Jen and Matt Martnelli, founders of Canvas Recruit.  
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Jen and Matt Martnelli, founders of Canvas Recruit. 

The advent of social media is changing the game of talent recruitment forever. Almost a year ago, Jen and Matt Martinelli launched Canvas Recruit—a networking, collaboration and empowerment platform where beauty pros can market themselves and salons can market their opportunities. 

“We designed it to help beauty pros showcase their value all in one place,” Jen says. “Their canvas not only includes their portfolio, but it can showcase their KPIs, work history, bios, compensation preferences and it can connect to their Instagram feed.”

Salons owners are finding the platform equally compelling in helping them fill their talent needs. They can create canvases that portray their culture to really find a candidate who vibes with their salon, and they can search for talent that meets a business need by focusing on candidates with a specific KPI—for example, if they need someone who excels at retail or who has high client retention scores. 

“Today’s Gen Z candidates aren’t just looking for a job, they are looking for a strong culture and a sense of community,” Matt says. “Canvas Recruit helps salons tell their brand stories.” 

In its short history, Canvas Recruit already is 3,500 members strong and quickly growing with a new infusion of funding and partnerships with companies like Ratner Companies

The Martinellis explained that for most employers, the platform eliminates the phone interview, where all the basic info on a candidate is gathered, while humanizing the process for both the candidates and the salons. 

“Even when you don’t have a job opportunity, maintaining a salon canvas shows the industry what you’re all about, and when you do have a need, you have access to an amazing pool of talent,” Jen stresses. 

For the pros, the platform opens the door on other exciting opportunities. For example, Pulp Riot recently leveraged Canvas Recruit when they were searching for educators. 
“They looked at 120 canvases and chose about 50 professionals to come on as educators,” Matt says. “They told us that before they would have needed to sort through 400-500 resumes to find that many educators.”

For a salon owner who is used to recruiting locally, Canvas Recruit can expand their options nationally. A recent survey of the platform’s users showed that 70% were willing to relocate for the perfect job opportunity. 

The platform allows beauty pros to post canvases of their work and capabilities, and salons to post canvases of their job opportunities.  
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The platform allows beauty pros to post canvases of their work and capabilities, and salons to post canvases of their job opportunities. 

Canvas Recruit is in the process of onboarding all 108 Paul Mitchell schools, and the Martinellis say the platform is helping the schools show the parents of incoming students exactly how they’re going to be finding a career after graduation. “It helps add a level of professionalism to our industry,” Jen says. 

In addition, the young company already is hosting opportunities for young stylists to express their creativity. They recently launched a competition with Ammon Carver, Ulta Beauty chief artistic director and the global creative director for L’Anza Healing Haircare. Carver will be selecting one lucky stylist to hang out in Los Angeles for a day on an Ulta Beauty campaign shoot. 

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