We were lucky to catch up with Amber Fairlie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amber, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I think the biggest risk I took was when I first open the business. I was 22, tired of working at salons that didnt appreciate me or the hard work I was putting in. I knew a change had to be made. The crossroads was either get out of the business entirely or start something fresh. Being 22 I had ALOT of nay sayers. “Oh you are to young”, “you don’t have enough experience” “owning a salon isnt for you” and the list goes on. But little did they know I was the kid who would now have to prove them wrong. Now since I had no prior experience, assets to fall back on, the banks did not have any interest in helping me out so I had to turn to my dad to initially loan me the money. He lent me some money to get it going and I thought .. well I dont have much to loose so nows my chance. I worked night and day, every little bit extra I made I always invested it back into the business and took everything one day at a time and one foot in front of the other. It took a lot of blood,sweat, tears and mistakes but I made it happen because failure was not an option.

Amber, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I always knew I wanted to be a hairdresser. Since I was little I always enjoyed going to the salons, meeting the clients and always loved seeing how their transformation changed them. We at The Manor Salon are a boutique salon in midtown Toronto. We provide clients with services for all haircare needs. What sets us apart from the rest is how we truly are a team and how we execute what our clients are looking for. We always pride ourselves on really digging deep into our client needs, wants and desire and work along side them to give them the best version of them! What I am most proud of is our incredibly talented, devoted team. Without them The Manor wouldn’t exists. We love going on the journey with our clients. Getting to know them, their families, being their for their milestones- it makes everything more meaningful.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Being shut down for nearly a year without having any indication of when we would be allowed to re open again. These were truly dark times. This situation really had us having to pivot and get creative. We had to turn to social media and start selling products, take home colour kits and so much more.

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

Word of mouth! Can’t preach enough about this. When your clients refer people, 1, They usually are your “ideal client” 2. They client is exceptional happy with their services to promote you!
We at The Manor salon really try to make our salon a little community family.
When you do good work and you make people feel good, they just want to spread the word.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themanorsalon.com
• Instagram: @themanorsalon @amberjeanhair