MENU
SEARCHWhen a busy salon owner taps into the value of having a virtual assistant, she helps fellow salon owners delegate important tasks by launching Spark Pro Global, an agency of virtual assistants who cater to the professional beauty industry.
As an overwhelmed salon owner and educator herself, Heather Harris identified a need and developed an agency of subject matter experts who could help owners with managerial tasks.
As the owner of a busy salon, a mother of three children, and an educator with frequent travel plans, Heather Harris found herself juggling too much. “I’d fall asleep at night from exhaustion only to find myself bolting out of bed 30 minutes later, wondering, ‘Did I text them back?’” she says. “That was happening every day, and I started thinking this isn’t sustainable. I only have two hands, one brain and 24 hours in a day.’”
A friend of hers, who owns a construction company, suggested that she might want to hire a virtual assistant. “Originally, I thought that was great for him with all of his office work, but I’m doing hair and teaching classes, so I have to be in person. But after six months of him suggesting it, I decided to give it a try, and hired a virtual assistant for 10 hours a week to manage our social media and respond to online reviews.”
The agency was based in the Philippines, and the virtual assistants were generalists who could assist with various tasks. But the more Harris’ assistant worked with her team, the more knowledgeable and valuable she became. The 10 hours a week soon became 20, and the virtual assistant started pulling KPI reports for one-on-one meetings and working on monthly budgeting spreadsheets.
“I was able to move my front desk team into more skilled projects and give them the time they needed to focus on guests in the salon,” says Harris. “Then, my salon director was able to take over some of the tasks I’d been doing, and with the additional bandwidth, I could focus on the bigger picture.”
It wasn’t Harris's intention to start an entirely separate business, but as she told salon owner friends about her assistant, they wanted in on the action. “I had three or four people start using my assistant, until she said, ‘I can’t take any more work.’”
Harris started wondering if it was scalable. Could she build a virtual agency filled with team members trained on salon-specific skills? Harris asked her agent if she had any friends looking for work, and then she traveled to the Philippines, interviewed some people, and together, they put together a team.
“It was rocky at first. I had no idea what I was doing, I don’t speak Tagalog, and I’d never run a virtual agency,” she says. “But as luck would have it, one of my best friends has about 2,000 employees in the Philippines doing call centers, and he thought my idea was genius.”
Today, Spark Pro Global has a group of 60 assistants focused on salon tasks, and that group continues to grow.
Harris’ friend helped her connect with a local bank and a lawyer, and he assisted her in navigating the culture. “I literally got my website put together before I first exhibited Spark Pro Global at Data-Driven Salon Summit in 2024.”
Today, Spark Pro Global counts more than 40 salon clients on their roster and a team of 60 virtual assistants and growing in the Philippines. When a new salon signs up, Spark Pro Global conducts a discovery call to determine the salon’s unique needs and the number of hours they wish to contract for, and then starts building out that salon’s team.
While Spark Pro Global is an agency comprised of human experts who work virtually, many of its team members are technology specialists who excel in areas such as social media marketing, website development, SEO, and managing Google and Yelp platforms.
“We help technology make sense for owners and their teams,” she says. “For example, my software has a lot of reporting, and it’s great, but it isn’t always sexy to look at, so our virtual assistants help make it visually compelling, and it’s much easier to use with individual employees.”
Harris says her team is constantly surprising her with their abilities. This year, she went to Premiere Orlando and shot some video with the intention of creating a reel. “I gave it to the team, and they used AI to create a voiceover with my voice. It was just incredible.”
Praise: “My advice to any salon owner is to get yourself an executive assistant and hand off the tasks that pull you away from your leadership role, and you’ll see your KPIs improve across the board,” says Bobbi Neilsen, owner of Allure Beauty Bar in Grand Junction, Colorado. “You’ll have more time to focus on leading, and those tasks will actually get done better by someone who specializes in them.”
To learn more, visit sparkproglobal.com.
After moving to Colorado and teaching at a cosmetology school, Allison Stock joined Zandi K as a stylist, eventually becoming part of the Leadership Team, Education Team and Master Bridal Team. Today, as Director of Operation, Stock is Owner Nicki Wenz's right hand, managing human resources and operations, education and career development, and coaching and culture.
The company's Concealed Bead Method is raising the bar for what professional extension education can deliver.
Scott maximized her micro-salon by transitioning from stylist to strategic owner, focusing on recruiting and station-sharing. By prioritizing her ownership role over behind-the-chair work, she grew her team to six stylists within the two-chair, 150-square-foot space before eventually moving to a larger facility.
The former CFO of Perdue Farms and owner of Hardy Seafood, Terry Owens delivers a wealth of wisdom and strategies for entrepreneurs in his new book, "Business is Simple."
After scaling her single-location salon business, SALON TODAY 200 Honoree Amy Pal recently sold her six-location Whip Salon for seven figures. Using the six Ps for maximizing a business's value, she's ready to help her peers do the same.
Buried inside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are federal solar tax credit changes that deserve your attention now. Two of the credits that matter most to commercial property owners, the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit, are still available, but only if you move fast. A third, the Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Deduction, has a hard termination date that is closer than most people realize.
Up to 40% of hair stylists ghost the salon interview stage, leaving owners trapped playing endless phone tag with uncommitted applicants. This data-driven report breaks down why traditional job boards create recruitment friction and reveals the modern messaging strategies high-growth salons use to get pre-qualified talent to actually show up. Learn how to transition from cold calling to high-conversion conversations that protect your time and fill your chairs.
Sponsored by Beautista
Spit fests, hostile threats, and even an overachieving matchmaker--SALON TODAY readers share their craziest client tales and how their team handled these tough situations with professionalism and grace.
Keeping your appointment book full when clients are in vacation mode takes more than a good Instagram post. It takes a plan. The 2026 Summer Marketing Calendar from Meevo gives salon, spa & med spa owners a month-by-month roadmap with sharp themes, key opportunity dates, and campaign ideas specifically designed for the beauty & wellness industry. Here’s to your summer season working as hard as you do!
Sponsored by Millennium Systems International
AI is transforming the beauty and wellness industry, and the future is about empowering people, not replacing them. Discover how Phorest AI helps salons, spas, and med spas across North America respond faster, personalize every visit, and keep human connection at the heart of the client experience.
Sponsored by Phorest
Owner Michaella Blissett-Williams credits her General Manager Gloria Hortua with [salon] 718's year-over-year, double-digit growth and says she's been able to scale the company to eight locations because she can rely on Hortua to manage daily operations.
Shine Time: Aluram’s High Shine Line Delivers Moisture and Shine with Clean Ingredients
Sponsored by Aluram
Elyse Rogers is an uplifting presence at The Headroom who makes the team feel heard even in stressful situations. Owner Danielle Cherewyk sings her praises in this installment of Meet the Manager.
Despite a slight and predictable decline in client traffic for Q1, resilient pricing power is driving year-over-year revenue growth in salons. The KIM Report's Alain Audet reviews the data and what it's telling us about the state of professional beauty.
Same-store revenue grew just 2% for the second straight year—and new guest visits declined across every segment of the industry. The 2026 Benchmark Report reveals where growth is actually happening, which verticals are pulling ahead, and what the data says about where your business stands right now.
Sponsored by Zenoti
Hair restoration is entering a new era driven by regenerative science. This paper explores how Exosome technology is transforming treatment outcomes by targeting hair loss at a cellular level. Discover why EXOGROW is leading this shift.
Sponsored by Dermapenworld
A salon brand is much more than a logo. In this thought-provoking blog, Leon Alexander, Ph.D., walks you through the difference. SALON TODAY suggests sharing this article with your team and leading a discussion at your next huddle, asking the team to define your business's brand.
