We were lucky to catch up with Hannah Bowles recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Opening my salon was the biggest risk I have ever taken. I no longer had the option to fail, it was either go out on a limb and take a chance on my craft or stay stagnant where I was. Being the person I am, I wasn’t going to stay stagnant. So opening my own salon it was.
I started doing hair in 2017, right out of high school I decided after two years of college classes, college was not for me. I signed up for the cosmetology program at Paul Mitchell The School Spokane, and that was the first step into the career I fell in love with. Hair was the first thing that has ever “clicked” with my brain. Immediately I understood, I could connect the dots from A to Z, haircuts made sense, color theory was second nature. I had never felt that before in academics. After flying through school, I graduated and went right into an apprenticeship at a local salon. I had an incredible mentor that taught me everything they don’t teach you in school (I.e. pretty much everything), she taught me the business side of hair, timing, client relationships, everything you could imagine. I thank her every day for helping me become the hairstylist I am today.
I completed the apprenticeship in about 3 months, and started officially on my own. For the next 6 years I worked at that salon, grew an incredible clientele, had two babies, bought two houses, became an educator for a product company, trained my own apprentices, and blossomed into a hairstylist I had dreamed of becoming all by 25.
It came to a place in my career where I had to make the biggest decision for myself and my future. Whether to stay where I was no longer growing but was safe or move forward into my own company and take a risk.
Once I decided to take the risk and open Coven Hair Co. everything catapulted forward. From April 20th when I claimed the name “Coven Hair Company, LLC” to the day I took my first client in MY own salon on May 28th was a whirl wind. Everything aligned in front of me from the space I created Coven in, to being accepted on a small business loan (shout out MoFi), to tearing down walls, painting everything, and setting up the place I call home. Four incredible stylists took a chance on me and came to work with me, and all my incredible clients without a blink of an eye and an outpouring of support followed me.
Since taking that risk, I have created this incredibly safe, inclusive, welcoming environment that every kind of person feels comfortable coming in to. Not only has this risk grown me as a person, hairstylist and business owner, it has helped so many people in my community have a space where they can come to feel their best self, and feel empowered doing it.
It was worth everything bit of the risk it took to get me and Coven where we are today.

Hannah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started my journey into the hair industry in 2017. I had finally decided that traditional college was not for me. I should have seen this coming, I was always the kid cutting and coloring my own hair in my moms bathroom, doing my friends hair and eventually I was the go to for prom hair and makeup in my highschool. The signs were there. Once I began cosmetology school at Paul Mitchell The School Spokane, something finally clicked. Doing hair just made sense to me, cutting and coloring theory came easy and connecting with my clients came even easier. After flying through cosmetology school I started an apprenticeship at a local salon, I grew at this salon for six years. I became their top stylist, trained my own apprentices, became an educator for Surface Hair Health, and grew an incredible clientele. After growing as much as I could as this salon, I decided to take a risk and open my salon Coven Hair Co.
At Coven, we are a collective of Stylist that serve every kind of client for all of their hair needs. We firmly believe in an inclusive, safe and nonjudgmental environment, that creates a space for everyone.
I personally specialize in textured, razored haircuts including shags, curls and low-maintenance hair stylists. I also love creating custom, lived-in colors, and Vivids.
More than the hair, I am most proud of the connections I have been able to make with my clients. The safe space my chair has created for all of the amazing people I get to interact with every day, at their highest and lowest points. I am grateful to be a person they can confide in and celebrate with and everything else in between.
I hope people can see from Coven’s and my story the power of human connection, and the beauty crafted with it. I mean it when I say “custom, curated styles for every human”.
People shine differently when they’re seen.

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

Connection. Connection is everything when it comes to building a clientele, and more importantly, keeping your clientele. People want to feel seen, heard and valued. Our job is not only to provide them with this connection, but make it genuine and authentic. They will notice the difference. Connection goes into the experience that you give them. When they can feel that you are valuing the connection with them during their appointment, they find value in that experience and value insures the growth of your clientele. Building a clientele is so much more than the service you are providing them.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients is and has always been word of mouth! From your first client ever to the last one you saw they are talking about their hair to their friends and family, one way or another. The only part of this that you can control is the experience you give them in your chair. How you make them feel during their appointment is going to go with them out into the world. So make sure the experience you give them is one you’d want them talking about!
This goes back to the most effective strategy for building a clientele, connection. Make sure to connect with each and every one of your clients. When they feel seen and heard, they will want their friends to too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.covenhairco.com/
• Instagram: @hannah.crafted & @thecovenhairco

Image Credits

@archandelmphotography