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

Gabrielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

This is such a beautiful question! It happened to be a day that I was at home sick from work and I decided to make a vision board and journal. At the time I had been working for a hair salon in Austin, Texas and was recently posed with the question from a close friend of mine “If you were to open your own space, What would you stand for as a business owner?” To be honest, I hadn’t really thought of owning my own space, and this felt really empowering. So, I leaned into it and thought.. “WHY NOT DREAM ON IT”.

I started writing over 30 words on a piece of paper, words that I wanted my salon space to embody. From there I circled the words that stood out the most – Inspirational, Intentional, Integrity, Empower, Educate, Environmentally friendly, Sustainable, Soothing, Peaceful, Positive, Relevant, Reputable, Reliable, Gratitude, Grace, and Joy. What I realized immediately was that using the first letter of a few of these words it spelled out “GEM” , my initials. As I continued to play with these words it finally HIT ME- GEMPIRE.. I immediately started crying and something clicked. I am building a GEMPIRE, not just a space for me but something to be shared by all. A space that is built with these words as the foundation and everyone feels welcomed, held, safe and supported. Its a space I knew didn’t exist but was immediately impacted to create,

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

I went a very “non-traditional” route when opening my hair studio space. I wanted to create something that I had desired for myself for so long! A beautiful intimate space that felt safe and soothing. I dreamed of a space that offered Vegan and Non-Toxic hair products, alongside hair color that wasn’t going to compromise our health.

Typically when we think about walking into a salon its VERY stimulating- loud music, conversation, blowdryers, etc. For some, thats totally a vibe. For myself, it became too much-I felt a lot anxiety, and started feeling a lot of pressure from the “hustle culture” of pumping out as many guests as I possibly could in a day. It didn’t feel good, I didn’t feel like I could truly connect with my guest and everything always felt SO RUSHED.

I’ve realized over the years that my super power is that I am a highly sensitive person, very intuitive and deeply connected to my own energy and the energy of others around me. When it came to building out my ideal studio space I wanted it to feel like a warm hug- a space that is quaint, cozy, and relaxing.

The way that I structure my visits with my guests is in a one-on-one studio space environment. A few days before our service together I will send out a Check-in form. The Check-in form gives my guests the ability to structure our hair visit together, not only around their hair needs but their emotional needs. Its important for me to honor each guest where they are at- we all have lives outside of the studio and sometimes we don’t need all the additional stimulation and talking. Sometimes we just need a quiet moment to exist and release time. My guests have really enjoyed the option of a *Silent Visit* alongside energy work and I’m happy to honor them in that space.

My most unique offering includes the use of a Tricho-Derm Scalp Analyzer. The Tricho-derm marries the science nerd in me with the problem solving of scalp challenges. Some may ask, “WHAT THE HECK IS A TRICHO-DERM?!” Great question – its literally a microscope for your scalp! ITS SO COOL!!! Not only do we get to see your scalp up close together but if you’ve been suffering from chronic dry-scalp or dandruff, we get to customize a treatment plan that supports your unique scalp and hair journey. Im here to remind my guests that scalp challenges shouldn’t be something we feel embarrassed or ashamed about, we don’t know until we know.. and a healthy scalp is SO IMPORTANT for optimal cell turnover and hair growth.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

This is a really unique moment for the start of my business. January 2020 I started kicking around the idea of opening my own studio space with the ideal timeline of 6-12 months. I knew I was suffering from the exposure of toxic products being in the salon environment I had continued to work in, but the idea of starting a brand new business didn’t even seen fathomable at the time. I didn’t have the funding, nor did I know there was a way for me to continue in the industry without these high levels of toxic exposure.

I prayed, had long talks with god/the universe and continued to ask for signs along this journey,

Fast forward 4 weeks to the beginning of February 2020, I was aligned with a woman in my industry that had shared her knowledge of non-toxic hair products. FINALLY, something that clicked and FELT GOOD. I jumped right in with the resources she provided me and started educating myself around these products. Within a week, I was paired with her landlord Lori. Lori showed me around the salon suites, heard my story, and encouraged me to make my jump into business ownership by renting my own salon suite. I shared with her that I had $40 in my savings account and that there was “no way” that I could possibly make this work. Lori took one look at me and said ” I know your story, I believe in you and I know you can do it!” She then asked me “If money wasn’t an issue, would you take the opportunity?” I replied “ABSOLUTELY!” and she said “I think thats your answer, however I am going to give you 48 hours to think about it.”

Fast forward 24 hours, I panicked and told Lori “Its not the right time, Ill touch base in a few months! Thank you for the opportunity.”

24 hours after that- IMMEDIATE regret! AND I received the sign and confirmation I needed to GO FOR IT. Luckily, Lori was on the other end with full support ecstatic to offer me this opportunity.

Within 2 1/2 weeks the salon space was completely renovated and blossomed with support all around me. I told one person about my Amazon Wish-List and it spread like wild fire. I was beside myself as packages continued to show up with everything I needed to start my business successfully. I had invested in my health and selected haircare products that were going to offer me the ability to safely perform color without getting sick or breaking out with an allergic reaction.

GEMPIRE Holistic Hair Company is truly enriched with so much love, every corner of that space has a story and deep meaning, This experience wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my friends, family, and beautiful community.

Really this is a unique story about how people came together to help make a dream come true. There was no capital, there was no savings, there was only support, love and an undeniable trust that this was the best move for me.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

YES! I had just opened the doors of my new business on February 22, 2020 so a few weeks later when we were shut down I had to think QUICK! My Virtual Hair experiences are something that blossomed in the midst of the Pandemic. I ended up offering my guests the option to schedule a sliding scale Virtual Session where they could choose to learn about holistic hair products or we could use that session to learn a new skill. Maybe that was navigating their hot tools (blow dryer, curling iron, etc) or maybe they needed to learn how to trim their bangs because they were getting too long. I noticed very quickly how deeply I enjoyed this connection and how incredible it was that I connect with my current guests but I was also being connected to some of their family members in different states. Virtual Hair Experiences have been a staple offering- not everyone was properly taught how to apply product to their unique hair texture, use hot tools, or understand what holistic products best support their hair and lifestyle.

My deepest passion: Empowering my guests with education about their unique holistic hair journey so they can go into styling with the tools they need and continue to radiate confidence as we continue to build on that foundation from session to session. None of us were ever properly taught, so giving my guest the floor to ask questions and continue to be curious as they grow their knowledge is such a JOY to experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: gempirehairco.com
• Instagram: GEMPIRE_HHC
• Facebook: GEMPIREHHC
• Yelp: I prefer Google – GEMPIRE Holistic Hair Company
• Other: TikTok: GEMPIRE_HHC

Image Credits
Ashley Noble owner of Aresana Imagery