2023 SALON TODAY 200: Employee Education

For the most successful service providers, education is a career-long process. The strongest salons and spas develop education systems that enhance the skills and confience of their newest team members while enoucraging and supporting the seasoned staff to continually stretch creatively. 

DAVANTI SALON AND SPA
Denton, TX
davantisalon.com
Tracee Herring
SQUARE FEET: 2000, 1120    
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 30
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda 
COLOR: Aveda 
SKINCARE: Aveda, Cosmedix 
TECH SUPPORT: Meevo, Textel, Meet Your Stylist, Vish 
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA, 2 to 10, Beauty Changes Lives
“In May 2021, we needed to add several new stylists to the team all at once, so we created an intensive eight-week training boot camp. When we revamped our education program, we shortened it to 13 weeks based on the success of the boot camp.”  

DL LOWRY SALON
dllowry.com
Indianapolis, IN
David Lowry
SQUARE FEET: 6000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 45
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kerastase, Davines
COLOR: Davines, Revlon 
SKINCARE: Davines, Comfort Zone, Jan Marini
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest 
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA, Nora Neighborhood Association, Arden Neighborhood Association
“We have a strong alliance with PSC, a local distributor. They support our education with additional cutting, coloring, and styling classes complimentary to our team. This offering is a differentiator in our market as stylists would normally pay out of pocket for this type of education.”

INTERLOCKS
Newburyport, MA
interlockssalon.com
Ginny Eramo
SQUARE FEET: 6400     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 56
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: R+Co, Oribe, R+co BLEU
COLOR: Goldwell
SKINCARE: iS Clinical, Environ, Skinbetter
TECH SUPPORT: STX   
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“The Black Lives Matter movement brought many social issues to light that demanded change. As a result, we have immersed our team in DEI training and participated in over 30 classes in textured hair.”

JYL CRAVEN HAIR DESIGN
Canton, GA
jylcraven.com
Jason & Jyl Craven
SQUARE FEET: 5000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 38
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kerastase, Shu Uemura, L’Oreal Professionnel
COLOR: L’Oreal Professionnel
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Tippy, SureTint 
ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure
“Each October, we send a survey out to the team asking what they’d like to learn in the upcoming year to get a feel for what they are interested in and where there are opportunities to enhance our education.”

LEGATO SALON & SPA
Farmington and Birmingham, MI
salonlegato.com
Sheridan Cassidy, Karlyn Cassidy, Diane Cassidy
SQUARE FEET: 3300, 1500    
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 23
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest
“Typically, 75 percent of our core classes are taught by outside educators, and the other 25 percent comes from our in-house coaching. We find that our inside team can only excite each other so much, and that the power of outside education is more valuable.”

LOXX SALON AND SPA
Cookeville, TN
loxxsalon.net
Mike and Tracey Franklin
SQUARE FEET: 3200     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 16
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
NAIL CARE: OPI, Beetles 
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce, Vish 
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“We began working with the Department of Workforce Development in 2021 to create the first registered cosmetology apprenticeship program in the state of Tennessee. This paid apprenticeship is subsidized by the state and allows us to extend training to include high-end services like extensions and specialized color.”

NURTUR SALON + SPA
Columbus, OH
nurtursalon.com
Patrick Thompson
SQUARE FEET: 4000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 50
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda, Ultraceuticals 
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Beekeeper, Textel, Unifocus
ASSOCIATIONS: ISBN
“We frequently have incentives around retail and service growth that help the team earn trips and tickets to events like Serious Business and Aveda Congress as well as fashion shows and editorial opportunities.”

PAUL KENNETH SALON
Woburn, MA
pksalon.com
Paul Costa and Jackie Maniaci
SQUARE FEET: 3650, 1650    
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 9
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: PK hair care line, Eco Chic, Matrix
COLOR: Matrix  
NAIL CARE: CND  
TECH SUPPORT: Milano, Demandforce  
ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure, Gathering
“After any educational program they attend, our employees are required to present at the next staff meeting to the team as an important part of their development. It's so powerful for the service providers to hear from their peers.”

PLATINUM & COMPANY BEAUTY BAR
Manhattan, KS
platinumandcompany.com
Lindsay Lowe
SQUARE FEET: 2000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 25
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kerastase, L’Oreal Professional, Redken
COLOR: Redken, Pravana
SKINCARE: Bioelements, BareMinerals, Farmhouse Fresh
TECH SUPPORT: Envision, Meet Your Stylist, Salon Scale 
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“We are proud to offer several four- to six-week courses around finances, mindset, training the trainer, and many more to our entire team. The team loves these classes so much they have shared them with our guests and the classes have rippled into other businesses in our community.”

SALON BLU
Raleigh, NC
salonbluhair.com
Sara Davis & Tara Gardiner
SQUARE FEET: 1800, 2500, 2500   
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 80
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Redken, L’Oreal Professional, IGK
COLOR: Redken  
TECH SUPPORT: Envision,  
“We created an internal training program that solved our need for faster salon growth, with an emphasis on quality work. Our associate academy is mutually beneficial for both mentor and associate.”

SINE QUA NON SALONS
Chicago, IL
sinequanonsalons.com
Laura Boton
SQUARE FEET: 2000, 2300, 900   
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 54
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: R+Co, Oribe, Aveda
COLOR: Wella, Redken, Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: Rosy, Vish, Tippy 
ASSOCIATIONS: Cosmetologists Chicago, Intercoiffure, 2 to 10
“Every new stylist gets an out-of-salon class and plane ticket one year into their earning their chair, as a gift from me for being a great part of our team.”

VERDE SALON
Winnipeg, MB
verdesalon.ca
Roberto Sinopoli
SQUARE FEET: 2000, 2000    
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 23
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: Zenoti, Vish, Thrivo 
ASSOCIATIONS: 2 to 10
“One of our senior stylists went through a runway styling class with Jon Raymond and discovered her passion for creative styling. She came back and created a Verde Salon Creative Team where she practices and encourages this passion with other team members.”

VIVO BEAUTY BAR
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
vivobeautybar.com
Samantha Sharpless & Mike Roe
SQUARE FEET: 2500     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 15
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kevin Murphy, Milbon, Leaf And Flower
COLOR: Kevin Murphy  
SKINCARE: Dermalogica  
NAIL CARE: OPI, Valentino 
TECH SUPPORT: Rosy, Salon Software, Tippy  
“We bring on beauty school students to enter our Beauty Tender in Training program as interns. This program typically lasts six months and teaches them every aspect of the salon industry from front desk to consultations to technical skills.”  

ZINKE HAIR STUDIO
Boulder, CO
zinkehairstudio.com
Megan Robertson Jolene Zinke
SQUARE FEET: 2100, 2100    
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 32
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: Aura    
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“As a new Aveda Color Purefessional, I am able to bring more education to the salon with multiple tools to teach to our educators and team.”