Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hollie Haskins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hollie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Going from idea to execution is one of the hardest aspects of starting a business. It’s the ol’ “what comes first, the chicken or the egg” and honestly I just asked people who were more successful than me who I felt also cared about me and my success.

It started with looking at commercial real estate spaces, then meeting with banks (who repeatedly did not understand my business model), creating an LLC, finding contractors, recruiting, permits, signing a lease, providing down payments, and so much more.

As we got closer to opening things like furniture, fixtures, software, phone lines, insurance, inventory, hiring, payroll all became of quick importance.

And then the fun part! Marketing and promoting that we were finally opening!

Every day I just kept waking up and putting my best foot forward and tried to accomplish a little bit more each day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a young girl I always knew I wanted to be a hairdresser. I absolutely loved going to the salon with my mom, the smell of the space was incredible. We always felt so welcome and more beautiful every time we left. I thought being a hairdresser seemed so cool.

I learned hard work and discipline from both of my parents but specifically my dad. He’s a small business owner and seeing the work he did to keep his company successful day in and day out showed me what hard work could provide and that was the opportunity to provide others with jobs, benefits, and create some freedom and flexibility in my life.

Next to creating beautiful hair, creating relationships with clients and employees has been a major priority and building block of my business. Often times people forget that we do so much more than just hair, we listen to our guests, help them get through the tough times, celebrate the milestones, and show up for them when they’ve had a death in the family or are welcoming a new baby.

I am most proud of the energy and the experience people get to have when they come in to Session Salon. Throughout the salon we have added personal touches to heighten the over all experience leaving people with a great memory of their time here and them not wanting to leave until they schedule their next appointment to come back!

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

As many know Session was in the process of opening when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. I had already signed the lease and we were in motion with financing, design, and construction. What I was never expecting to happen was to be out of work for 2 months while the world waited patiently at home to see how the pandemic was going to unfold.

The first month I hunkered down and used this time to plan, strategize, and keep my dream of opening Session Salon in motion. Hindsight, I am so thankful for that time off because it gave me so much clarity and time to open my business with purpose and passion rather than being rushed and overwhelmed. I also sold gift certificates to my clients as a way to keep some income coming in. (Once we went back to work I tried to just schedule 1 gift. card holder per shift so that I was still making money.)

When the second month of the shut-down was announced, I cried. I had to work, I needed to work, and realized I LOVE to work. My roommate at the time had been working at Aldi and was telling me how much money these instacart shoppers were making and so I put aside my pride knowing I physically could not do what I loved (which was hair) but I wasn’t about to let this dream die and really didn’t want to dip into savings more than I had to. So I signed up for Instacart and started shopping for other people and much to my surprise I had so much fun. It was rewarding and I felt like I was able to give back to my community while making a little money.

A couple weeks later we were able to go back to work, only seeing one client at a time and staying very spaced out and masked up. I didn’t care, I was so excited just to see my clients again and keep the dream of getting Session open alive.

In the meantime of Instacart shopping and going back to work – the construction on Session was in full swing. I nearly emptied my life savings because the bank put a hold on loans to businesses that had not already opened prior to the pandemic. So those gift cards and Instacart shopping along with my personal savings all lead to us finally getting open in June of 2020. I called in all my one time favors from friends and family who could help out with things from plumbing, to handymen, to lifting heavy items, to cleaning – I was there sun up to sun down with the help of some pretty awesome people, all to keep this dream alive.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for us is referrals. We love people who love Session and we want them to share their experience with their friends, family, or really anyone on the street.

Our clients are our walking advertisement and we are so grateful when they share with others about how much they love Session.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sessionkc.com
• Instagram: @session.salonkc
• Facebook: Session, A Hollie Haskins Salon
• Yelp: Session, A Hollie Haskins Salon

Image Credits
Gina Ribando – Infull Detail