We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Teel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

I opened Rebelle Hair Haus 3 years ago in January 2020. By this time, I had already been a hairstylist for over 10 years. I was currently working at a salon in Hermosa Beach on Pier Ave. It was a cool little joint filled with great talent, good times, and salon family to call my own. As much as I loved the vibe, I was feeling stuck and stifled day in and day out. Being one of the top stylists there for 7 years, I hit the ceiling. I could no longer be the stylist I wanted to be or give my clients the experiences they were craving. If I wanted to keep growing, learning and expanding, I needed to start my own business – MY WAY, ON MY OWN TERMS. Otherwise, nothing would ever change in my life, ever. Personally, I was still this hot mess express on my own healing journey, going through high and lows of bad people, health issues, and navigating through my own stuff. In the middle of chaos, some people cut bangs, or bleach their hair, I’m over here starting my own business.

After years of my inner circle swirling ideas around in my head and begging me to take the leap. I finally did. With the help and advice from one of my closest friends I applied and was able to snag a salon suite at Phenix Salon Suites in Redondo Beach, CA. I couldn’t believe it! LIKE WHATTTT????? Who is this?!!! I did it! I was so excited and so ready for this new journey to begin. Now, it was all on me… everything… just the way I wanted it.

The struggle has been real, but I don’t have any regrets as to the timing, because I needed everything to happen exactly as it did in order to be the person I am now. I had to start in a barbershop, to learn clipper cutting, precise detail work, to move around to different salons, work with different personalities, to immerse myself in color, to connect with clients, to learn bookkeeping … ALL THE THINGS. If I would had started this business years before, I would not have been capable or mature enough to handle all the facets of running a business and still maintaining my mentally sanity.

I am very grateful for all the love and support from clients and friends who started with me 15 years ago. Never have I thought I would have made it this far. No matter what I’m learning or doing for my business, it has all been worth it. It has allowed me to keep expanding into new techniques and services to offer my diverse clientele. This business has helped me grow into the owner and entrepreneur I’ve always wanted to be.

Ashley, 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?

It all started over 20 years ago when I was getting my bachelor’s degree in multimedia design at Loyola Marymount University. I was in love with painting, drawing or anything where I could creatively express myself. Unfortunately, a semester before graduating, I knew that creating art through a computer screen was not for me. I decided to take a semester off to explore new options. I ended up enrolled in Studio Makeup Academy for special effects makeup for the movie studios. In the beginning, I was getting jobs left and right. Of course, the movie industry had a strike and jobs got scarce. If you weren’t in the union, your makeup career was nonexistent during times like that. On the same note, there were a lot of hairstylist positions open for set work. I figured either way I can get more jobs and make more money if I was doing both hair and makeup. So, on a whim, I walked into my local beauty school and signed up. The rest is history. I found my calling.

Fast forward 12 years later and I opened Rebelle Hair Haus. Rebelle is a nod to 80s old school punk rock along with the anti-establishment motto to not conform, stand up, and let your true self shine. I, myself am a leader, not a follower. I am always pushing against the grain, true hustler, and have constantly fought for everything I have and want. I wanted a brand that fit my personality and can grow and change with me as I keep expanding Rebelle into whatever I am at that time. I continuously study new innovative hair techniques for the most luxurious hair experience in my chair. I specialize in true hair transformations. I’m obsessed with lived-in blondes, soft sun kissed balayage, vibrant, fun unicorn hair, and classic gentlemen fades.

My suite is modern glam with a masculine twist. Rebelle Hair Haus has this fun, vintage vibe and is not “just another hair studio., it’s cool- just like me. I break the stereotype of what a regular hairstylist is supposed to be. I take pride that the color and products I use are very high end, plant based, and infused with organic essences and keratin for radiant shine. The brands I stand behind are so clean and gentle that anyone who may suffer from allergens or sensitive skin can use them. I wanted to elevate my brand by not conforming to the usual “trends” that are going on. I step out the box and want all my clients to have, leave and continue to keep their locks luxurious, healthy and strong in-between appointments. I didn’t want clients to have to compromise on quality in order to get the hair they want. I want to change the idea that you have to look like everyone else. Let your hair really bring out your personality. Rebelle Hair Haus is a place to let your down, laugh, relax and have fun. Don’t worry your secrets are safe with me.

Another cool thing about my brand is I have my service dog Whiskey part time at work with me, if he is not in puppy school continuing his training to be the best service dog ever! He is the light of my life that navigates me through life as well as gives lots of love to clients who need a pick me up while getting their service done. I hope you love him as much as I do.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In my personal journey, I had unlearn not having healthy boundaries with people. I kept attracting the same person, different name, different relationship, but always the same person. I had to unlearn that not everyone is your biggest fan or friend even though it seems that way on the surface. In your profession, you grow with clients, you go through the hard times with them, the wedding, kids, jobs, tragedy, the list goes on. You even see them on a weekly to monthly basis, even more consistently than you do your own family. For myself to be a better owner, stylist, and friend, I started letting go of clients and friends who weren’t for my highest good. Not everyone needs to be a bad person to not be a person for you. I replaced all the negativity with healthy boundaries and surround myself with people who love me, support me, and have my best interest in mind. You cannot grow and heal and be the person you want to be when you’re stuck in a toxic environment with people who will not allow you to thrive. For me to be good, I had to put myself in a good place. I had to replace all that negativity with some boundaries to keep me safe, so that I could savor the awesome, amazing moments for myself, and learn that I didn’t have to give every single thing or my whole self to other people.

As an artist on a journey, I am having to unlearn the belief that you just figure it out once and then you start building from there. You don’t figure it out once. You have to figure it out multiple times, over and over again. You keep asking yourself, “What do I want to do? How do I want to create? What kind of stylist do I want to be? What is my niche?” It doesn’t stop. You keep starting over again and it’s hard to stay that one version of yourself all the time. But you also don’t have to do anything but try to be who you really are; you don’t need to do more than that. Stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and learn to water your own grass. Right now, I am ready to play around again and create something different. I love the fact that everything is forever changing, and you can create amazing new things in that moment. I love where I am and I love what I have, but I’m considering looking for a larger collaboration space where I can offer more to my clients, including my own hair products and expanding to an extension salon. That is the beauty of it. You can take one lesson and keep growing
into it.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Starting Rebelle Hair Haus in January 2020, I was one step closer to the dream of opening my own salon because I had just leveled up to my own private suite, doing all new branding, finally coming out with who I really wanted to be and how I wanted to be perceived, with everything I wanted to give back to my clients, and how I planned to grow and improve. I had spent all this money to get started, things were going well, and I truly felt, “this will be awesome.”

When the pandemic shut the world down, everything changed. From seeing 20-40 people per week, I was alone and single in my apartment, in my thoughts, all day every day. This is where I did the deepest healing of my entire life. I finally had the time for self-love, and self-care that I had given you everyone else but me. I got to look at myself and all the things I had been through. It was scary but also very cool, and exciting to peel back all the layers, finally get in tune with myself, and not have to cater to everyone else all day long or put myself last. I also did a lot of online education, business planning and just re-creating new and different things to bring to my business. I lived off of savings and credit cards while I applied for assistance, which didn’t come through until July. By the time we reopened in June, I was desperate to be back at work and try to break even. It was perfect timing starting Rebelle when I did because my clients told me that they wouldn’t have come back to me if I was still at the previous salon with all of the other chairs so close to one another. I would have lost everything; I was so scared and grateful. My clients were beyond excited to come back, “feel normal” again, feel beautiful again, spill all their secrets and start back into a beauty routine.

The pandemic shut us down three times. Every time you think your business is good and thriving, BOOM another shutdown. No one could catch a break. My business was hanging on by a thread. With everything we did and didn’t know about the virus, people were afraid to walk into the suite, asking, “Can I sit here? Can I breathe in here? Is your air purifier on?” Every shutdown included new rules for us to redo our salons, keep up with new health and safety protocols, adjust our scheduling to allow 10-15 minutes between appointments to sanitize and keep people safe, and listen to the same topics of loss and struggle from each of our clients. It was difficult and depressing. People were afraid to leave their homes, but they would get into their cars and come to see me. It was a lot of pressure.
Through it all I knew I couldn’t give up and had to keep fighting. I thank my lucky stars for all the love and support of my clientele wanting beauty services and patronizing my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rebellehairhaus.com
• Instagram: @rebelle.hair.haus
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rebellehairhaus