We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Natasha Castillo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Natasha, thanks for 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.
I think any entrepreneur can relate that the moment you step out on your own its scary. I was 21 when I took the risk of starting my own business, I decided to open my own salon, signed the lease the day before giving birth to my son. With about $500 in my bank account. THAT was risky.
Right out of school I started at a salon working commission, after being there a year and growing a clientele I was still only making $600 a paycheck plus tips! I knew I couldn’t survive off this so I needed to make a decision, Take the risk and go on my own, or quit the industry.
According to salary.com, The average hairdresser makes $27,132 a year. I was determined when I decided to go on my own that wouldn’t be me.
Salon suites are very popular here in texas, so that’s what I did. I worked two jobs and HUSTLED those first two years while raising my son and being a wife.
I tried everything you can think of to get people in my chair ( Instagram and tiktok weren’t a thing then) Facebook was starting to be used for businesses but not quite yet. Many things I tried didn’t work, but I didn’t give up. I continued my education, became an educator for a major brand and learned as much as I could.
This month, February, I will be celebrating 12 years as a salon and I Specialize/mainly do Extensions and color.
The hardship of not knowing if the risk would be worth it was hard. But I truly believe nothing worth having comes easy. In the 12 years my salon has won Best Salon in plano 3 years in a row, I have a gained such loyal clients who have become family. They supported me through a pandemic, were so many salons had to shut down and I was profitable in 2020 even with being shut down for 2 months..
Taking that risk 12 years ago and signing that lease, changed my life forever. I never thought in my life I would be able to earn six figures, do what I absolutely love and choose the schedule that works for me and my family.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I Specialize in Extensions and have been doing them for 10 years. When I started out doing extensions there wasn’t a ton of education out there. It is crazy to me to think that you take one class and then you are certified and charge full price. I think what sets me apart for this specialty is that for an entire year I took on extension clients at cost. I didn’t charge them because I wanted to gain experience, I wanted to learn and be the best I could be before just charging full price. I learned SO MUCH and was able to build my portfolio that year. Over the years I am so proud to compare myself to .. myself. To see the growth in how application is done, color match, and blending has been incredible. I don’t think you should EVER stop learning and growing. I think that is also what sets me apart, I don/t ever stop. I have been a hairdresser for 13 years and I am just as passionate about this industry as ever.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I started out on TIKTOK to gain more engagement on my other platforms in 2020. I use those same videos and post them for reels on instagram. I built my audience by being consistent with posting, creating content that adds value and engagement with my followers.
Figure out what your niche is and go from there. Just be you, but good lighting always helps too :)
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Unfortunately at the time I was so young I had no established credit and didn’t qualify for a loan. In order to put together the initial capital I had to work a second job. The Money I made from my salon went right back into the salon expenses. I was able to quit that second job after a year and fully focus on growing the Salon.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.classyandsassysalon.com
- Instagram: classysassysalontx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/736860559813844/
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/pJMd4hphynb
- Other: TIKTOK: @natasha_castillo_