Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amber Pope. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Amber, thanks for joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

It is so easy to look at Salon27 2024 and say WOW, all the awards, all the industry nods, all the clients, the team, the brands, and the space, it is incredible. My husband and I opened Salon27 in 2015 and the road that paved the way was very slow and steady, a quiet building of the brand that it is today. Let me say though, we had a vision, I had a vision of where we would go but that road was slow and honestly for good reason. The first three years netted us not a lot, outside of building a modest client foundation. Clients that had been with me for years and they helped refer and build a business that they trusted as customers, but not a lot of attention from the industry at large or the professionals in it. Out of all the stylists that we asked to leap with me only one agreed and to this day I am thankful every day. There were enough clients to fill 2 chairs and only one brand that agreed to work with us for retail, with contingency. The space was certainly different than it is today to say the least, if you didn’t know it was there, you’d drive by it at 50 mph. In fact, in the early days of Salon27 we had hardship staffing, we would have many stylists be interested in joining our educational driven and technically focused salon but it was the location that ended up being the roadblock time and time again. Stylists want a salon space that feels as elevated and artistic as they are and feel the security or at least presumed security that. You need service providers to scale. Now, yes, the starting location was like a starter home. Low rent, low overhead, not a lot of foot traffic and this was all by design. If I was the only stylist in the operation, we could still cover rent, overhead and keep the lights on, and with not too many passers-by’s we could change operating hours easily without frustrating a lot of foot traffic. At the time I saw that space as a launching pad and couldn’t wait to get to the next level of salon space. We knew the way to save, slow build a foundational team, grow the clients, work shouting our name out there to the professional industry was necessary to prep the long game. Hating the location and the ugly title floors as much as I did then makes me laugh today, because it is now a fondness looking back to see the sweet space, the small team, and the family of guests that we spent 5 years with there and I love it all. Good reminder to appreciate the moment for it is groundwork for your future. At the end of 2019 we were looking at the start of the scale up plan. More team members were on the ride with us, more clients, and industry support had all come from the energy and efforts of networking and making connections happen. Seeking introduction meetings, working with sales consultants so they get to know who we were and what we were about, and attending industry events all started a slight buzz about the tiny salon shouting kinda loud. We knew our last year of our lease was up and we were financially ready to scale up and be able to take the same idea “don’t be house poor” that worked before and level the size of the business up. We also knew we wanted to do it in a visible location to attract even more talent and clients. We started with the idea to build and do it where we could invest in the way we wanted the design and layout to be and wanted to pay to do it right and do it once. That was a great fiscally backed and sound plan and what seemed like low risk, until you fast forward into March of 2020 and the unimaginable happened. Business stopped, for the community, the industry, the world, and what seemed safe and fiscally sound before March 2020 now seemed uncertain scary and really poor timing for a new business build out. We needed a redirect and we also needed a way to reopen with more space for the climate of time and still add more team members to the organization. This is where you make a call in business, and say these are the needs, we are mostly certain that this will work but the world is unpredictable and it could all blow up in our faces. But, you need some risk for the reward. We went house hunting!
It was absolutely known that we could not build anything out and we needed something turn key and moldable for our needs. A catastrophic world event will really put the statement “I really want to trench the floor so that we can have shampoo bowls in the middle of the salon” into a new perspective of “there’s plumbing already great I’m cool with that”. Second good reminder is you don’t need expensive and foolish design decisions to be able to do great service for your customers. It was a time and place that helped us make the decisions that we made but it is listening to your gut and taking a leap knowing you put sound business practices in first that help you open your wings and soar, you grew each one of those feathers to take flight every day before you jumped.
I still pinch myself every day waking up wondering if it was a dream that we made it happen and I know how thankful and wowed I am that we did it and are still doing it.

Know your real limits to be safe financially, recognize what you built for your foundation, one good step of growth leads to another, and trust your gut to help you leap.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you share your bio with us.

Chet and Amber started Salon27 in 2015 in hopes of creating a salon space of exceptional education and impeccable hair. There was one more component that they insisted on, supporting the stylist. It was in the DNA of Salon27 right from the start to make a positive space to help stylists reach their goals and full potential in a thriving culture that benefits the team and the guest. Today with so many amazing stylists working together to provide artistry and craft our salon has grown to new heights and we are always focused on the future, together.

Amber had been working on her hairdressing craft for over a decade before opening Salon27 with her husband Chet. Beginning her career in Tampa, mentoring under a celebrity stylist and former Bumble and Bumble educator, she was introduced to the ‘artistic’ approach of hairdressing. During this time she began to develop her eye for detail all while keeping the hair “loose and free”, working on proficiency of the razor cut and the model perfect blow dry. After returning to her native Arizona Amber set her sights on working with the prestigious Vidal Sassoon Salon. Her time with the company further developed her eye for detail, design, and balance. “Being submerged in the culture of geometric shape and precision cutting technique was life-changing for my career.” Now with the creation of Salon27 Amber brings both her Bumble and Sassoon training together and is creating something special for every client she works with. She continues to be the student learning new techniques to inspire and educate her team of stylists. Amber has traveled all over the US including LA, San Diego, Tampa, Miami, and New York to work her magic and share her passion for the art of hairdressing, educating artistically and salon business.

Today Salon27 is an award-winning salon with a focus on being a community salon for all. Amber leads her team with passion as the number one cultural value. That passion drives every step of the vision of Salon27. Being a salon that is stylist-centric keeps Team27 individual growth thriving and the collective business successful through those efforts. “If I forget what it takes to be a stylist behind the chair, what those needs are, how to be flexible for those changing needs in this ever-evolving industry, then I will just be an owner standing alone in a pretty salon.” It is a continual reminder that is part of the leadership of the salon.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Communication and there is never enough. It is inevitable that business has its ups and downs and morale is susceptible to change along with the waters that rock the boat. There are times that the boat is in calm seas and for some reason morale of the shipmates is anything but calm, that is always an unexpected challenge. It is why the communication must be constant. Touch points must be continuous. Salon27 has a very transparent open-door policy for the needs of the team but that is not enough. You have to make a check in happen and regularly. Team meetings help up stay unified and pumped up as a unit. To celebrate and cheer for each other but also to brainstorm and help us grow together. I take the time to meet face to face with each team member monthly to see what their needs are and remember to ask questions that gain insight to how they are feeling as a valued member of the team. Trust is a large part of healthy communication on both sides from the team to myself and myself to the team and it is lightning fast. The action to ask the hard questions that you might have a natural aversion to critical, this is a lesson that I had to learn the hard way. If you are a rainbow and sunshine human like me you have to be willing to sit in the uncomfortable hard place of someone not being fully satisfied with you or the business you bleed for. These conversations are crucial to deflating an issue before it grows to suffocate the air out of the space and that can happen over time slowly (which is the most painful way) or explode fast and hot. Team based communication or individual communication you must be willing to do what the salon does for the clients it serves, look in the mirror. As a leader I have to be willing to see the ways I have strength and be more than willing to see the flaws that I have. If I can be willing to do that and be verbal about it, I can have a trusting dialogue and if that is present, I can have constructive communication and if that is present, I can have a shot to keep morale elevated. It is a whole lot of care and then creativity that is a large part to keeping these touch-ins fresh and conversationally open. I change the structure of these meetings often and keep them guessing about the layout that we have. Games, stories, treats, new things to celebrate keep the energy level up. Competition and rewards collectively raise everyone up. A popsicle party in the heat of summer, making a playlist of a team members fav songs for the day, social media feature for a level promotion. It is the little moments that matter the most on the near daily that help to support the big efforts that you do throughout the year.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

First and foremost, you have to be able to be a good technical service provider. For many years I knew that as a solopreneur stylist I could cut hair behind a dumpster and I would still be busy. As a salon owner I know that I need to have a team that can collectively and individually do great work for their guests. But the next component as a large salon organization is that we must deliver an experience. That experience is showcased through the teamwork and collaboration that we demonstrate at Salon27. Our guests have multiple team members consulting on their services in our doors. This is an uncommon thing in our industry. Clients are so used to being treated as property on a stylists schedule and that there is a mine mentality that is present in many salons. We take the opportunity to have a group consult where the guest is treated to many ideas on what is best for their needs. More attention to them, more professional input, and more supportive behavior. This is the Salon27 “Total Client Experience”. When you set yourself apart as something different and then deliver on those results while doing it with really great customer care word gets around. People also love to share a new and great experience just as much as they love to share bad ones believe it or not. I am proud to say that our reputation lives and breathes publicly and personally in our Google reviews. It is the sounding board that shares the story of how and why we are different. I respond to every one of them and am truly grateful for the people that share and speak about us to help us grow, it is up to Team27 to continue to do the work to elevate the craft and make the experience happen that we are known for today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.salon27az.com
• Instagram: @salon27az @amberpopehair
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salon27az/
• Other: Salon Today Top 200 – two times running North American Hairstyling Awards Inspiring Salon of the Year finalist – two times 1,029K google reviews – 5 Stars google review salon 27 reviews

Image Credits
Bella Z. Team27 member SM Director