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

Alright, Abby thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

To prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career salon owners should offer a detailed training program that would educate students about working with clients. Beauty school is the first step but most of the education is based on theory. Salon owners should remember that the best way to learn is through experience. Creating structured classes and using a hands-on approach is one way to prepare students for their careers; the classes can be about many different topics so students also experience variety, which is important too. Communication is always key, sometimes it’s best to ask students themselves what they are interested in and collaborating around that!

Another thing that comes to mind is the newer, younger generations are more informed and aware, which is definitely changing salon culture and dynamics. Salon owners should make sure students feel secure by creating a future goal to progress towards. Communication is everything and there should be constant communication going on, because without constant communication, there is no consistency.

As a new salon owner in New Jersey, I was able to assist a younger team of stylists in graduating from assisting, and within a year they were on the floor. I also continue to work as a colorist in NYC for 22+ years now, and I have witnessed the “old ways” disappear — people do not want to assist for years and years anymore. Students want to create their own clientele and feel confident in making money. As an owner it’s important to empower hair stylists for them to stay committed.

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

Hi! My name is Abby Haliti. I’m a Haircolor Expert & Balayage Specialist. I grew up in Skopje, Macedonia before moving to New York City to start my career over 2 decades ago. I have always had a passion for beauty and my interest in the hair industry began during my time spent modeling when I was younger. I was raised in a European culture where people say that a woman’s beauty can be captured in the hair, because the hair is one of the first things that captures someone’s attention.

Even though I am licensed to cut hair, my main focus is color because early into my career I fell in love with a technique used to highlight hair — Balayage or French Balayage. The word is French, meaning “to sweep” because the technique involves “sweeping” the brush along the top of the hair, making sure NOT to fully saturate the hair; this technique creates that sun-kissed look we all love so much! I always keep an eye on trends that clients care about because I believe that beauty is always evolving. Being mindful of this allows me to communicate more authentically with clients. I am always transparent with clients.

As a Haircolor Expert & Balayage Specialist, my brand stands for healthy, natural, beautiful hair. My vision and my touch are meant to showcase that it is possible to achieve longevity when coloring hair, while also not jeopardizing the health of the hair. Many of the current brands out there provide colors, tools or how-to’s, but what sets my brand apart is a “less is more” healthy approach to hair color, and a mindful philosophy about the placement of color. I feel grateful to have studied color at L’Oreal Academy where I was influenced by talented mentors.

Building a career in NYC from scratch was an unforgettable experience! There was so much hard work that went into creating and keeping a clientele, as well as in making sure that I was continuing to grow as a colorist. Interacting with so many different people in my chair forced me to become better as a colorist. Even being lucky enough to travel to places like Monterrey Mexico or Bahrain to paint hair was an experience that shaped me and allowed my craft to expand and progress further.

Most importantly, as a Haircolor Expert & Balayage Specialist, I am so happy that I have been able to work with so many wonderful women to help them achieve hair color that is not only looks beautiful, and not only makes them feel beautiful, but is also healthy, livable, and made to last! My mindset is about helping women to simply enhance their natural beauty.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

Before I became a salon owner, I worked in the industry for over 20 years, but I must say that owning a salon was one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve had. I learned so much about not just myself as a human being, but so much more. I opened my salon in 2018 and sold it in 2021 during the pandemic.

Many of our lives changed in 2020 when the pandemic began. Many of us had more leisure time to slow down, think, and reflect. After some time I began to notice a shift in my perspective and captured a moment of growth within myself — I realized that times had changed. Hiring talent is harder due to salon rental boutiques and more. There is a shift in the way newer hairstylists view their role and business owners need to meet hairstylists where they are. Leadership skills are important for business owners to have in order for business owners to create a wonderful salon culture for the team and their clients.

Trust and communication is key.

How did you build your audience on social media?

To be honest, I created my clientele before social media. Social media is more of a portfolio to showcase my work or share education, but word-of-mouth referrals is what led me to where I am today, in addition to consistently delivering my services with integrity. Social media can be fun but I do think it’s important to be mindful and not overstimulate ourselves. Although I enjoy being able to connect digitally I think there’s nothing more powerful than a simply authentic presence in real life.

Being real and sharing what I care about is also important!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Abbyhaliti
• Instagram: @abbyhaliti
• Facebook: Abby haliti
• Linkedin: Abby haliti
• Twitter: Abby haliti

Image Credits
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