We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gianni Marmo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Gianni, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?
I think very consistently during my slower periods what would it be like to have a job with a paycheck that I could predict. There are sometimes multi week spans where I panic and internalize what my career looks like and if I’m even good at it. Since I am now self-employed in two cities, I am fully responsible for the well-being of my business. Rent must get paid regardless of slowness. I go through this all the time, and I don’t know if it ever stops. Being a creative is hard! But I have these incredible bouts of an upswing in creativity, outcome, and business that reminds me how fortunate I am to do what I do. I have no clue what I would do if I wasn’t a hairstylist, and the prospect of leaving the industry isn’t as realistic as people think it is. I’m so used to being independent and running myself on my time that a normal 9-to-5 seems suffocating for someone like me. I try to take deep breaths when I’m slower and remind myself that so much of the way things are are out of my control as long as I show up to do my best, I utilize my social media presence, and I’m attentive to my inbox. I believe the pros significantly outweigh the cons of being a business owner, and I’m happier doing this as I am connected to every aspect of my career than I would be doing pretty much anything else.
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?
I grew up in the industry, my mother is an esthetician. My father is a creative for a living as well. He’s a graphic designer and for many years growing up I thought I wanted to be one as well. A salon has always been such a fun place for me. I loved the smells and the noise and the heat as I would walk through the camaraderie to get to the basement where my mom’s room was always located. I was greeted by every stylist and I loved how friendly and social everyone was to me. I never felt out of place at a salon.
When I was in school, I was a gifted child always in advanced placement classes. I love structure and a challenge and was very successful as a writer through my preliminary education and collegiate career, as well as a classical musician and competitive athlete. There are correct ways to do things and rules to follow in academics, but rules can be broken when you know them intimately. I think this is why I love hair so much now and why it translates so well for me. I am a very type A person and love a rule, but I’m rebellious and outspoken and I will break one if it makes more sense to do it my way. Hair is the cross-section between art and science. I also love how I’m always growing as a professional and artist.
I began my interest in hair when I discovered emo music in the 2000s. My 8th grade to 9th grade school photos are HUGE leaps. Highlights in one, to a black shag with thick bangs in the other. Hair became the way I expressed myself and what music I was into. I rocked a lot of short hair and different colors throughout my adolescent years, I sometimes feel like quite the chameleon even now. I went to a performing arts high school where everyone around me also loved to experiment with their looks, but because I had access to hairstylists and people I could ask questions on how to do things, my friends really let me have fun with their hair. Mohawks, heavy side bangs, teal stripes, full heads of pink. From a very early age I was doing my friends’ hair. I loved it. I knew that at some point I would become a stylist, and I knew what I would be good at.
I started my independent journey with a mental health focus in mind in 2021. I left an extremely toxic salon with a leader that was compromising everyone’s well beings, which pushed me into my vision of practice. I am extremely transparent about my own journey and struggles that people seem to really appreciate. I am very trauma informed and am huge with consensual tough. Hair is such an intimate thing that I want every person to feel heard, listened to, and seen with me. I have had clients tell me because I am so open about my life that I have become an integral part of their own recovery. I’m proud that 10 years into my career that my clients know I’m like a built-in hype person/sister. I am so honored to be so close with so many people. I have attended weddings, graduations, plays, parties, these huge life events for my clients. They are apart of me. They can count on me to be realistic and always seeing them as people. I excuse cutting their own bangs or coloring their own hair because doing your own hair is fun so much of the time. I’m happy to purchase professional color and educate someone through that process because I am a special treat for a handful of people and I would rather have my clients do their hair the correct way so when it comes time to see me, it’s less invasive and expensive. I think that’s what has set me apart for my entire career. I always encourage to touch your own hair, just know what the consequences could be if its done unfavorably. My clients appreciate this about me, I won’t push you but I will guide you to prioritizing yourself and good quality hair/self care. I’m really proud of the person I am as a stylist, I feel so much more than just someone who is doing a job. I AM so much more than a hairstylist to a lot of people. I feel deeply respected by my clients and my peers. How lucky am I!?
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I saved up like crazy. During Covid when many of us were getting unemployment pay, I squirreled so much of mine away because I had a feeling I would need it for something big. In June 2021, I made the decision to open a solo studio, to which my savings came in extremely handy. I’ve never used a credit card for my business purchases. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way but one thing I have done that unfortunately has helped me most is my business eats before I do, meaning there are weeks where I don’t pay myself to make sure my reserve doesn’t get too scary. I don’t come from a place where my business or money is handed to me, so maybe it’s the trauma of my 20s but I’m really good financially.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
I’m pretty active online and try not to get too overwhelmed and exhausted by the social media presence. I do at times feel exhausted by the process of doing content creation because during the time when I first became a hairstylist there weren’t hair influencers or a need to put yourself into what you put online to get bookings. But I NEVER leave any clients left on read. Even if their messages aren’t necessarily the most favorable, I always respond. I tell my clients I’m chronically online, so getting ahold of me is easy. I’m trying to be better about boundaries, like so many independent artists always are. I’m also easy to work with and am always happy to take accountability when I may have missed the mark on the vision. I can own up when it’s my doing and always offer to adjust any of my work within a reasonable timeframe. I don’t have an ego when it comes to not doing something absolutely perfectly and a client being comfortable enough to say something to me. I’m appreciative when I have the opportunity to do better. I know that’s helped my specific brand: accountability, humbleness, excitement.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vagaro.com/headspacestudio
- Instagram: hdspcstudio
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/gianni-marmo
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/perpetuallydisappointed
Image Credits
Personal photo: @shuttere_d