We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anna Roze. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anna below.
Anna, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
Getting your hair done is the one appointment on the calendar most people don’t dread to go to. When my client’s walk in the door they become my guest and they are as happy to see me as I am to see them. With that excitement and optimism comes the burden of never having a bad day; because who wants to see a grumpy stylist? No one. Guests want to sit back and relax with a glass of wine and leave feeling pretty and happy. The better I treat myself, the better I’m able to treat my clients. This also includes creating consistent boundaries as to when I am working and when I am not. Taking time to go for a run, a weekend away or even a random day off to catch up on laundry and a good book, has created a mindset that I am not a servant to my clients that doesn’t have the power to say no. Instead, I have a fun and adventurous life that brings interesting topics to chat about when my guests are in my chair. When you are at your best and fully engaged with someone it is felt by both people. When a new guest comes in, its like a first date. You are both having to do an excellent service as well as be a likeable person. If I am well rested, fed and at my best, I excell at my craft. When I am tired, hungry and not taking care of myself, my guest can feel the lack of energy and although my craft my not necessarily suffer customer service will. Being at my best, both physically and having a healthier mindset allows me to service myself and others as best I can and as best as I would expect of myself
Anna, 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?
My name is Anna Katherine Roze and I have been a licensed cosmetologist for 10 years. This is not the career I ever planned or imagined to have, but like so many things fell into my lap and took off successfully. I went to an all girl Catholic high school that never introduced a trade as an educational option, instead I went to Cal Poly Pomona with a future set on working in the fast paced fashion industry. After receiving my Bachelor’s degree, and a few years of working in Los Angeles, I decided to move to New York City. NYC is my favorite place on Earth. Through my time there I worked in apparel manufacturing and began to love the city, but detest fashion. I was completely out of control of my own career growth and its earning potential. Fashion in the big city was absolutely not what I thought it was going to be.
While in college, I managed a hair salon as a part time job and loved it. It was social and fun. Fashion was stressful and solitarily lonely. At the salon, I was urged by many of the stylists to go to beauty school and get my license, but I shrugged it off thinking I needed a ‘real job’. Boy was I wrong. While miserable at my production job in New York, I started a styling night class at Parsons and really enjoyed going back to school. After a friend of mine mentioned “Hey, what about doing hair.” I finally gave it a second thought. I applied and was accepted to the Aveda Institute New York and started school a few weeks later, I remember the admissions counselor telling me I had 10 days to decide if I wanted to continue or get out of my contract. Within 3 days I was in love. With my business administration background I was able to network and lure my friends in as models and clients to school and catch on to the education of cutting and coloring hair really quickly. After a few months I decided to transfer from NY to CA and move home to finish my hours. I started as an assistant within a month of getting my license and stayed there for 7 years. In my time there I assisted the owner and became part of the management team. Seeing the ins and out of the business was priceless and taught me so many valuable lessons.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, my friend and I decided to leave the large salon for a salon suite which is much smaller, and gave us more control over our environment and contact with others. Going out on our own was much easier than I ever thought it would be. We give our guests a VIP experience with one on one appointments that are both personal and skillful. I do feel like our guests, feel like they are coming to hang out with a friend more than have a service provided. I am most proud of the fact that a lot of my guests have been with me since the beginning. They have seen me grow from an assistant to a stylist and now as a business owner. And even better, they keep wanting to know what the next step is? A bigger business? Employees? They are excited for the growth.
In the past few months I have taken on a job teaching at a city college cosmetology program and rather than guests being upset that I have taken away some salon hours, they are excited for my new opportunity and are flexible with appointments and genuinely happy for me. They want me to be successful, just as much as my own friends and family do. I suppose that what I want my guests to know, is that I appreciate them more than they will ever know. They are my livelihood and without their support I wouldn’t be able to achieve my goals. My advice to any business person is to treat your guests like your family. They are not a burden, but the heart of your business. I pride myself on my relationships, both in and out of my business.
Each part of my career has felt like an easy transition from one opportunity to the next. Because I didn’t have my career mapped out with an ‘end goal’ I never really knew where it would take me. Now, I know my hard work has opened these doors and I don’t give luck any credit, I do like to say that being open and willing to receive what the universe has in store for you is important. Be smart, kind and say yes. That is my core take away from my years of experience.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Word of mouth is gold. Hands down. But everything I do in my business is to motivate my guests to share my business with people in their lives. Instagram is great as a portfolio of sorts, so when a potential new client hears about me, they can see my style and decide if they’d like to book with me. I also, send out a monthly newsletter to all of the clients of the salon, to keep them up to date on what’s happening in the salon; a fun new technique or product recommendation, as well as a reminder to schedule that next appointment or grab that product they need. But instagram posts and yelp or google reviews will never bring in a new client as quickly as someone giving their trusting recommendation to a friend. That kind of credibility is priceless, and I am always highly flattered when a new guest walks in my doors and says “(Name) told me to come see you because your the best.” There is no better feeling in the world.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
2022 was the hardest year of my life. I had been married for 2 years and we had been trying to grow our family and it just wasn’t working. I learned in 2022 that I was going to need help in my fertility journey and after surgery on my fallopian tube, and one round of IVF, children just weren’t going to happen for my husband and I. It sucks. Yes, there are other ways to have children but as a 40 year old woman I am just not up for that kind of challenge. Instead I took a hard look at myself and what it is I want out of having children and what I can do with this maternal yearning I have inside. I want to help women succeed. In an industry that only requires a 10th grade education, an average salary of $30K/year and where the few men have the most notoriety, women need a boost. I want to be a mentor to young women starting their career. I became a cosmetology school instructor to empower my students to earn and fight for the career they want. They deserve the success they strive for. In my business, my business partner and I disagree about all sorts of things, but one thing we do agree on, is taking on apprentices or assistants and helping them learn how to be successful hair stylists. Not only with a great cut or color service, but how to grow a clientele, how to manage boundaries with guests and how to save for a rainy day and eventually retirement. Just because one doesn’t have an MBA doesn’t mean a lucrative business is out of reach. A little hard work goes a long way and helping others become their best self and seeing that change is the most gratifying feeling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.houseofriaz.com
- Instagram: @annakatherineroze
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HouseOfRiaz/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/house-of-riaz-pasadena?osq=house+of+riaz
- Other: https://house-of-riaz.business.site/
Image Credits
Michael Timmons michaeltimmons.photography