We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cristina Manwell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cristina, appreciate you joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

The absolute craziest thing we have dealt with so far was having to delay our grand opening due to a global pandemic. While the world seems to have settled down in some ways, the long term effects of what happened in 2020 has had a profound effect on everyone. When I initially began the planning phase of my space, I thought to myself, “the bigger the better”. We had a very large salon in the area which was opened by a former cosmetology colleague of mine, and they had built a reputation for being the “it” salon. Following the sale of her business, I suspected there was a gap in the market in the immediate area, so I elected to open an almost 5,000sqft oasis. Fast forward three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, we were preparing to finally open. To pay homage to our brand partner and our alignment in environmentally sustainable practices, we planned to open the space Earth Day of 2020. Despite all of the vision, planning, rented storage spaces, meetings, construction and what seemed like an endless amount of deliveries and boxes, it was not to be. We were forced to put our plans on hold, despite our tireless effort to make sure everything was in place and ready to go. Our salon officially opened May 2, 2020 with a working capacity of 10 total people in the building at any given time. This was including service providers, clients and support staff. Given a total capacity of 46 for our space, and the added fact that many people were terrified to leave the house, or commit to being that close to another person outside of their immediate household. Combine that with the fact the shopping center we are located in saw a property tax increase of almost 600% in our first year, it has been a wonder we have survived.

Cristina, 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?

My name is Cristina Manwell, but everyone calls me ‘Cris’. I am a Colorado native and have been a fully licensed Cosmetologist since 2004. I began my career with Sherwood & Co. in Loveland and following their closure in 2006, discovered a love and passion for all things Aveda. I have worked off and on behind the chair ever since. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Personal Finance from Colorado State University in 2015. Following a brief stint working in accounts receivable for a large corporation, I decided the timing was right to pursue a dream which began in beauty school many years prior. At Cristiana Salon Spa we have a passion for delivering a second-to-none guest experience with a team of diverse and skilled individuals. It is such a treat to wake up every day knowing we have the opportunity to change someone’s life and make their day.

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

The most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been a mix of consistency in level of service mixed with the mighty kind of all search engines, Google. Our reviews are very good overall and a majority of our new guests say they heard about us through Google.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Accountability. We have the tough conversations, and ‘deliver the news’ to one another. Our management team strives to not only challenge our team when they might be struggling in a specific area, but offer coaching and solutions rather than criticism. We LOVE our team and want to give them the skill set to thrive in this industry no matter where life may take them. We recently adopted the motto, “Do it until you get it right, and then do it until you can’t get it wrong”. At Cristiana Salon Spa, this is more than just a job, it’s a lifelong career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cristianasalonspa.com/
• Instagram: @cristianasalonspa
• Facebook: @cristianasalonspa
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cristiana-salon-spa/
• Youtube: @Cristianasalonnortherncolorado