We recently connected with Vilma Subel and have shared our conversation below.

Vilma, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The Mission for my company is an extension of how I live my life and how I serve others in and out of my circle. From a young age I was taught to always make others feel “seen”. Inclusion has always been a very important part of my life, how I work. Call it sensitive or empathetic to others but, for me, it is how I feel our society could practice a bit more of.
It is important that staff members, guests in my salon, artists and models in my show feel welcomed and recognized. I try my best to listen to needs so I can guide or deliver what is needed for other’s success and/or accomplishments. The space I create in and out of my business involves inclusion. All are welcome and safe.

Our company Mission:

Xiphium takes pride in being pioneers in nurturing individuals and their needs inspiring a peaceful, balanced and enjoyable environment through hair, fashion and lifestyle.

Vilma, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I began my career in 1982. I have always had the heart of an artist and someone who always wanted to care for others. Before I entered the beauty industry. Before I enter the beauty industry, I had plans on majoring in social work of some sort. I knew that my mission in life was to serve others. I need this at a young age. However, I didn’t realize that I was going to use the beauty industry as my catalyst for taking care of others. it is a win-win for me because I get to enjoy my art and taking care of others. Nurturing other humans has always been a part of what I enjoy doing. I stood out more through the way I sculpted hair. That’s where the artist did me really was able to shine. I love the craft of hair design, and the ability to step back and look at someone and create a shape to mirror their personality. A lot of that involves not just visually assessing someone, but listening to their story and building from that. This is a great way to build relationships with those that you provide your services for. Really and truly listening to them. I have taken this ability to create the environment for my salon, and I have carried that through for almost 30 years now. Being in the Midwest, we tend to get a little lost in the mix and just a few years ago I decided to help my fellow Midwestern hairdressers by creating a platform for them to show more of their work to the rest of the country. I created a Hairstyling award event so people can show off their work to their peers and to their mentors. This is a great way to connect people together in a great way for others to be inspired. Part of my background has always been in the education for my industry. Education allowed me to travel around the country to inspire and connect with like-minded individuals. That has always been in my background and has become part of the forefront of how I continue to bring people together through the craft and the art within our beauty industry we make this event a space for all to feel welcomed in a safe place to be able to show off work that these artists are proud of putting together. I have to say after completing my fourth year of producing my show, I have the confirmation that this particular event is an important part of keeping my region of our industry connected. The joy, the sense of accomplishment, the engagement of the attendees, and the artists involved showed me that all of these individuals felt this much needed connection in order to thrive in an ever changing and sometimes difficult service industry. I feel like I am playing my part in providing a safe space for others to grow.
Knowing that I can provide this type of space for others continues to fulfill my mission in listening and providing what I feel others can benefit from.
I am proud that I have been able to sustain my business and the ability to provide a service for my guests and my peers.
One major factor that I also need to mention is that through all of this, I have been able to help my community through different organizations to provide help for those in need. Some of the organizations I’ve been active with:
Look Good Feel Better, Strawberry Week, City Unión Mission, Pet Rescues, and various organizations to help children in need.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There have been a few times that we had that challenged my perseverance. One was a time in 2009 when we had major water damage in our space that forced us out for over 2 months. You can only imagine the stress of not having a physical space for your team to service their clients. No space, no clients meant no revenue.
I sought the help of my community to help find a temporary space where we could set up shop so as not to interrupt business anymore than the week that we had no ability to service clients.
I was fortunate to find an existing salon that had a whole section not being used and we were able to rent that part of their space to give my team a place to work. It took a lot of effort from the entire team but, we made it work. Our staff had a place to work and we were able to provide pretty much all of our services for our clients.
It took a good 2 months for all the repairs to be done before we could move back into our space with little to no interruption to our existing schedule of clients.
A lot of sleepless nights but, “Never the less, She persisted!”
So grateful for our amazing community. It’s all about supporting each other.

Contact Info:

• Website: Xiphium.com
• Instagram: Xiphium Salon
• Facebook: Xiphium Salon
• Youtube: Xiphium Salon
• Other: Midwest Hairstyling Awards on FB and IG.

Image Credits
Todd Zimmer Shintaro Madea