Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lauren Burnside. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Lauren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about growing your team – how did you recruit the first few people, what was the process like, how’d you go about training and if you were to start over today would you have done anything differently?
Starting my business it was pretty much just me. At the time I was sharing an assistant but the plan wasn’t for her to grow with me. During 2020 my business started really growing and evolving into something I couldn’t have ever imagined. At that point I realized that I couldn’t manage my business alone any more and I needed my own full time assistant. I’ve always loved teaching, and helping other stylists grow and learn so for me this process made sense and fortunately at the time where I was working one of our stylists was working just a few days a month and wasn’t sure what she wanted to do professionally anymore. I asked her if she could assist me temporarily and because I had actually known her for a long time the flow was super easy for us to get into, she was the piece I was missing in my growth. I asked her if she would stay with me, assist and grow into a full time stylist position as I wanted to open my own location and start staffing more stylists. I knew I had what it would take to train, to grow, to nurture, to challenge and cheer on other stylists. As many industries as challenged by the lack of support and are faced with people being overly competitive the beauty industry can be tough. It’s hard to find a work place that cares about your growth for long term benefits for yourself so my focus is to help my stylists not only grow behind the chair but also in understanding their numbers, best business practices and other things to help them in the future. I would be naive to think that they will always stay at my salon, of course I would love it but I understand with their growth new dreams and aspirations will come their way beyond maybe what I can give them.
It’s been about two years since I truly started this journey in opening my own space and growing my brand, and it’s been challenging in so many ways that I couldn’t have expected but I embrace the growth within those challenges. I don’t know if I would have changed a lot but if I could have told myself one thing it would be to give myself more grace. Being the only one who is running the business while working behind the chair I had many moments where I just needed to relax, take a breath, and enjoy the journey a little more.
Lauren, 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 name is Lauren and I am the salon owner of Lbextensions Salon as well as one of the stylists at my salon. At Lbextensions we offer a luxury service in color and extensions and as of recent we offer custom wigs and topper pieces. All of our stylists have a passion for helping our clients look and feel their best no matter what their hair situation is; postpartum hair loss, thyroid disease causing hair loss or thinning, thinning due to age, sometimes even just a bad color and cut service from a previous place will have our clients reaching out to us. When a client comes into receive a new extension install we will color their hair and the extensions for a seamless blend and finish with a cut that provides the client natural movement within the extensions for a look that will have everyone complimenting their gorgeous hair. And for any wig and topper service we provide a similar service depending on the need of the client but at our salon all clients with any hair texture are welcomed. Each of our stylists have a lot for textured and curly hair and strive to help those clients maintain healthy hair.
I am super proud of my stylists each one of them shows their clients so much love and attention, and I’m so grateful that taking care of our clients is a natural way of working at our salon. We take it very serious for a client to chose us and we know how sensitive and emotional the initial appointment can be. Making the investment in yourself is worth it and we all value investing in ourselves to best serve our clients so from the moment you walk in to the very end you will feel valued and welcomed at our salon.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Funding had to be the hardest part of this journey because I had already put in so much money investing into myself to learn how to do and get better at extensions that I personally didn’t have a lot to contribute. Plus my investments weren’t just in myself but staffing a team costs me lots of money as well so I really had to dig deep and find a place that I could get funding thru. At the time it was beginning of 2021 and it was challenging getting funding from just anywhere, and without a co-signer it was going to be hard for me to get much on my own. Of course I am so grateful for the support of my husband who has been suggesting this move for me for years before I knew I was ready. I had someone send me information for a local company called Buildfund who helps small business like mind get funding when other places won’t fund you because of the challenges a small starting business. I was so grateful to end up getting a lot of my funding from them at a fair rate and repayment, plus my bank guided me in some other great directions to start building my business credit and history. This was ONE huge thing I had no idea was needed or I could have started years prior and starting your credit journey takes some unique maneuvering so that you can get credit that won’t affect your personal credit. I also had a client that was helping me understand my business and guide me to make sure I wasn’t making bad business moves and had told me I would need an angel investor and that most small business start that way. I wish I would have pursued this more and had taken his advance because I did need more funding and that was challenging and expensive to secure.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Growing my audience on social media, which by no means is large but quality over quantity, took consistency. I consistently only posted about extensions, and I stopped posting other random hair I did unless it was a color service I still wanted to have on my schedule. I made sure that I posted regularly and I switched up from photos to videos and now of course Reels and lots of stories on my IG (hairbylauren.burnside). I try to watch for trends and do my own stuff at the same time plus I listen to what my clients like because at the end of it even though the goal is to obtain new clients, I also am educating my clients on the maintenance or care of their extensions. But truly consistency is key, be uniquely yourself, challenge yourself, don’t doubt that just because the photo or video didn’t get thousands of likes or comments means it was bad, and it’s okay to change the esthetic of your page- it’s a sign of growth.
Contact Info:
- Website: Lbextensions.com
- Instagram: Lbextensions_salon
- Youtube: Lbextensions2572
Image Credits
Katherine Mei photography