Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chelsie Aiono . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Chelsie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

“The Mane Room” was something I thought about for a long time. I wanted my salon to be the main place for everyone and anyone. I also needed to have it relate to hair as well, hence “mane” like a mane of hair. But I specifically wanted our name to represent every person who wanted to get their hair done and feel beautiful. I wanted someone to see the name on social media and realize that they fit in here and always have a seat at the table. It’s the “main” place for everyone. No matter what you look like or who you are. This is the main place you want to be.

Chelsie, 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?

I had just left my corporate salon job on maternity leave in 2016, I was newly married earlier that year. My husband and I lived with my mom and we were so broke but so determined to start a life for ourselves. After I had my son I couldn’t fathom working 40+ hours behind a chair and barely taking home any money. My husband and I had $350 in our account and i needed $300 to start my LLC, etc.. we really prayed about it and felt it was right to start my own studio to better fit the needs for our little family. We somehow made $50 stretch for 2 weeks, along with the help from our family. We did it. We opened business in 2016.

It was scary. We struggled for a year before we saw any profit, but we hustled and got it done. Fast forward to now, 2022. I’m in my biggest studio I’ve been in with a thriving business. I have my perfect clientele. I work the hours I want to work while getting to be a mom to my now 5 year old son and a wife.

I specialize in balayage, curly cuts, and brunettes. I make sure that EVERY PERSON is comfortable in my salon and that they feel welcomed and wanted there. I come from a beautiful Mexican + Navajo family. On both sides I’ve heard that they sometimes never felt comfortable at a salon because they didn’t know how to do our hair type. THAT really is what drives me to make sure anyone is welcome here in my chair. I want everyone to have that superstar moment when they leave the salon. Everyone deserves that.

I’m most proud of how hard my husband and I worked to get to where we are. We aren’t at our end goal yet, but we are much much closer than we were 6 years ago. It used to be hard for me to be proud of myself sometimes because I feel like I don’t deserve it, but seeing how much we sacrificed and worked our butts off… I can proudly say that we DID IT and are still doing it, and that makes me proud of us. The grinding never stops. Because as we all know, there is no growth in the comfort zone.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

For me, it’s to really make those connections with my clients. Anyone can go anywhere for a cut and color, but they pick YOU specifically to be their “hair person”. I did this when I started doing hair + I still do it now, but I take some key details about each client and keep a note of it in their client file. That way when they come in, I get to talk to them about those little notes I made from the previous visit. It becomes a more personable appointment and shows you’re really interested in them as well and they’re not just a “paycheck” to you. In return, they will always share you to their family and friends and word just starts to trickle. Referrals are the best in my opinion.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I always thought in the beginning that if you didn’t have a lot of followers, that you weren’t a “good hairstylist”. I clearly know now how false that is. Just being your authentic self on social media is the best and main advice I could ever give. People want to follow along for who YOU are. So just be yourself. Don’t focus on the number. That number does not define you or your work.

But I will say, (which I need to personally be better at as well) is posting a few times a week and having people see your face on stories will help those followers come and stay on your page. Post with a purpose.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_themaneroom

Image Credits
@alicia.t.photo @ericalebaronphoto