We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaylee Rice a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kaylee , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

For years I have been active on social media with fellow hairdressers in my community. Instagram has been a way for me to share my work, connect with clients and also offer support to other industry professionals. When the time came to announce I was opening a Crown, I knew social platforms like Instagram and Facebook would be the best way to introduce my salon to potential employees. I started posting the entire process of building the salon.
Showing the process of walls going up, choosing lights, paint colors, furniture being delivered, installing styling stations & shampoo bowls, anything to keep constant updates happening! When I couldn’t decide between two particular items, I would make a poll on Instagram and listen to what my fellow stylists were voting for.

In turn stylists in my area that were following my journey felt invested in the process.

It was absolutely terrifying opening our doors with only myself and one other stylist on board. I had a ten chair salon that needed to be filled.
I hired a professional photographer to take photos of the space which were reposted by many national hair-industry organizations on social media. This attracted more stylists who started inquiring about employment at Crown

As a new business starting out-with no reputation built, I honestly thought it would take two+ years to fill all of our chairs. Four months in we were 75% full and within the first year we were completely full. Our salon manager was an unexpected find. She had been a client of mine and when the growth of the salon boomed she stepped up and started working for me.

Hiring support staff was crucial in helping my partner and succeed.
I am still in disbelief to have found the team that I have. These women inspire me, encourage me, and are beyond talented in their craft.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Growing up I always looked up to hairdressers. I was amazed by how put together and kind they were. When I went to beauty school in 2009 I instantly knew this was going to be my lifelong career. After cosmetology school I went to NYC to attend the Bond Academy for advanced education in cutting, color, and editorial styling.
I worked behind the chair, occasionally traveling to do editorial hair, but when my extension clientele started picking up I focused mainly on that service.
I began developing my own method for installing hair extensions, the “Crown method”.
When I opened my salon I was able to mentor and certify my staff in my extension method, helping them add a luxury service to their repertoire. Becoming an extension specialist gives stylists an opportunity to make a higher income with a loyal client base.
For years I felt like clients were treated exceptionally well as they should be, but salons were falling short in how they took care of their staff.
My husband who is my business partner, along with our business mentors and myself have developed a structure for our that puts the stylists needs first. We believe stylists who are taken care of will in return take care of their clients to the fullest.
I truly feel like we have solved the largest issues facing stylists in the beauty industry. They are given a high commission percentage for their work, while we take care of supplying all the products/materials they need to complete services. Our stylists chose their own schedules and what services they want to provide.
At the core hairdressers are artists, and artists deserve to control their own creative expression.

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

I am lucky to say my business partner is also the love of my life and best friend. Eight years ago mentioned to my husband Cale that I had a secret dream of owning my own salon.
Cale told me that he would make my dream a reality if I put my faith in him. Within two months of this conversation he began his business degree while working full time as a firefighter.
For years we lived well below our means to save every penny we had, while he finished his bachelors in Business.
With a degree in his hand we hit the ground running!
I believe we make the perfect team. I control the creative and day to day operations working side-by-side with my stylists, while Cale handles the financial planning, payroll, and bookkeeping.
Basically I handle the beauty and he handles the business!

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

This month we announced that our salon will have our own luxury hair extension line. Having on-demand hair will create a next level service for our clients as well as clients for all stylists in the area.
This has always been phase 2 of opening Crown, but both myself and my partner were surprised by how fast we were able to move into this new business venture.
Finding a reputable and ethical vendor is the most difficult part of this process, since hair extensions are a human product. Lots of resources were used to make sure it was ethically sourced.
This included bringing on additional partners to handle shipping and logistics.
Quality control is not a quick thing to determine when dealing with hair extensions. Most extensions last 6 months to a year, so this took the better portion of a year to conclude.
Once we found our perfect vendor, the next process was designing the different shades and lengths we were going to provide. Luckily we had a year of our salon being open to use as a guide on what was in demand from our clientele.
Packaging and branding was the last in the process. Although quality packaging is an expensive investment, I felt it was necessary to set us apart in a highly competitive market.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.crowncolorsalon.com
• Instagram: @crowncolor

Image Credits
Katy Shay, katy shay photography Instagram- @katyshayphoto