We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Krystal Mcleod. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Krystal below.

Krystal, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

As cliche as this sounds, believing in myself was the biggest risk I have ever taken.

I’ve been doing hair for 10 years and have been in business for 5. I never thought I was that amazing at doing hair to go off on my own, let alone open a salon. Im a single mother, I didn’t come from a family with money, I barely even knew how to manage my finances correctly, and I wasn’t the busiest stylist at the salon I was working at but something was telling me I needed to leave the salon I was in for 4 years and take the next step and trust in myself that it would work out. In January of 2020, I started my business and opened a salon studio with the little savings I had. I was there for 3.5 years, I made it through the pandemic and I gained a whole new clientele in a whole new area. A year and a half ago, I did it AGAIN! I expanded, into a 1200 sf salon, by myself, using again, all of my own savings.

Taking these risks and betting on myself changed not only my life, but my daughters too. Opening a business by yourself is not only risky in general, but very scary when you have a whole child depending on you. I knew that in order to have more time with my daughter I had to bet on myself and it had to work. I am just so happy and blessed that so far, it has.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Doing hair was actually my backup plan! I went to school for fashion because I wanted to design wedding dresses. Being a teen mom and having my daughter at a very young age, I knew I had to be more realistic about my life goals, so in between getting my associates and bachelors degree, I went to cosmetology school thinking I could still be in the bridal industry, just doing hair instead, and thankfully I was right.

I own LUXE Beauty Room, a hair salon, and LUXE Bridal Co., an on and off location bridal styling company. I specialize in lived in color, hair extensions and bridal hair, in a comfy, but glam, atmosphere with affordable pricing for luxury services. What I think sets me apart is I am educated and confident in what I do and I am so real. I am real about the expectation of services, I am upfront about pricing, my clients know what they’re going to get before we even start services and I am very personable. I feel like I connect with my clients on a very personal level and building that connection makes it easier for them to trust me and for me to be upfront and honest with them.

My salon is a judgement free zone. I feel like because I been through so much in my life, I am very understanding about what people go through and can honestly connect with them and their situation. When i’m doing hair, I really am not only doing hair. Because my services are longer appointments, I do get to really know my clients. We get into deep conversations, whether i’m the first to know about them being pregnant, or sometimes even unpacking some trauma, I really feel proud of the safe space I have created. I created a space for not only myself, but for others as well, to express their artistry, and a place for my clients to come in and feel like they can be themselves.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

As crazy as this sounds, my most effective strategy for growing my clientele, has been Tiktok. Free Tiktok. I have not paid for marketing at all in my business. Most of my new clients find me by typing in on Tiktok “New Jersey hair extensions”. Apparently, my videos are the first to come up. By no means am I poppin on Tiktok. I have close to 900 followers. I mainly post before and afters and talk about the process of hair extensions/color and updos. Again, I think it has to do with me being real and talking about/showing the expectations of hair. I definitely think specializing in one thing has set me apart. I do great color, but in the salon hair extensions is my favorite thing to do and I think posting about it all the time and showing what I do on a daily basis has helped grow my clientele because it makes it easy for new clients to trust me.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I LOVE books. I love reading. Theres so much you can learn in books that the real world doesn’t teach you weather its because you just didn’t have the proper knowledge or didn’t think things were possible because you weren’t exposed to it.

Books have changed my life. Think and grow rich and Profit First changed my life, just completely changed my thought process with my relationship with money and I think every entrepreneur should read them. Atomic habits is one of my favorites, along with The 10x Rule. These are more about building healthy habits and how your effort pays off. I just finished reading The Entrepreneur Mind and I really liked it. It gave alot of insight to how to think as an entrepreneur and I learned alot.

I was one of the people who didn’t have the knowledge and I wasn’t exposed to family members or people who had businesses. I had to learn everything I know by reading books and taking classes. I am still learning everyday from books, podcasts, Ted Talks, youtube etc. One of my favorite you tube channels to watch is Jay Shetty. His story alone is amazing, but also listening to other entrepreneurs is so motivating.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://luxebeautyroomnj.com
• Instagram: @beautyby.krys / @luxebeautyroom.nj / @luxebridal.nj
• Other: tiktok @beautyby.krys

Image Credits

Bride photos : @danielle_honea