We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy Leake. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy below.
Amy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career
I would love to see more emphasis on introducing students to careers in the technical fields.
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 started my career in 1994. I have always loved what I do, but as I grew in my career I knew I wanted to share my passion with a younger generation. I purchased my grandparents old home in 2014 and renovated it to become my own salon. I have loved teaching and mentoring the past few years, while still working behind the chair myself.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Many small salon businesses such as mine lean heavily on employing independent contractors (or booth rentals) as a business model. I learned from taking businesses classes offered through our retail company that this can be a stagnant model with little growth opportunities for staff members. I took the plunge and hired a business consultant in 2016. This decision changed my company’s business model drastically. All staff members became true employees of the company with clear business goals for advancement. This was a huge learning curve for everyone. Using this model, our company continues to increase yearly in sales as well as increasing the opportunity for new staff members while continuing to grow current employees.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe that joining civic groups and giving back to your community truly sets the tone for your business and let’s the community know your are passionate about your purpose. Joining our local Chamber of Commerce and participating in networking events as proven to be beneficial in getting our company name out there as well as the opportunity to share our mission and purpose within our community.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.salon84jasper.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salon84jasper/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salon84jasper/
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/salon-84-jasper