We recently connected with Melissa Fraitag and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Choosing a name for anything that is special to us is such a challenge. I knew in starting my own business that I wanted to create a new brand. My previous brand name, Cosmic Cosmo By Lissa, was meant to embody my intuitiveness (cosmic) as well as my craft (cosmetology). I still wanted to have a name that clearly represented my Witch persona along with my passion for the beauty industry. After much deliberation with my Sistager (amazing sister that rocks at branding), we landed on Magic Mirror. It’s mystical and you know that you’ll be feeling your best by the time you leave. Expect a goth, baroque/antique, plant mom aesthetic.

Magic Mirror felt like the perfect fit since the letter M is significant in my family. Myself and my two sisters all have “M” names after two great-grandfather Maxs and two great-grandmother Marys. My father and uncle also continued a 100+ year legacy of a family business that was named after ”Little Grandpa Max”. I am proud to continue the entrepreneurial trend of being a small business owner.

I hope to see you in my chair for a magical experience!

Melissa, 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 am a New Yorker by birth and blood. I feel this is important for people to know about me. That being said, I absolutely love New England. I came to Massachusetts in 2010, attended Lasell College and decided this was my new home. I finished my degree and worked in my field for almost two years. Managing events was an exciting career, but I still needed more creativity in my day to day. This was when I finally made the move to get my cosmetology license. Ultimately, this required me to move back home to New York. While attending school in Connecticut, I found myself working at a luxury salon in New York, where I had the opportunity to work on multiple Bravo-Leberties.

Post Covid, like so many others, I had a desire for a change of scenery. I truly missed being in New England. Salem seemed to be calling my name. After three years at a well-known salon in Salem, I decided it was time to branch out on my own.

I have always prided myself on helping my clients achieve their healthiest hair, whether this be through a new wash/product regimen and or a healthy haircut. Many clients have concerns when it comes to bleaching hair and I always assure my clients that I am as gentle as possible. Integrity of the hair is most important in my chair.

My career in the hair industry began with a lot of styling for editorial and bridal. While I still love to style hair, I find my passion truly lies in hair color. I love the entire process and the science behind creating custom colors. I always love a good color correction, as well.

My space is a safe space for anyone. My chair is a judgement free zone and self-love affirmations are encouraged. Magic Mirror Salon’s mission is to make anyone who sits in my chair feel their absolute best. I am everyone’s biggest cheerleader.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media has always been pushed as one of the most important ways to network in the beauty industry. Instagram is essentially your portfolio and business card wrapped into one. The hardest aspect is building your brand. The content is inevitable, the presentation and presence you create is what attracts and keeps an audience.

I am always learning when it comes to social media, but the best advice I ever heard was, just post it. Especially when starting out, it may not be perfect, but you will build a presence. Your mood evolves over time and eventually you find a style that suits your work and your brand. More and more I have clients inquiring about previous work from my Instagram. Organic connections and word of mouth will always be a reliable resource. Your clients are walking advertisements. If your work speaks for itself, the people will come.

I chose to start Magic Mirror Salon from scratch instead of piggybacking from Cosmic Cosmo. I want the brands to be their own entities. Come follow @magicmirrorsalon_ to watch the progress!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There are many major kinds of change in one’s life. Geographical location, job/career change, relationship status, death/loss are a few. My journey to obtain my license and begin in the beauty industry included several of these challenges. I navigated a relocation, career change and end of a relationship all at once. Despite these changes, I worked hard and dedicated myself to my craft. After achieving my license and working steadily behind the chair, I was finally fully booked at the salon in New York. Even though I was thrilled to be sought out and have a full book, I still craved more. If you know me at all, you know my personality and style can be loud. I crave color projects and bold changes. I knew I needed to put myself in the middle of the right demographic. This is what ultimately lead me to relocating. This meant starting over from scratch. While terrifying to start over and have to rebuild my book, I put my trust in the universe and my talents to provide. I would not have guessed three years ago that I would be where I am today and I’m happy to say I’m so proud of my progress.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.magicmirrorsalon.com
• Instagram: @magicmirrorsalon_

Image Credits

All my original content and designs