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

Hi Elsa, thanks for joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

I grew up with a mom who is an entrepreneur that leads with her heart. While she and I are very different people in many ways, she taught me the value of viewing each client as an individual. As a realtor, she connected with her clients on a deeply personal level; she knew their families, their lives, their challenges, their finances. I realized she had a deeper, more personal investment in the people she worked with. She learned how to help in pretty much any situation her clients were in, because she took the time to educate herself on loans, credit, the market, and the neighborhoods she served in a way that went above what was expected of her. There were times where I would ask her why she was putting so much effort into one client, why she was accepting a lower commission, why she was doing so much research on this loan or another. She would just shrug and say, “People need a place to live; it’s my job to help them find one.” These were values that stuck with me. As I grew up and started my career, I saw in other salons how clients sometimes felt like “just a number”-just another head of hair for the stylist to crank out. A lot of salons focused on client volume; getting clients in and out as quickly as possible in order to serve the maximum number of guests per day. I’m a businesswoman, and I care about profit just like anyone else; for me, however, the salon always carried a sort of magic. The opportunity to sit down with my hairstylist and talk about life, school, my day, and feel understood and heard, was something that felt unique to the salon experience. Walking into the salon and hearing the stylists and clients chat and laugh, and hearing the blow dryers roaring felt like a homecoming. Every time my stylist shampooed, cut, or blow dried my hair, I felt like a new person. For an hour I felt like the most special person in the world. How could anyone have that feeling as a client if they’re treated like “just another head of hair”?
My goal with Splash of Red has always been to foster genuine connections between myself and the community I serve. Having a private salon setting makes this super easy; it’s just myself and my client. I prioritize learning about my client as a person; we discuss their lifestyle, their schedule, their music tastes (it tells you SO much about a person!) how often they want to be at the salon, their day to day responsibilities. I make the visit comfortable with an array of amenities, including snacks, drinks, and streaming services. By the time I finish highlighting or cutting or coloring, my client has usually turned into a friend!
Being a stylist has offered me the chance to meet so many different people and learn so much from them; I”ve celebrated, cried, and hoped with these people. I’ve been there when they graduate or get a dream job offer; I’ve watched new romances turn into enduring love and marriage, and I’ve watched families grow. I’ve supplied ice cream and a listening ear through bad break ups and bad life news. It is the biggest privilege of my career, and it’s the most important part of my job.

Elsa, 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?

When I was a kid, my mom caught me (on…multiple occasions…) cutting my own hair. I insisted that if I wanted to be a hairstylist one day, I HAD to practice. Since Barbie’s hair didn’t grow back after I cut it, I was starting to run out of options.

My whole life I’ve been fixated on two things-making people happy and creating art. I’ve found that the creation of art often leads to the happiness of people. I mean, who isn’t starstruck by a neon, blacklight reactive mohawk? And yeah, I’ve done that.

I grew up wandering art museums, and at home I was head event planner-Barbie fashion shows and American Idol performances with hairbrush microphones were held weekly, and attendance was required. As a professional stylist, I’ve planned and hosted two hair shows, and while in beauty school at Ogle I planned production for two others. I’m a cat mom, a go getter, a closeted poet, and above all (excluding being a cat mom), I’m an artist.

Nowadays, my art is centered around seamlessly blended blondes and color correction. I’m the girl you call after your home color job goes awry, or when you want to be blonde but you don’t want a high maintenance salon schedule. My guests love the way I do their hair because I formulate a unique color for each of them. Just like no two people are alike, neither are two heads of hair. Treating my client as an individual, from our professional relationship down to my color formulations, really builds a bond of trust between us.

Color is everything to me-it’s confidence, it’s creativity, and it’s ultra personal. I remember when I used to box dye my hair, and how amazing I felt when it turned out right- you could not tell me ANYTHING! I also remember how I felt when it (more often than not) went horribly wrong, and I had to go to my stylist with my tail between my legs. The right color makes you hold your head a little higher. When I’m able to see a visible and positive change in the way my client feels, I know I’ve nailed the color and it’s the best feeling.

I like to think of appointments as “artistic collaborations”. My clients and I work together to realize their hair dreams, and it all starts with a conversation. Do you prefer warm tones? Cool tones? How cold can you stand your shower water? I use a detailed personal profile to create a look that is unique to you and can be modified to match your ever-changing style.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn quite a few things as I progressed in my career, but the biggest lesson was about service timing. I was trained by veteran stylists who spent their time behind the chair with the mantra “time is money”. They taught me methods and skills to make sure I completed services as quickly as possible. The goal was always to provide a beautiful service while simultaneously beating the clock. Speed has never, in any capacity, been my strong suit. I often regretted trying to move quickly through the hair, especially when I would blow dry and see that neither myself or my client was happy with the end result. It occurred to me that trying to save 20 minutes here and there could mean an extra hour later trying to get the result desired in the first place. As balayage and more blended blondes became more and more trendy, people became more comfortable spending a little extra time in the chair. I realized that is was okay, and even necessary at times, for a highlight to take a little longer than 2 hours.
The more time I allowed myself to focus on the details, the happier my clients were. This resulted in less maintenance too; my clients have no problem sitting for a four hour highlight if it means they don’t need a touch up for three months.
This also gave me more time to connect with my clients on a personal level; we had more time to chat, get to know each other, and build a relationship.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Everyone probably has a similar story of resilience when it comes to navigating the global pandemic we are currently in. 2020 challenged me in ways I never expected, which is probably true for a lot of people.

I remember finishing up at the salon as I got a news notification on my phone that all salons were to close by the end of the day. Thinking I would probably be back to work in two weeks, I left the salon and rescheduled my upcoming appointments. The quarantine extended, and it became clear that I didn’t know when I would be able to return to work or earn an income.
My biggest fear was losing touch with my clients; I worried that if we were out of the salon for months (as luck would have it, it was about two months before I could return to the salon), I would lose the relationships I had built with my clients. I realized I had to pivot and find a way to still show up for my clients without risking their health or my own.

I started with doorstep deliveries-my clients would text me or call me with a list of hair products they needed (mainly shampoo, conditioner, and dry shampoo), and I would deliver from the stock I had access to. From there, I offered zoom consultations. Clients and prospective clients could pay $20 for half an hour one on one with me to talk about their hair; we’d discuss what they wanted to do at their next appointment, ways to care for their hair at home, and styling tricks to keep them looking fresh in work meetings over zoom. I even used zoom to coach a few clients through haircuts on their kids! On the side, I was making video content for my Instagram to entertain my clients or teach them easy hairstyles and routines. When quarantine ended, I was fortunate enough to be able to return to work with my full book of clients and make up for lost income and time, and I attribute that to fostering relationships with my clients even when we couldn’t be in the salon.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.splashofredhairstudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/splashofredhairstudio/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/splash.of.red/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/splash-of-red-hair-studio-ft-worth

Image Credits
Abby Pfaff, Alejandro Torres