We recently connected with Kat Avila and have shared our conversation below.
Kat , appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Purpose LA, came from a vision and moment with God. As I was driving home I knew I wanted a name that was profound and reflected my values. In the middle of my drive home one day, I pull over and immediately called my husband. I said, “I know the name! I know the name! It’s Purpose! And of course he was like, “Purpose what?” . I explained that name came to me because that was exactly why we were opening a Mens salon with that name. We were going to live out our purpose to serve, through this business and brand. As Christians believers, our faith plays a big part on how we operate and run our business. So this word just resonated and became a powerful declaration that we were going to live in Purpose. Now, the LA was added afterwards, simply because of the location being in LA County.
Kat , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My husband (Jorge Romero) and I have both been in the industry 20 plus years combined. We’re both passionate about Mens grooming and giving back through our gift of cutting hair. We met on 03/11/2020, during an event hosted by Jason Schneidman (@themensgroomer on IG) giving free homeless haircuts for the day. After we met we continued on the journey of giving back and once a month would go to Venice Beach to do it again. During that time is when we fell inlove, got married and eventually opened a business together. During the pandemic we took a big risk and joined forces to open up a Mens Grooming Cave in Burbank, Ca. We took our savings, got a grant, and took a small business loan, to get it done! We have been running that location for almost 2yrs. We offer traditional barbershop services, plus SMP (Scalp Micro Pigmentation), and have a private Spa Room for facials and massages. Consider us a one stop shop catered for men to have a space where they feel comfortable, relaxed, and are pampered. On our website (www.PurposeLAMensgrooming.com) you’ll find a list of the products we carry, including our own (Blessing Organics Lab), and our own Brand Merchandise (Living His Purpose). I think what really sets us apart is that even as we continue to grow, we managed to stay intentional in always bringing our Christian values to the workplace. Our staff doesn’t have to be Christian and neither do our clients, but we always make sure everyone feels loved and excepted. Our staff are not just friends but family and you feel that immediately walking through that door. We’ve both work in environments where it didn’t feel like home, so we made sure we created one for others. So that would what we’re most proud of.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Wow having to pívot has become crucial for us in so many ways. I personally had a Woman hair Salon (Style) in Bethlehem, PA that I ran successfully for 4 yrs, until I had to close it for unforeseen circumstances. I lost it all in that season of my life. With only a couple of hundred dollar in my bank account I headed to California to start over. Eventually I ended up working at John Allan’s in Beverly Hills and left when I was able to open up a private studio named Purpose LA. My husband also opened a private studio named Purpose LA in Burbank. We both were doing great in our respective locations but then the Pandemic, Covid-19 happened. We were shut down and couldn’t work for almost 6 months consistently. At the moment we decided it was time to close our locations, take our losses, pivot, re-evaluate, and focus on what was next. It was scary times because we fell behind on rent, bills, and at time skipped meals just to make it through another night. Fortunately we maintained our joy and faith through most of it. Eventually we were able to claw our way out of it. One day we sat across what is now Purpose LA, and saw that the location was empty and ready to lease. I told my husband, that could be ours, jokenly but seriously at the same time. He laughed but still took a picture of the agents number. We eventually called, negotiated the lease in our favor, and before we knew had just signed a 5yr lease. Immediately got into a tough argument with each other, haha. Totally scared of course because all our previous traumas, and our limiting beliefs started to set in. We pushed through and went to work. The next day myself, my husband and my brother in law, started to lay down floors, paint wall, clean up mess and just do anything necessary to open up the doors for business, because we had limited funds. It took sooooo much sacrifice, we stayed faithful to the vision, and now God has been good to us. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve learned so much, and so grateful for where we are and for where we are going.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
Yes, our business has multiple supplementary revenue streams. Outside of our Mens Salon services, we also have a private Spa Room that carry’s its own Skin Product Line, created by me (Blessing Organics). We also have another private room that does SMP services which help our clients create the illusion of higher density on the scalp, camouflage scalp scars, camouflage alopecia spots on scalp, etc. These services help bring additional revenue to the location. We also have hair and beard products we carry and have Brand Merchandise we create in limited quantities to create exclusivity and demand. We are currently going to start promoting our new in-house workshop and online class. This class will help young Barbers and Stylist prepare to open up their own business and improve their skills in Men’s Hairstyling. Having multiple streams of income has helped us so much, because it has allowed flexibility when certain services are not producing as much income. On the road of entrepreneurship you will notice that the line to success is not straight. You will have ups and downs, so many emotional roller coasters, you will cry and laugh at the same time! Lol. You won’t know what day it is or even what time. But it will always be worth it! For us it took some time of trial and errors before we settled on which extra services and products we wanted to sell. So definitely do your research as to what possible supplementary revenue streams will compliment your existing business. Tip: Before adding anything we’ll casually drop the news to a few clients and test the waters. See how much interest there is so that we know if it’s something worth spending our time and money. Good Luck To You On Your Journey!
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.purposelaMensgrooming.com
- Instagram: _purposela_
- Facebook: PurposeLACave
- Yelp: Purpose LA
- Other: Email: [email protected] Ph: 310-787-7673