How I Became a Salon Owner (and What I’ve Learned Since 2017)
From Basement Hair Dye to Beauty School
As a teenager, I was that friend dyeing hair in the basement. Green mohawk? I got you. Christmas break? You’d find me at Sally’s grabbing whatever fun color I could find to throw in my hair. I grew up in a conservative town and even went to a military high school, so cosmetology school wasn’t exactly the “normal” path. Still, I couldn’t shake the pull to do something different.
I went to the University of Georgia on a full scholarship right after high school, but I really struggled with the lack of structure. Now that I know I’m neurodivergent, it makes sense that a traditional college path was never going to fit. I was also rebelling against the “expected” path everyone thought I should take. After a year, I left UGA and enrolled at Aveda in Charlotte in 2010. Exploring a career where I could encourage others to find freedom of expression through hair just made sense to me.
Leaving the Industry and Coming Back
I graduated in 2011 and started working in Atlanta, but the industry climate was brutal. Assistants were paid minimum wage, expected to do everything from sweeping floors to shampooing back-to-back, and often treated horribly by senior stylists. The whole mindset was “you have to serve your time,” no matter the cost to your mental health.
So I left Atlanta. I went back to school for engineering, first at Central Piedmont in Charlotte, then transferring into biomedical engineering at NC State. My brain naturally works in systems and structures, so I thrived there. The background in chemistry and science still helps me every day behind the chair!
But by 2014, I could not stay away from hair. I came back full-time, only to run straight into a new frustration: commission salons that put money over people.
The Money Over People Mindset
Back then, stylists were expected to work every single Saturday. Once a month we had Monday meetings on our day off, which cut our eight days off a month down to seven. Any events were mandatory. On top of that, I was working 40 hours on the floor and educating on the side for the brand my salon carried.
One day I asked, “Can I just have one or two Saturdays off a month?” and the answer was, “If you are not here, if no one is in your chair, then we are not making money.” That was the mindset. Looking back, I honestly do not know how I paid my bills because I was making so little.
The Walkout That Changed Everything
By 2017, I knew I needed a change. The salon I was at was toxic, secretive, and downright hostile. My owner caught wind that I wanted to leave and started locking me out of the computer system. They even told my clients I had “left to pursue education” while I was still on the floor working. That is how old-school salon owners operated: control first, people second.
One Saturday, after my boss went off on me for who knows what again, I hit my breaking point. In the middle of my shift, I grabbed my things and walked out. By Tuesday, I had opened my first salon suite. No business plan. No financial strategy. Just me, a tiny room, and the determination to create something different.
Divine Timing and the Move to Prickly Pear
I stayed in that suite for about four years, eventually upgrading to a window suite. But by the end, I was burnt out and craving more growth. That is when a stylist friend sent me the listing for what is now Prickly Pear. My lease was ending in 60 days, the space was already built out, and the location was perfect. The landlord offered me enough incentives to make it work.
On top of that, I had just sold my house in downtown Raleigh, so I had a little cash. I was able to build out Prickly Pear on a cash basis, which is pretty rare in this industry. The timing could not have been more aligned.
Learning the Hard Way
Here is the truth: I had zero guidance when I started. I learned the hard way (and I mean very hard way) about taxes, finances, hiring, and leadership. At first it was just me. Then I hired my first assistant and trained her for eight months before bringing on another stylist.
Mistakes? I made them all. Hiring out of desperation. Saying yes to everything. Working seven days a week. Being best friends with employees. I had to learn boundaries the messy way with clients, with my team, and with myself.
One of the biggest lessons? Asking myself “How can I show love to you and show love to me too?”. That mindset has allowed me to set boundaries around my time and energy and has shaped the way I run things today.
Building a Different Kind of Salon
From the beginning, I knew Prickly Pear had to feel different. Authenticity and inclusivity are at the center of everything we do. We have a gender-free service menu, because your hair length, not your gender, determines how long it takes. We let stylists work a four-day workweek, because life happens outside the salon. And we encourage each other, and our clients, to come as they are.
I burned myself out in salons where I could not be myself, where I had to dress a certain way, hide my life, or keep things overly “professional.” That does not fly here. At Prickly Pear, being real is encouraged, whether that is dropping an F-bomb, sharing your latest obsession, or admitting you are tired and need a moment.
And when it comes to hair, we specialize in lived-in, low-maintenance color that looks good not just when you leave the chair, but three months later when life has gotten busy.
Shifting from Management to Leadership
When I first opened, I thought management meant doing everything myself. I was constantly in survival mode. Over time, I realized that true leadership is not doing it for my team, but empowering them to do it themselves.
I have been part of Thriving Stylist for several years, and their Leadership Program for the past year and a half. It completely shifted how I think about running a salon. Especially as my personal life has calmed down and our team has grown, I have realized how much I love mentoring. Coaching and mentoring my team has become one of my favorite parts of salon ownership, and I want to step into that even more.
Pairing that mindset work with tools like Vish for color management and Mangomint for systems gave me a foundation I did not have before.
The Now and Next
Owning a brick-and-mortar salon has been harder than I imagined. Behind the scenes it is SEO, websites, hiring, team development, and a million moving parts. But I am not doing it alone anymore. Having Kayla, our salon manager, has been a game-changer. She makes sure I take time off, breathe, and remember I am not just a salon owner. I am a human.
Right now, we are growing our team and refining our systems, and I feel more excited than ever about what is next. The challenges have not gone away, but I finally feel like I am leading with a strong foundation instead of running on fumes.
Key Takeaway
Becoming a salon owner was never a straight line for me. It has been walking out, starting over, burning out, learning the hard way, and then slowly finding what works. If you are a stylist who dreams of owning your own salon, know this: you do not need to have it all figured out on day one. You just need to start.
Shop My Favorites for Salon Owners
Thriving Stylist– The business education that saved my sanity.
Vish Color Management – The tool that changed how we do color and backbar.
Mangomint – The booking software that made our systems actually flow.
These are affiliate or partner links. I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase, but these are stylist-tested and stylist-loved.