Although invisible, salon culture is that tangible energy that binds and propels a team, attracts clients and forges a brand. A strong culture is hard to define and even more difficult to build, but when a salon or barbershop masters this task, they are unstoppable. 

ALLURE DESIGNS IN BEAUTY
Libertyville, IL
alluredesigns.net
Shelly Malizola
SQUARE FEET: 3200     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 17
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda, Oribe 
COLOR: Aveda, Goldwell, Pulp Riot
SKINCARE: Aveda, Glo, Beauty Cloud
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest, Vish, Bonusly 
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“I closed the salon for entire day for an off-site retured. The team created new core values as a whole, and we put the ‘why’ behind each one by creating We Believe statements which gave incredible power to the words.”

ARTISAN SALONS
Murrieta, CA
www.artisansalons.com
Lauren Lake Petrich
SQUARE FEET: 1100, 1400    
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Eufora, Alfaparf 
COLOR: Alfaparf, Eufora 
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest   
‘We hire, coach, correct, promote and fire based on three characteristics: Are you humble? Are you hungry? And, are you smart interpersonally. This concept was based off the book The Ideal Team Player written by Patrick Lencion.”

ARZ SALON + SPA RETREAT
North Rodgeville, OH
www.arzsalon.net
Michael & Lezlie Meihls
SQUARE FEET: 2800     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 14
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda, Brazilian Blowout 
COLOR: Aveda, Redken, Pulp Riot
SKINCARE: Aveda  
NAIL CARE: Apres, Zoya, OPI
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Vish, Reach, Meet Your Stylist
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“I encourage the team to come to me with their interests. Because of their suggestions, we’ve added gel extenstion nails, hair extensions and Malibu treatments to our menu. They have new opportunities for education and services and the salon brings in more revenue.”

EDEN SALON & SPA
Oklahoma City, OK
www.edensalon.com
Jan & Richard Hill
SQUARE FEET: 2400     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 20
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda 
COLOR: Aveda 
SKINCARE: Aveda, Hydrafacial Serums
NAIL CARE: Baby Feet 
TECH SUPPORT: Salon Ultimate, Su Su, Vish 
“To help retain existing talent, we now offer seasonal ,virtual ‘Hairapy’ sessions with a wholistic emotional support coach and money pro. Our participation with Qnity coaches and other salon leaders in our Qnity in Action group stimulates our critical thinking and often gives us the answer we are looking for.” .”

GADABOUT SALONSPAS
Tucson, AZ
gadabout.com
Frank and Jana Westerbeke
SQUARE FEET: 3100, 3300, 6000, 5400, 7000, 18000
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 201
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kerastase, R+Co, Hair Art 
COLOR: Wella, Pulp Riot, Sunlights
SKINCARE: Skin Authority, Comfort Zone, Bare 101 
NAIL CARE: OPI, Qtica, Signature 
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, SureTint, Tippy 
ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure, ISBN, ISPA, 2 to 10
“Each year we select an intention word of the year. At the beginning of 2022, we identified ‘Fun+Finances,’ a justaposition of intention, however both were important for us to focus on as we embraced the ‘new’ of post-pandemic life.”

HAIR BASE SALON & SPA
Chicago, IL
www.hairbasesalon.com
Graciela Santlier Nowik
SQUARE FEET: 2000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 8
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Moroccanoil, Pai Shau 
COLOR: Wella, Alpha Parf 
SKINCARE: Biolements  
NAIL CARE: OPI, Essie 
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest   
ASSOCIATIONS: Cosmetologists Chicago
“Our new hiring process includes a thorough vetting process—we look at the tone and phrasing on content in the resume; the phone interview includes behavioral questions; in-person interviews have targeted situational questions and they have a two-day shadow process on a busy day to see how they respond to clients and staff.”

JMAC HAIR STUDIO & MEDISPA
Powell, OH
jmachairstudio.com
joanie mcquade
SQUARE FEET: 3600     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 30
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kevin.Murphy, Unite, Kenra
COLOR: Kevin.Murphy, Wella 
SKINCARE: Skinceuticals, Colorescience 
NAIL CARE: OPI, Zoya, Young Nails
TECH SUPPORT: Meevo, Emma   
“Looking beyond training, education and in-salon team thinktanks, we do have a lot of offsite activities. Every year we host a summer and holiday party, Sunday Fundays, photoshoots, Pedal Wagons, caroling bus tour, Halloween dress up and charity events in and out of the salon.”

NUOVO SALON GROUP
Sarasota, FL
www.nuovosalongroup.com
Terry McKee; James Amato
SQUARE FEET: 3300, 2700, 2700   
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 57
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda 
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
NAIL CARE: Zoya, Smith & Cult 
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Meet Your Stylist, Vish, Textel
ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure, 2 to 10
“We ask our salon leaders for recommendationds of staffers who are a positive influence within the team, and they are invited to be part of The Culture Club Influeners. These influencers attend agenda-driven meetings which include brainstorming on all things cultural.”

PARIS PARKER SALONS AND SPA
Hammond, LA
parisparker.com
Debra Neill Baker & Edwin Neill
SQUARE FEET: 6831, 8755, 8950, 2890, 2319, 2807
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 173
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda 
COLOR: Aveda 
SKINCARE: Aveda 
NAIL CARE: Spa Rituals  
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Presence AI   
ASSOCIATIONS: ISBN, PBA, 2 to 10
“Our Fierce Conversations class teaches our leaders how to have productive coaching conversations, taking some of the ownership for the issue being addressed, and letting the employee who’s being coached know they are going to move forward together.”

PURE SALON SPA
Louisville, KY
www.puresalon-spa.com
Laura Watkins
SQUARE FEET: 1633     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 16
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Tippy, Vish 
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“A leadership concept I learned from Qnity is ACCE (Appreciate, Care, Challenge and Encourage.) I require each of our leadres to ACCE every staff member every two weeks. This occurs when they observe positive behaviors, send private text messages to staff, ackonwled ge staffers in our team GroupMe and send personal notes and treats.”

REVIVE DAY SPA
Aberdeen, SD
Reviver3.com
Fallon Helm
SQUARE FEET: 4250     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 14
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Surface, Pureology, L’Anza
COLOR: Matrix. Surface. L’Anza
SKINCARE: Bare Minerals Lexli 
NAIL CARE: Artistic Cnd 
TECH SUPPORT: Meevo, Salon Clouds Plus
“An apprentice has a greater rate of retention compared to a traditional school student, through the process of obtaining a licensure in the salon. Building a career by eliminating the learning curve and transition traditionally required, allows the apprentice to expedite more efficiently with bigger and better results. Job security is also a benefit of knowing the salon's values, ethics, education expectation and culture. Apprentices are educated on salon philosophy, business and theory, and they learn what it takes to earn the respect of guests and coworkers.”

SAVOYE SALON SPA
Green Bay, WI
savoyesalonspa.com
Michell Bartlein
SQUARE FEET: 3000     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 10
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: Meevo, Meet Your Stylist, Vish, Emma
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA
“Our first interview in on the phone with about five questions, one being what do you know about us? If you haven’t researched us, you are out. We want team members who want to join because of what they heard about our cutlure and training.”

SOLARIS
Evansville, IN
Solarisaveda.com
Amy Carter and Debbie Cadle Foster
SQUARE FEET: 2300     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 15
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
NAIL CARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Vish  
“We hire to culture by asking questions based on the values of our organization. We train to culture, and we focus on it like never before. And, we keep it in the front of our minds at each staff meeting.”

STUDIO BE SALON
Fort Collins, CO
studiobesalon.com
Dry Fly Cap, Beth and Ian weber, Susan Arens
SQUARE FEET: 2400 2400 1200 1500  
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 76
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Paul Mitchell. Surface Hair. R+Co
COLOR: Paul Mitchell  
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Vish  
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA, 2 to 10
“Ten years ago we asked our team to send us their top 10 core values and we titled them each as Be statements—Be Unforgettable, Be a Team, Be the Expert, Be Respectful, Be Intentional, Be Consisent, Be Committed, Be Invested, Be the Super Hero, Be Inspiring. 

THE RITZ INC
Lake Charles, LA
theritzinc.com
Melinda Tilley
SQUARE FEET: 2100     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 12
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
TECH SUPPORT: Phorest, Vish  
ASSOCIATIONS: ACCS
“We took our team to a salon we found through the PIP program so they could experience exceptional service and observe how the salon worked. We then asked them what they loved most about the experience and their answers led us to make two big changes—implement a more uniform dress code and a signature salon scent through a diffuser.”

THE STUDIO FOR HAIR
Farmington Hills, MI
thestudioforhair.com
Natalie Sikora, Kenneth Sikora
SQUARE FEET: 1700     
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 17
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Eufora, Prohair International 
COLOR: Eufora, Prohair International,  Goldwell
NAIL CARE: OPI  
TECH SUPPORT: SalonbBiz, Mikal, Imagine  
ASSOCIATIONS: PBA, ABCH
“Our monthly team meetings are held via Zoom so everyone can participate. Each one begins with ‘appreciations,’ where each team member takes a turn acknowledging or appreciating another team member.Opening meetings this way builds and reinforces relationships.”

WHOLE AVEDA
Oldsmar, FL
wholespa.com
Timothy Belcher
SQUARE FEET: 4400, 2600    
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 58
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda  
COLOR: Aveda  
SKINCARE: Aveda  
NAIL CARE: OPI 
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Meet Your Stylist, Textel  
ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure, 2 to 10
“This year, I brought in Author and Business Coach Jay Williams to inspire and lead our summit. That morning I talked about our core values, talking about how all are applicable to everything we do. Then I had Jay come in and talk about the F word—Feedback.”