We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janelle Jared a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Janelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
One of the things Fiber + Strand prioritizes in terms of how we work with our employees is that we strive to create a beautiful environment for our artists just as much as we do our guests. We really pour into our artists to ensure they achieve longevity and success in their careers.
We have a very detailed roadmap laid out for their technical training, which is pretty standard in our industry, but the secret sauce that most companies overlook is the mindset. Anyone can learn a technical skill with enough practice. Unlocking roadblocks that hinder us from massive success can be a little bit more tricky! At our company we spend just as much time creating healthy habits and training our staff in mindset work as we do teaching technical skills. We believe that in order to achieve success at the highest level, the two go hand in hand.
Something else we place of high value at Fiber + Strand is a healthy work/life balance. As professional hair stylists, we are constantly serving and giving to others so it is vital that we have the time necessary to rebalance, reset, and take care of ourselves. We know that taking great care of our employees ensures a beautiful and consistent experience for our guests.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Janelle Jared, owner and founder of Fiber + Strand salon in Toledo, Ohio. In addition to being a licensed cosmetologist for over two decades, I also hold degrees in both fine arts and the sciences. I draw upon both my creative and scientific backgrounds in mentorship and entrepreneurship by using a blend of mindset work and practical business strategies.
In addition to running a successful company, wealth coaching and mindset mentorship for beauty professionals, I am best known for my work in beautiful, natural looking hair replacement and hair extensions.
After working in the industry for over two decades, I made the radical decision to leave my salon home of 12 years as well as over 75% of my clientele to pursue a more niche service and clientele. Was it scary? Hell yes, but I did not let that fear stop me and allowed it to drive me further towards my goal.
I loved the people I was working with, but the day to day services I was performing were no longer bringing me joy. It felt quite robotic to be honest. I realized my skillset and attention to detail could be put to better use and that I could serve in a different way. That is how I made the decision to specialize in hair replacement and hair extension services and to open a specialty salon catering to the guest that wanted those services.
I’ve always been a very forward and resolute thinker, so despite what everyone was telling me…I stayed the course and I’m very proud of that. Everyday of my career fulfills me in ways that I never even imagined and I hope to create an environment for other artists to be able to have that same experience.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
When I initially decided to open my business, I was truly clueless as far as where the funding was going to come from, or even what the scope of the project would be from a financial standpoint. However, I really believed in my vision, so I kept forging ahead like I had the money in my pocket because I knew it would come from somewhere.
The first investment I made was paying someone very experienced to help me write a business plan. This was a crucial investment for two reasons. The first was that it allowed me to learn my business inside and out so that when I presented my idea to potential lenders, I could speak very intelligently about how I was going to grow the business. The second was that I was walking into my meetings prepared. I had projections, I had a rough idea of what it was going to cost to fund the business, and the lenders took me more seriously.
When I started actually sourcing funds, I talked to the Chamber of Commerce to see if there were any special loans provided by the city. I asked about grants, I talked to as many people as I could to get an idea of what was out there and what I needed to do to get it.
I worked with a wonderfully supportive developer, Kevin Prater, who assisted me in getting some of the funding and helped me understand what a project like mine was realistically going to cost,
I used as much of my own money/credit to finance what I could. I put supplies on my credit cards. I financed as many things as I could for as little interest as I could. I did whatever it took.
The one thing I wish someone would have told me was to make sure I had enough money to cover one full year of my own personal expenses before opening. My business profited the first year, but I, personally, struggled financially and it caused me a lot of undue stress.That was my biggest takeaway when it came to opening a new business.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I decided to pivot my business into hair replacement and hair additions, I only wanted to add those types of guests into my chair, so I only posted those types of services. Did I still do some other services? Yes. Did I post about them or talk about them? No. I wanted to be known for my extensions services. This really helped me gain traction. I also took questions that people would ask me and use those for ideas on what to post. Nothing was off limits. I posted about how to care for them, what they looked like underneath, how they were installed, how to care for them, how I customized them. My goal was for my potential customers to know that I was the authority and an expert level in this service.
I’m now pivoting again and using my platform to speak to those that want me to coach and mentor them, so I’m finding my way with how to speak to those clients.
Ultimately, you need to find out what problem you are solving and your own zone of genius is and lean into that. Be consistent and give it some time! Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.janellejared.com www. fiberandstrand.com
- Instagram: @janelle.jared @fiberandstrand
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janellemjared/ https://www.facebook.com/fiberandstrand
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janellejared/
Image Credits
Rob Wagner
Gabe Balazs
S + E Designs