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

Jacqueline Moore, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

At our salon, wellness means beauty that begins within- nurturing not just your hair, but your confidence, connection, and overall well-being. It’s a holistic approach where healthy hair, meaningful relationships, and intentional care come together to help you feel renewed, seen, and supported – inside out. The beauty industry continues to evolve, but has a rough history of toxic and unapproachable standards. We aim to create a space where all beauty is celebrated in everyone, as they are. Root marries quiet luxury with deep care, offering hair journeys that honor your natural beauty and elevate what’s already there. This is not about trends—it’s about alignment: with your lifestyle, values, and sense of self. We are rooted in community, not conformity, and celebrate individuality at every stage of life. No judgment, no exclusivity.

Jacqueline Moore, 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?

With a combined 20+ years of experience in the beauty and business worlds, Traci and Jacqueline bring a unique blend of creativity, expertise, and vision to Root. Together, they’ve reimagined the salon as a modern sanctuary—where luxury meets artistry, minimalism meets wellness, and every detail is designed to make you feel at home.

Both Phoenix natives, we met in grade school at the age of 7. As star students we simply had too much energy, creativity and big ideas to exist in the same classroom and were officially separated by 9 years old. We’ve spent the last 30+ years building our individual strengths.

Traci is the creative force behind Root. A celebrity stylist with over two decades in the industry, she’s built her career in New York and Los Angeles, working across fashion, editorial, and advertising. Returning to her hometown, she knew it was time to create something of her own—a salon that reflects everything she loves about hair, beauty, and community.

Her passions go far beyond styling. Traci is deeply committed to education, wellness, inclusivity, scalp health, and creating spaces where everyone feels seen and celebrated.

Jacqueline has over two decades of experience in real estate, finance tech, and business consulting. She’s the left-brain behind the operation—bringing strategic insight, operational expertise, and a passion for building thoughtful, purpose-driven businesses. Her calm confidence and business acumen help ensure that Root not only looks beautiful but runs beautifully too.

Root is the result of years spent traveling, teaching, learning, and living the art of hair. It’s more than a salon—it’s an experience.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

We purchased an existing, operating salon. Inheriting someone else’s space, brand, and people can be a challenge, but there was so much history and value in renovating versus building for us. We knew it would be a better fit to edit versus start from scratch. We were ready to dive in shake things up, and we did just that! We have broken all the rules and some for the better, some with hard lessons learned. In the first thirty days we: Migrated OFF one back office system with 39,000+ clients, 1800+ Products, 105+ Services -> new system, product line from backbar, color and retail. refined the service menu and updated the pricing. We removed the front desk operations and staff to reduce costs and build a more controlled, consistent front-of-house experience. Implemented education and brand standards, and more regular staff meetings and accountability. Some things worked great, some were bumpy and could have been rolled out differently. Because of our relentless commitment to the client experience, we’ve had to learn how to ensure we’re setting our team up for success in being able to provide that experience with every interaction. Some of our changes made that easier on them, but some made that a lot harder. Allowing space for our people to adjust and opt in or out was an important lesson. We had our vision and were ready to build, but needed to be able to help our team transition more smoothly.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We met in 2nd grade and have been best friends ever since. Even though we’ve always been opposites in so many ways. We’re basically family in that we know each other so well, but yet don’t have any of the complications of family dynamics. I think one of the keys to our unique friendship is that we have never been competitive. We value each other’s differences and think of ourselves as the ying to each other’s yang. ha!
Traci is a big personality and has a ton of creative energy and big visions and plans. She is an artist in every way and ideally thrives in a space where she can come and create. Learning to be a leader and owner is an entirely different muscle for her, but her dedication to her craft, this industry, our team and her clients is magic.
Jacqueline is an operational genius and has built and scaled several successful businesses. She is a natural-born leader and nurturer. Her empathy as a leader helps her create incredible teams and cultures

Contact Info:

• Website: https://therootsalon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therootsalon/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRootSalonPhoenix
• Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/O_8Du5H8WrBwCZmVJpu2-w