Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christina Kirkey . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Christina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Pinup Studio was a dream my father and I had when I was in cosmetology school at 18 years old. While in cosmetology school my father unfortunately took his life which left me kind of in limbo on what to do next. I debated not going back because I had so many emotions much of which were anger. I did end up finishing and working at multiple salons in the area for about 4-5 years learning what I liked and didn’t like about salons and how I would one day run my own. That still was the dream but I had no idea how it even be possible. I had kind of just hoped to find a salon home I loved being at, after the final salon I worked at for about a year ended up coming to a mess ending I was so frustrated, I didn’t want to start over at another salon, meet new coworkers and lose more clients. I finally decided if this was it I was going to try and do it on my own or I was going to pursue another career. 2015 I opened my owned studio for almost four years I learned & failed on many things but I kept growing and pushing and staying extremely relevant on social media, at networking events, anything I could do I did until it got to the point i simply couldn’t take anymore clients. So what was my mission in expanding? Building a place for all women to come as they are, perfectly imperfect. I wanted to create a high-end salon without the stuffiness of your generic salons that don’t give you the warm and fuzzies. If you want to come in dressed to the nine or in sweats and no makeup you’re going feel comfortable in here. I wanted to create a space that specially worked close and hard with their staff to give them the work life balance I always craved but also the support on the back end, the knowledge behind the what’s and the whys. My personal mission is empowering stylists and taking care of them, if I am properly taking care of them then they will properly be taking care of our guests and that exactly what has happened here at Pinup Studio
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Born and raised here in Raleigh, I was your typical girly girl. I loved creating my own salon and spa at home, making my mom and dad sit as I painted their nails, applied their makeup and played with their hair. As I got older, I turned to my friends as my guinea pigs. The closer to graduation I knew the path I was going to take would not be your average teenagers. Graduating high school early to attend cosmetology school jump started my life. While in cosmetology school I had a dream to open up my own salon with my dad. Although I lost my dad halfway through school I still had the mission of fulfilling our dream. After getting my feet wet and working in multiple salons, I opened my own one chair studio in 2015. For three years, I learned, grew, failed and grew some more so that I could figure out exactly the type of salon and culture I wanted to create. In December 2018, I expanded from a one chair studio to a 10 chair salon, which was previously a male owned barbershop. After meeting with the owner, Randy, and explaining to him my love for pink, he agreed to sell it to me. Randy is still a stylist at Pinup Studio and he also now loves pink. From there we have again, learned, grew, failed and grew some more. Since our expansion we have become fully staffed, not only in salon but also adding on a freelance team to help with our bridal department. We have a staff I could only dream of with genuine people here to create magic and a safe place for everyone. A badass girl gang keeping their arms wide open to any trial that comes our way and ready to embrace everyone in our circle.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2020 much like every business we all had to learn how to pivot. We are a hair salon so at first thinking we’d be closed for one month seemed…stressful but we could make it. However, after week two we were getting restless and I think more of the overall stress set in. From here we pivoted to going on fakebook lives to simply do some fun product knowledge with our guests, we also would give many styling tips and tricks they could play around with at home! We started this so get them more comfortable with knowing what they were doing at home. From there we hosted our first ever Facebook Live sale like clothing boutiques do but for products and hot tools. We raised right under $5,000 we spent the next month which turned into two months offering pick times for products as well as at home product drop offs in the area. We also created at home root touch up kits for all our grey coverage clients at home where we customized each kit and they had all instructions and the tools to be able to stay covered for all their zoom meetings. Lastly we set up in a local boutique our second month only selling and teaching all about professional hair products until we could finally open our doors. This was such a surreal experience and completely shifted our business to be a little more product forward to help with increasing our income.
Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses
We actually bought the business we are now in. This use to be Shear Alternatives and was predominantly a barbershop. The seller was a 70-year-old man who had been in business over 20 years and still wanted to do hair but was looking to get out of ownership so he could gain his freedom. I had been ready to expand and move and this barbershop somehow came up on my Facebook feed and I was honestly just curious, I had no plans to purchase it…until I saw it, met the previous owner and everything just seemed to feel right. The whole process took about a month and was fairly simple because the owner and I worked great together and had a good understanding of what we wanted. I moved from my one chair solo studio to a 1,500 square foot brick & mortar. The previous owner does still work here and we have a great relationship. I have completely transformed his barbershop in our own pink paradise. However, after purchasing a business I have learned what might be value to one might not be of value to another, much of what he claimed to be of value simply wasn’t for me so a lot was moved out/sold etc. I also learned if there are certain things you want done prior to moving in you should go over that. Buying a business was not like buying a new home where you move into an empty clean space, this salon needed multiple serious deep cleanings before we could do much. Nevertheless I loved my process and now know more going forward on what to look and ask for.
Contact Info:
- Website: www,pinupstudionc.com
- Instagram: pinupstudio_nc
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/pinupstudionc
Image Credits
Cherielynnephoto & brandiebardphoto