We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Angela Harland a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

During my first year as a professional stylist, I knew I wanted to learn about natural hair. My first salon I worked at was a blowdry bar. I had never heard of it before but it was exactly what I wanted to do. Once I got use to everything, I fell in love. I literally use to have dreams about blow drying hair. I know that sounds funny but it was times I had 10 clients in a 11 hour day. So of course the sound of a blow dryer was the main noise I heard the entire day. No matter the noise or number of clients I had, I was always thrilled to contribute to a persons happiness!!! During the beginning of the pandemic, I relocated me and my family from Chicago to Ottawa Illinois. After my first year of being here I decided to open my own blowdry bar. I knew in Chicago they were getting really popular so I decided to open one of my own. I also realized the amount of biracial children who parents are not familiar with their hair texture and I wanted to be the one to help them. Every young lady or young man whose hair I style has changed in different ways. Their confidence brings so much happiness to their daily lives and they love to come on the regular.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Angela Harland and I’m 31 years old. I’m a single mom and business owner. I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. I’ve always had a gift for hair. I’m the 4th generation in my family to open my own salon. Growing up my aunt was a hairstylist and she worked downtown Chicago. I use to love going to work with her, I even use to get my hair styled if there was enough time. I started braiding at an early age (7) and been consistent with it ever since. My mom and grandmother use to refer me to do friends and family. I’ve always received compliments on how I quick and talented I am with hair. I can do literally any type of hair. I can even detangle matted hair without having to use scissors. Doing hair is a passion for me but most importantly it builds a person’s confidence and the look on their face once they look in the mirror melts my heart every time!!!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe what helped me build my reputation within my market was my professional and generous personality, the quality of my work and how nice and neat I perfect my craft, and the atmosphere where my salon is located. I did my best to make it as comfortable and cozy as possible!!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been my investment in advertising. I have an advertising team that helps me through most webs engines and my web site. In the beginning when I first opened I joined the chamber of commerce, shopped with the neighborhood businesses and gave out business cards.I also did a back to school supply giveaway and gave out raffles to win free blowouts. I’m very responsive on social media, emails, calls and texts as well!!

Contact Info:

• Website: Inandoutblowouts.com
• Instagram: In_and_out_blowouts
• Facebook: Inandoutblowouts