We were lucky to catch up with Chee Symon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chee , thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Listen, who you see now and the business you see today were not always here. Everything started way before I even knew what business was. As a child, when people would ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”—I never had a traditional job answer. But I always had a purpose answer. I would say, “I want to help people.”

That was so broad at the time. Growing up in South Carolina, all I saw were teachers, doctors, lawyers, preachers, and the folks around my neighborhood. I knew I wanted to help people—but I also had expensive taste. After visiting Atlanta for the first time at nine years old and seeing a Bentley in person, with somebody who looked like me driving it, something clicked. I thought, Oh, whatever I end up doing, it’s gotta help people AND fund this lifestyle.

My mom told me that if I wanted a cell phone, I needed to make my own money. So at 11 years old, I got creative. I called one of my neighborhood friends over and asked to do her hair. After perfecting doll styles for years, I figured doing it on a real person couldn’t be that hard. I gave her the best flat twist and hard bump combo my little hands could manage. That thing was stiff—but she was done!

Then her mama sent her back…with $10. And then sent herself. And then my mom’s coworkers started coming. Before I knew it, I was servicing the majority of the women in my town, right from my great-grandmother’s dining room. That was my first salon suite, and I didn’t even know it.

I went off to college thinking I’d become a pediatrician… then switched to business law… until I finally decided to pivot and enroll in cosmetology school. That decision shifted everything. That’s when I birthed being a salon owner. That’s when the idea became real. I started selling hair, creating products, and branding everything with my signature phrases and flavor.

From age 11 to 19, I grew that business until it was time to make another big move—I packed up and moved to Atlanta. Let me be honest, though: the beginning was rough. I had no clients for the first three months. I was so broke, I’d check old purses for quarters just to get a McDouble. Real glamorous, right?

My first job here was as a salon assistant, and that’s when the doors started creaking open. I got the chance to assist amazing stylists, work behind the scenes, and get a real taste of what building a brand in Atlanta looked like. I was hustling—hard. But being an assistant barely paid $250 a week, if I got paid. That was not what I was used to—back home, I was touching $1,000 with ease.

But I wasn’t called to do what was easy—I was called to grow. So I kept going. I picked up a job at a pizza shop (lasted a week, honey), and another job at a luxury boutique in Buckhead, the designer district of ATL. That retail job, combined with assisting at one of the hottest salons in the city and working with celebrity clients, stretched my vision big.

Eventually, I saved just enough to cover the deposit and first month’s rent for a salon suite. That’s when I stepped into it. I built out the space, housed my product line, and curated an entire experience—even though I didn’t have a full book of clients yet. That season is when I birthed being a salon owner for real.

At the time, I didn’t realize I was building all of this from a place of survival. But my dream? That’s what I knew would save me. And then, ironically, when things actually started working—I got scared. I shut everything down and went back to working full-time retail. I considered going back to school. I thought maybe I should just be “normal.” But it dawned on me: I was already a full-time entrepreneur. It was all on me. And I was scared, baby!

During that year, I was still doing hair, but I was traveling all over the city to clients’ homes. If you know Atlanta traffic, you already know what kind of circus that was. I realized it was time to stop running around and step fully back into my salon owner era.

Then the pandemic hit—and I had just signed a lease for my first commercial salon space three months prior. But instead of panicking, I grounded myself. I went into full manifestation mode. I was juicing every day, eating clean (a.k.a. eating at home), connecting with my people online, creating new products regularly, and building a new version of my CheePire I didn’t even know existed.

When the world opened back up, I didn’t just go back—I leveled up. By the end of 2021, I went from that little 328 sq. ft. suite to a 1,000 sq. ft. salon loft. It housed me, my assistant/braider, and a lash tech. I didn’t always know what I was doing, but I figured it out step by step.

If I needed a license to get into a store? I got it.
If I needed insurance to secure a lease? I handled it.
If the space felt too small? I found a bigger one.

I never zoomed out too far. I stayed zoomed in—that kept me aligned and moving forward.

Now, I’m applying that same process to my next big dream: launching my visual podcast and talk show.

It’s the same formula. I zoom out just enough to catch the vision. Then I zoom all the way in and take it one step at a time.

First: What is this?
Why do I want it?
Who is it for?
And most importantly—how do I want it to feel?

Feeling is my jam. That’s how I determine the way people experience me—and anything I create.

Chee , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi Beautiful! I’m Chee Symon—a balance-driven strategist, wellness entrepreneur, speaker, and multi-passionate creative who believes that life is meant to feel yummy. I help women and beauty professionals reconnect with their core, create lives of ease and flow, and scale their businesses without sacrificing their peace.

I started my career behind the chair as a hairstylist in my grandmother’s dining room in a small town in South Carolina. By the age of 17, I opened my first salon. I built my beauty business from scratch in Atlanta, navigating the highs and lows that come with entrepreneurship—burnout, imposter syndrome, reinvention, and rediscovering who I was outside of hustle culture. These experiences led me to launch AURCO, a lifestyle wellness brand rooted in healthy hair, clean beauty, and cozy luxury—and most recently, The HER Project, a coaching and storytelling movement helping women become the boldest, most grounded versions of themselves.

Through my work, I now offer coaching programs, signature retreats, podcast episodes, and immersive experiences that help women cultivate balance and align with the life they truly want to live. I also teach beauty professionals how to scale their services, develop digital products, and launch programs with intention and sustainability. One of my signature talks and podcast episodes—“Becoming Her: Make Shi(f)t Happen”—inspires women to reinvent themselves without shame and make radical shifts, even when it feels scary.

I’m most proud of the way I’ve turned personal breakdowns into blueprints for breakthrough. My brand is built around truth, softness, and strategy—with a splash of edge. I’ve created a lane where ambitious women don’t have to choose between impact and inner peace. Whether I’m on a podcast mic, teaching a business class to hairstylists, leading a yoga flow, or planning my next event, the intention is the same: to bring people home to themselves.

If you’re seeking inspiration to pivot, balance, or build something that reflects your truth, you’re in the right place. I’m not here to fix you—I’m here to remind you that you are the blueprint. Let’s make shi(f)t happen.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Absolutely—right now, in this very moment, I’m living in the middle of a powerful pivot.

About three years ago, I found myself growing frustrated. I’ve always genuinely loved helping women, but I felt boxed in. People kept telling me to “just stick to doing hair,” like that was the only lane I could thrive in. So, as an act of rebellion, I stepped into coaching. I launched a boutique coaching business specifically for beauty professionals—and even though I only signed one client, I still felt chained to the beauty industry. Something inside me kept whispering, you’re meant for more.

I knew I wanted to reach women—not just beauty pros, but women navigating big transitions, seeking deeper alignment, and craving balance and truth. So I pivoted again. I started coaching women in general—no clarity, no niche, just vibes. And that led to burnout. I was pouring from a place of confusion, not conviction, so I eventually stopped coaching altogether.

Fast forward to now: I’ve reentered this space with full clarity, intention, and flow. I created The HER Project, a movement born from one of my most honest podcast episodes on The Balance Bank. It’s no longer about reaching “every woman”—it’s about speaking directly to the woman I once was. The one trying to find herself again, make a shift, and do life on her terms.

This pivot wasn’t overnight. It was layered, messy, and filled with growing pains—but it’s led me to a purpose that finally feels like home.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Capital—such a funny word. I’ve always been what some would call a bootstrapper. I started my business really young with no real understanding of business capital or funding strategies. If I had to give it a label, I’d call it crowd-funding with a twist. I poured every dime I earned from doing hair right back into my business.

But as I got older and life started lifing—bills, responsibilities, adulting—I had to get creative. That’s when I started leveraging what I now call family capital. We all have that one “rich uncle” we can call in a crunch—for me, I was blessed with two. Both successful businessmen, both pivotal to my growth.

One of them is the no-nonsense type—limited time, straight to the point. He taught me the power of a solid 30-second pitch: What do you need, how much, and what’s the return? That lesson alone shaped how I speak about my ideas to this day.

With their support, I was able to invest in marketing post-pandemic, which helped me grow my business significantly. That momentum opened the door to receiving working capital from platforms like Square—and that’s when I truly began building with structure, strategy, and sustainability.

My funding journey wasn’t traditional, but it taught me how to be resourceful, how to pitch, and how to confidently ask for what I need. And honestly? That’s the kind of capital that keeps paying off.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bio.site/thecheesymon
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheesymonn/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cheesymonn

Image Credits

Trinity D. Morton