We were lucky to catch up with Kim Valle recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kim, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

We are a salon that focuses on serving women in our community of all ages. We believe every woman is beautiful and we love to help them define their own boldly defined style.

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

I got into the beauty industry sixteen years ago. I started out working part time while I was raising my two young boys. As I was going through my divorce I realized I needed to go all in if I was going to be able to support my children. I focused on building a brand, and honing in on my niche. I traveled to Arizona to learn about hand tied extensions and brought that skill back to St. Louis.
I worked tirelessly to refine my hair coloring skills providing beautiful lived in color for clients.

In 2020 I opened a boutique salon, Boldly Defined Beauty. I have an amazing team of independent stylists that work collaboratively together to create a space for clients to relax. I think what sets us apart as a salon is the relationship we foster with each other. Most rental salons do not have a team focused business model. Every day we strive to build each other up, and to support each other in any way we can.

Our salon mission is to help everyone who sits in our chair to find their “boldly defined’ style.
This is a reflection of the clients personal style and lifestyle. Our stylists are passionate about helping our clients to feel beautiful in their own skin.

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

Exposure for a hairstylist was a challenge prior to social media. I like to say I built my business in the Stone Age before these tools were used for business. To this day I believe that the best way to grow your clientele in any business is to build relationships with people. Conversations create relationships and relationships create business. Networking and putting yourself in situations where you can meet people is vital to building a solid client base. Business cards, hand shakes, and eye contact will never go out of style.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I opened my salon during the height of Covid. I was dealing with lockdowns, capacity rules, mask mandates and shortage of supplies. I struggled to find contractors to renovate the space. I have little to no experience with construction but also knew I needed to get to work otherwise my project would be delayed. I purchased power tools and watched countless youtube videos. I learned to skim coat a wall and install tile, but above all else I learned I CAN DO IT.
Now looking back I appreciate the space I created. Literal blood, sweat, and tears went into making Boldly Defined Beauty what it is today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.boldlydefinedbeauty.com
• Instagram: @boldlydefinedbeautysalon

Image Credits
Heidi Drexler