We recently connected with Kelsey Caouette and have shared our conversation below.

Kelsey, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

For me, the biggest thing it takes to be successful is dedication, patience and believing in yourself. I think a lot of people want a overnight success story but it takes years and years of hard work, of building your way up even if that means you start making little to no money, or even if you think you’re better than what’s in front of you. Patience and knowing it takes time, but you will get to your goals and be successful if you’re dedicated to it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into the hair industry at a young age. I went through cosmetology school throughout high school as I went to a vocational tech school. I was never someone who was “book smart”, I struggled with my academics but always did so well in my cosmetology shop. My junior year I ultimately had to make a tough choice, stay back a grade, lose my space in cosmetology shop, and inevitably lose hours toward my cosmo license or I could drop out.. I knew this was wanted to do, and I was good at it, So, at 17 I decided to drop out, did a month of cosmetology night school to finish my hours, got my hair license and my GED and I immediately went to working at my first salon. It wasn’t the path most people may not have taken, dropping out is often seen as a sign of failure, but I was willing to do what I needed to to continue my passion. Ive now been doing hair for 14 years and own my own salon, Collective. Ive work in some of the top Boston salons, but I always knew I wanted to own, and I wanted my space to be different from any other salon I’ve been in. Collective is small luxury boutique salon in Bostons North End. All our stylist are independent chair renters, meaning they’re essentially their own little business within my business. The salon culture in Boston to me was toxic. You would work so hard to build a clientele, brand yourself, promote yourself, put in all this hard work doing 10 to 12 hour days on your feet and then these salon owners would take 65% of it! They wouldn’t allow vacation days, no Saturdays off, no lunch breaks, and I wasn’t allowed to even call in sick! It was exhausting to say the least. I really didn’t want that type of environment for my salon, which is why I went the route of chair rental. I wanted my stylist to feel like they were doing this hard work for them and their brand, seeing the financial benefits of it, and having freedom of their schedules and a life outside of work. I wanted to see stylist working hard for themselves, not for me. As for how. wanted clients to feel in the space, I wanted it to be a truly relaxing, welcoming and inclusive space. As someone who is apart of the LGBTQ community, providing a safe space and calming environment for people in my community is so important to me. After working in all these loud hustle and bustle salons, I knew I wanted Collective to be a quieter, calmer and more intimate experience for my clients. Collective is a bright airy space, filled with plants, crystals and positive energy. Even our salon logo is a Mati, or “evil eye” as most people know it, which is meant to ward off negative energies! Hair s such a luxury service, and clients come in to spend their hard earned money so I want them to truly feel pampered and relaxed when they’re at Collective.

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

I met my business partner Victoria 8 years ago while working at a salon. She came in as an apprentice and I was doing education with her and she would work under me. She always “had it” if you know what I mean. She was passionate, hard working and naturally talented at doing hair. Years later, after she became a stylist we both had left and moved on to other salons. The salon I was at was hiring, so she ended coming and working next to me again but this time as a stylist. Victoria was killing it, she was always booked and busy and she was putting out amazing work. To say im proud of her is an understatement, from watching her go from an apprentice to now, an established stylist and my business partner. So when the time came and I knew I wanted to open a space, it was a no brainer to me to ask Victoria to be apart of Collective.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Social media has really changed the game for the hair industry. I would say 90% of my clientele is folks who found me on Instagram. Its a great tool to showcase your work, what your brand and style is and allow clients to interact with you prior to sitting your chair.

Contact Info:

• Website: Kelseyraehair.com Collectivesalonboston.com
• Instagram: @kelseyraehair @collectivesalonboston

Image Credits
Stay Gold Images