We were lucky to catch up with Milena Ghattas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Milena, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Society is acknowledging the lack of expertise in different hair textures. I think it’s important to take steps to continuous education in your field to close the gap between “straight hair” and “curly hair”. I have a wide range of texture and diversity within my clientele and continue to try to find ways to cater to all textures.

Milena, 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 started hair school my junior year and was able to graduate with my high school diploma and cosmetology license! I was able to start working young and learned quickly that consistency is key. In my industry, I think customer service, communication and consistency triumph over talent. Connecting with others, responding professionally, being on time…all of these things benefited me majorly. I never was the most talented. 13 years into my career now, I have let these qualities lead my path to success and now I have my own salon in Beverly Hills. I’m proud of myself for never letting myself fail and always pushing for more. Currently, I’m focusing on taking less clients to let my talent show in my work. I want to focus on my craft instead of my hustle. I’m in the process of starting an extension and wig line and looking for other services to provide to my clients to ease their search for beauty needs!

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

January of 2022 I was renting 2 salon chairs with 2 assistants and we were busy. It dawned on me that I was ready to start putting that rent towards something of my own. I started looking for small store fronts to open my own salon. In October 2022, I found my current salon space through a realtor friend who was helping me on my search. It was within budget for the renovations and monthly rent. The location was perfect, but it was a dump inside! I found a contractor and we got to work. This was an entirely new process to me that I did completely alone! I learned so much about looking for rentals, communicating with contractors, the step by step process of it all. When you step into a new venture like I did, you learn a whole new business world. I feel a little more experienced in life going through this and feel confident that if I ever need to do this again, I’ll know exactly what to do next time with ease.

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

When I first moved from Ohio to LA, I shipped my car with my clothes. I had no job or home I just rented Air BNBs until I figured it out. 2 weeks into my move, my entire savings was stolen and I totaled my car on the way to a salon I wanted to apply to. I remember calling my mom crying and she said to me “you can always come back home!” I don’t know why, but that moment made my immediately stop crying. I started using uber pool to get around and got a job at the exact salon I was driving to when I crashed my car as an assistant. All of those moments somehow led me to where I am now.

Contact Info:

• Website: MilenaRoseSalon.com
• Instagram: MR.MilenaRose / MRS.MilenaRoseSalon
• Other: TikTok – MilenaRoseSalon