxic salon, I left to start a suite-style salon. Last year I was inspired by Joy LaMay, my Destroy the Hairdresser coach, to open a salon employing stylists.
What challenges have you faced as a professional woman?
While building my salon recently, I found it quite difficult to be taken seriously as a woman. Having my judgment and experience questioned felt specific to being female.
What advice would you give to women aspiring to be hairdressing entrepreneurs?
I’d tell them to not subscribe to hustle culture – and to charge your worth! The two go hand in hand, and take faith, but are worth it in the long run.
Who supported or inspired you along the way?
My first salon owner pushed, encouraged, and mentored me. And of course, my mother inspired me – she has always been a fierce, independent woman.
How has Hairstory has helped you on your journey?
I discovered Hairstory during the pandemic when I couldn’t be in the salon. Hairstory helped me sustain my business and connect my clients to a product I trust.
Andrea Hansen
Owner of Kindred Hair Space, Reno, Nevada
- Instagram: @kindredhairspace
- Website: kindredhairspace.com
What inspired you to start a hairdressing business?
As a kid growing up in the ’80s, my friends and I cut each other’s hair all the time. Nail scissors, sewing scissors, it didn’t matter. I learned to bonsai hair and carve out pieces to create fun shapes and movement.
What challenges have you faced as a professional woman?
The biggest challenge was learning how to ‘ask for it’ – being assertive and going after what I wanted without guilt or shame for speaking up. More and more females are finding their voices and creating the change they want to see.
What advice would you give to women aspiring to be hairdressing entrepreneurs?
Find a mentor, and find your people. Who has your back through the lows and the highs? Having a business coach to lean on as I streamlined my career and opened my salon was HUGE.
Who supported or inspired you along the way?
I am constantly inspired by independent female artists forging their own path, speaking their truth, and creating change: Jayne Matthews (salon owner and educator in San Francisco); Corinna Hernandez (Pony Education); my coach Cyd Charisse (Destroy the Hairdresser); Lo Sabino (salon owner and educator in Austin, Texas) to name a few.
How has Hairstory has helped you on your journey?
Hairstory helped me see that the future of the relationship between stylists and product companies is changing. Hairstory was a pioneer in supporting independent stylists, allowing us to earn income (especially through the shutdown of 2020) and providing clean, exceptional products.
