We were lucky to catch up with Donna Toland recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Donna, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our mission is to make every client as happy as possible. We understand that without customers there is no Boardroom Hairstylists. We also want to make sure that ALL our clients feel LOVED and respected regardless their gender or state of being. Boardroom Hairstylists has three principles when it comes to the art of hairstyling: Knowledge. Creativity. Trust. In this salon, all hairstylists are constantly enhancing their knowledge of the newest trends in haircuts, natural hair, color and treatments, while polishing their classic cuts, coloring techniques, and styles. To achieve this, the Boardroom Hairstylists team has taken expert-level classes from industry leaders nationwide, including private color classes at top celebrity salons and the Goldwell Color Zoom Academy With this foundation in knowledge, each stylist brings their own insight and energy to your service.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Our brand is simple we want to be the best at what we do? Boardroom Hairstylists was established in 1994, this was a lifelong dream of the Toland sisters, Donna and Debbie. Prior to 1994, Donna and Debbie Toland were located in the Savannah, GA working for Joel & Company Hair Salon. There they spent eight years homing their craft after graduating from The Hair Academy, by Joel. Relocating to the Atlanta area they went to work for Regis Hair Salon still pursuing their passion, hair styling. Donna and Debbie very quickly began to establish a large following of clientele and within 4 years Boardroom Hairstylists was opened for business. They both signed the lease, in the Wildwood Office Complex as an amenity to the building, shortly after and never looked back. Debbie after four years moved on her own for family reasons and Donna has been running the show ever since. Boardroom Hairstylists is focused on providing the highest quality hair services for men and women within the Atlanta GA area. With a variety of hair services to choose from, we are sure you’ll be happy booking your hair care appointment with us. We also offer affordable prices that are well received from first time customers to repeating customers. Boardroom hairstylist was created to accommodate all client types by providing a chic and urban feel, yet relaxing and comfortable, as well as offering the best hair product lines available on the market for all hair types. The cornerstone of our success lies in the fact that we understand the importance of outstanding customer service for all clients, from the moment they walk in, to the moment they leave.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I want you to also know that something I didn’t put in our Boardroom Hairstylists bio was that I last September was in ICU for twelve days with covid delta variant. Sepsis and pneumonia in both lungs. What’s amazing was that our salon weathered the storm of initial states and government shutdown for three months until we were allowed to reopen. We followed all safety covid protocol and thankfully were back up and running while steadily getting back to normal.
One day however in September 4 of my stylist called in sick with delta Covid. It happened so fast and I had to scramble to reschedule 40 appointments until we could get everyone back. I only had two stylist that were healthy holding down the fort, then it hit me with a vengeance. At first I thought it was my seasonal allergies. I got tested and found out I and everyone in household had it as well. While all others had mild symptoms or none at all I was becoming worse. Thanks to my husband that came home after a workout and noticed I was not myself or responsive he immediately called an ambulance that upon their arrival found I had a blood oxygen level of 84 with 104 temperature. I had to be on oxygen for three months after leaving the hospital. My husband took over from taking care of me at home to running the the salon operation. My staff had all healed and tested negative and the salon has flourished even with all the events that took place. Thats what I would call resilience. All this happened after we had to shut down the salon after the initial COVID lock-downs mandated by the state of GA. To go through all that and survive and then to get hit again was challenging.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Initial capital came from my savings and acquiring a small business loan, nothing special. The difficult part was finding the right location. We were fortunate to have found a wonderful location in the Wildwood Office Park after it was initially built in 1987. We came along in 1994 as an amenity with what turned out to be amazing landlords that worked with us on a very reasonable rent and build out allowance. They truly wanted us in the office complex and the rest is history. We have been at the same location ever since.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.boardroomhair.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boardroomhairstylists/
• Facebook: https://www.https://www.instagram.com/boardroomhairstylists/facebook.com/boardroomhairstylists/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boardroomhairstylists
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhairstylis?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgHfCHkLSHfdseT43hkJp4w
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/boardroom-hairstylists-atlanta-2

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