We were lucky to catch up with Ariana Sweeney recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ariana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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?

The AB Salon’s mission is to create an educational hub for all of Columbus. Our space is very versatile so we like to use it to our advantage by hosting educational events. We don’t only invite our stylist but we open our doors to all stylist around Columbus. Our industry is ever evolving with social media driving it. It cost money and time away from our chairs to try to stay current. So we really try to bring in new inspiration to make it easy for stylist to continue to love what they do.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Ariana Sweeney I am the owner of The AB Salon. I like to think I started in the industry around age 3. I don’t think there was anything else that could compete with my love for hair and the beauty industry. Although it has always been my passion I did attend college first and received a 4yr Bachelors in Apparel Merchandising and Marketing. Before graduating I knew Cosmetology school was sure to follow.

This is not an easy industry. If you want to be the best and create your dream you have to work for it. There are hours upon hours that stylist spend on their feet making people feel beautiful. There is a drive that talented stylist get that pushes them to build that clientele. Which is what I think sets my style apart. I believe in a healthy balance of the client is always right and protecting my employees. At The AB Salon we build trust with our team. We want our team to offer services that bring them joy, to prevent them from getting burnt out. Because of that we are able to offer our stylist the best services with the most care.

The AB Salon will always be up to date about trends because we believe in education and continuing to grow with the industry. We will make sure you are 100% satisfied with your service. Thats our brand.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first started in this career I was young and hungry to grow. I worked late hours, came in on my days off, did whatever it took for me to be the best and build the best clientele. But as life goes on things change. I started the journey of building my own salon over a year ago. At the time I was pregnant due 3 months after opening which happened to be a month after the holiday rush. With a new team and salon I was trying to navigate making sure everything was running smoothly. When I had my daughter I, like many mothers, dealt with the battle of my time home with her and my time with my clients. I think a lot of people can relate in our industry. My daughter is almost a year and I am constantly learning and evolving choosing work life balancing that keep my head on straight and be able to give the best version of myself to my staff but most importantly my husband and daughter.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of clients for us is word of mouth and social media. It is proven that if you give a service and your client falls in love there is no doubt they will pass the word on. I believe our clients are our billboards. If they are unhappy they will project that. So we do our best at our salon to make sure everyone love their service or we do our part to fix it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theabsalon.com
• Instagram: @the_ab_salon

Image Credits
@joyinphotos