We were lucky to catch up with Aja Ottero recently and have shared our conversation below.

Aja, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My dream started with a strong desire to reinvent both aspects of the salon experience. Starting with the Stylist and then the client’s experience as well. After working in salons in Denver and South Korea for 8 years, I constantly felt a cog in the line. I wanted more, more responsibility, more control over MY career and the potential it had. The salons I worked for controlled most aspects of my business. When you’re a salon stylist you’re one of two things, a commissioned employee or renting a chair or now suite space. Both with pros and cons. Hair designing is an art, and that should be the focus. I wanted to build a model that allows the stylist to fully own the way they show up and maintain what works for them to thrive. Give them back the freedom to be independent as an artist without the weight of all that comes with being truly independent, taxes, accounting, insurance, inventory, marketing etc… Stylist and what they bring to the table are so much more valued than traditional commission salons have shown them.

The second part was reinventing the client experience. The salon has always been somewhere we go to recharge and refresh and feel beautiful. During the quarantine in 202o a client said to me “I miss coming into the salon more than I can explain, it’s so much more than *just* getting my hair done, Its the only time I get to completely check out, my partner knows I can’t answer the phone and I can actually disconnect” and I realized in that moment that “Self-care” for many women looks like booking a service in the beauty industry.

It was time to change that in my salon. I wanted to provide our community with not only the best hair of their life but also self care tools beyond the external. I started to bring in those tools and start the conversations of something deeper from our core beings. What is reiki and energy work? What do we hold on to when we are attached to long long hair year after year, We began, New/Full Moon Meditations, Cleansing Rituals, the use of plants, stones and minerals to balance energy. Yoga, arts and craft classes, dance and so much more to come!

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.

I always wanted to be a Neonatal nurse, but I something redirected me toward beauty school and I knew I had to go! I am truly a product of every single person I have met along the way in this life time. Absorbing and adapting to all those who have influenced me in ways they may no even know.

Early on in my career my clients started calling their appointments their “Sessions” and this is because I’ve always wanted to take a different care for my clients. I want them to feel valued and not just another tick in my busy schedule for the day. I don’t want the casual conversation “how’s everything going?” where culturally the expected answer is “GREAT!” I want to know what’s really going on so we can move some energy through and out of their bodies along with the 6 inches of hair they just decided to cut off.

Let’s do reiki with your color, let go of something that doesn’t serve you while you’re in my chair, Let’s give access to heal from something while you’re in my chair and leave feeling better inside and not just outside.

I want to give access for people to walk into our space and know immediately that this is a place to heal.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I would say the better part of the last 10 years have been unlearning things. The biggest I take to heart is industry related and its Unlearning the stigma created around hairdressers for the last 50 years. We work weekends, we work to accommodate anyone, we don’t have lunch breaks, we don’t take time off, we aren’t a “real career”, we don’t make enough money to live off of and we hustle until we can’t stand anymore at the end of the day. NO MORE! We are taking back a health mindset, self care, mental health, physical health, to support our artists and begin to have more self respect and boundaries. We can still show up for our clients, and do beautiful hair while taking care of ourselves!

The only way to make something happen that not already happening your industry is have the drive to do it yourself!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

This is likely the scariest hurdle! I was raised by a single mother on very little. I always felt like we were surrounded by folks who had more money that we did or other kids who’s parents were very wealthy. This set up a fearful mindset for me, always wanting to have more than what we grew up with but also scary to not know what to do with money, how to get it or how to manage it.

Money comes and goes but we always figure it out – I’ve lived by this quote for all of my adult life. Be it business or Vacations, or that special dinner with friends. You will never regret an experience but will always regret the ones you didn’t get to have.

I have gotten loans for every time I’ve scaled my business and it has paid off, it’s scary and intimating, AND the reward is always worth it. I have heard so many folks hold themselves back from big career moves by saying they want to have all the money, or they want to have a perfect plan etc. Most of bad ass business womxn I know don’t have a cash storage for every last thing they need to open their business, but what they do have is DRIVE. That will take you the furthest and allow you not to fail, everything else in between will fall together

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maesalon.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/maesalondenver
• Facebook: Facebook.com/maesalonwellness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aja-ottero-a62002260/

Image Credits
SAM GRIEGO