By Donna Marrin

Tell us about your business and how you started it.

I am the owner of Verve Hair Lounge. Verve is a boutique hair salon located in the Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood of North Vancouver BC. I brought Verve into being after over a decade in the hair business. My career had taken me through various stages and I found myself at a crossroads in my career, where a decision needed to be made as to “where do I go next?” I had left my position as the Department Head of Haircolour for a local hair school and was trying to define what the next stage would be. At this time, I was given the opportunity to interview for a position as Director of Education for a chain salon in Washington DC. During the interview process, several things became clear to me…I was qualified to be third in command of a chain and I didn’t want to leave Vancouver. And with this it became crystal clear; I was ready to start out on my own.

What was your early vision for your business, and how has it changed over time?
The early vision for the salon was to grow an artistic team of motivated and passionate hairstylists who were interested in working as a team with the idea that they could help elevate each other to higher levels. All of this while providing amazing service and maintaining a neighbourhood feel. This hasn’t really changed at all over time. It may not have come to immediate fruition, but the vision has definitely stayed the same. It has been hard at times to keep on track, as it has meant that certain sacrifices or decisions have had to be made, some of which may have appeared risky to outsiders, or felt risky to me at the time. In the end though, keeping faith in myself and my vision has proven to be the answer time and time again. If you can’t keep your vision, then what else do you have? Dream big! With that said… I did think that business plan, financing, construction, etc., would all be completed in a much, much, MUCH shorter time period than reality delivered. So that part of the vision was not accurate.

Your biggest learning curve?
Oh my, there have been many. Many, many, many. Finding my boss voice has definitely been a very big learning curve. I had spent over a decade in numerous leadership roles, but being the boss was a whole different ball game. I went into owning my salon thinking that I could rely on the professionalism of the teammates to do what was expected. But what I learned was that people need rules and consequences, and that it is my job to not only set an example, but also to voice the expectations and enforce them, as well. I have learned that a culture is really just a set of guidelines agreed upon by all members. And as the boss, it is my responsibility to see that all members are regularly held accountable to the team, to perform to these standards. The next biggest learning curve was definitely learning to ask for help; accepting that I couldn’t do everything and that I need time for myself as well. This is still part of my learning stage. I am learning to not feel guilty for not working. I have a really hard time taking time off if there are still things on my to-do list. I recently had an a-ha moment about this…if I no longer have a to-do list, then I am in trouble, therefore, I will always have one. And most things can wait until tomorrow.

Describe a day in the life…
There is no set answer to this, as every day drastically differs from the next. I wear many hats as the owner, which include hairstylist, PR, marketing, leader, payroll, mentor, educator… One day, I may have a full book of clients, and on these days, my clients are my main focus. Then on my admin days, I can be in meetings with distributors, brand strategizing, or helping my teammates with their work, or doing my least favourite—paperwork.

What makes your business stand out?
I think we are doing a lot of really little things very, very well—the little things that often get overlooked by other businesses. And these little things add up to something big. I think my team’s belief in the vision is the key to our success. And with discipline, structure and passion, we will continue to stand out.

Do you have any entertaining stories to share about your line of work?
Every day is entertaining. This is an ever-changing landscape at the hair salon. Dynamic changes happen from day to day, moment to moment. Our team has a lot of fun with each other and with our guests. We love our jobs and our clients, and we all have a good sense of humour. This makes for many entertaining stories. But we are also hairdressers, so to share the stories publicly goes against our code of honour. What is said behind the chair, stays behind the chair. :)

How do you find balance between your business and home life?
Is there such a thing? Just kidding. Sort of. Trying to achieve this takes a lot of work at my end. I am still working on it, actually. I am trying to give myself at least one day off per week, as well as go home at a decent time. I learned early on that a good night’s sleep makes all the difference. I am now working on getting more social and family time in, and I’ve been dedicating more time to yoga and other physical activities.

What’s the best part of running your own business? The most challenging?
I like the leadership side of things. It is really a wonderful experience to watch stylists grow and reach their potential and goals. I also really like brainstorming and problem solving and the implementation of the ideas that evolve. Watching the business grow and acting and reacting to the ever changing landscape is a lot of fun.
The most challenging is probably finding my balance. This takes a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice by me, my friends and family. Also challenging was building the right team to fit the vision. And then, once the right team members were found, it has sometimes been challenging finding the flow within the relationships. These are things I hadn’t anticipated.

Do you have a favorite business tool or resource?
I am fortunate to be a third-generation entrepreneur, with grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles who run their own businesses. This is by far my favourite and most valuable resource. The love and support, as well as heartfelt and real advice I receive is amazing. Second to them is my network of close friends, who also are entrepreneurs. They lend me support in a different way—they give me advice and act as sounding boards for me. I get lots of love and support as well. They offer me an understanding that only they can give, as we are at similar places in similar journeys. Peers. I love that.

What is the key to your success?
The key to my success is that it didn’t happen overnight. I spent a decade gaining the experience necessary to open up a hair salon, and then I spent the next three years gaining more and learning from past experiences. The success that I have achieved began a very long time ago and continues on the same way as it started—one step at a time. I have learned from my mistakes—and there have been many mistakes. I value mentors who have shared their expertise. I have dedicated myself to learning all I can about hairdressing, the salon business and leadership, and I continue to do so with diligence and discipline. It has been a long journey of learning and gaining experience. Success is very rarely an “overnight” thing, and luck rarely has anything to do with it.

What is the one piece of advice you would like to give to others thinking about starting a business?
Make a plan. Think it through. Understand the risk, sacrifice and work involved. Get some sleep. And learn to laugh at it all. But most of all…LOVE it. Have PASSION for it.

AMBER GEORGE With 13 years of experience and a passion for education and artful hair design, Amber’s background as a successful technical director, department head and salon mentor have led her to open her own salon, Verve Hair Lounge. During her career, Amber has been fortunate to train with some of the top educators in the industry. With extensive training by Colour Masters, Dennis Gebhart and Peter Valenti, she was given the foundation to become an educator herself, having done so for the past decade. Her cutting mentors are equally impressive, with such names as Cindy Schaber, Sharon Biro and Sam Villa. Most recently, Amber has returned from a Master’s Cutting Class with Shu Uemura, featuring the US Director, Rick Cooper and UK Director, Darren Fowler. Amber’s salon business training comes from International Trainers: Peter Mahoney, Michael Cole and Blair Singer. Amber now rounds out her skill in the world of Session Styling, lending her talents to editorial photo shoots, having trained with New York Session Stylist, Noah Hatton. Visit the website at http://www.vervehairlounge.com/