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

Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Oh yes. I didn’t in the beginning of my career but traveling & hair actually goes hand in hand for me. It’s how I can escape from reality for a weekend or for a week & refresh my creativity. I gather so much inspiration from all of the different things I see on my travels & bring it back to the salon.

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?

Hello friends! My name is Lauren Martin aka StylesByLauren & I am an independent hairstylist. I’ve been a stylist for 9 years now & currently work in my own personal suite inside of Suite Society based out of Colorado Springs

I started my career at Paul Mitchell the school-Houston & completed my apprenticeship at my first salon while attending school. After completing my chapter at my first salon, I switched over to a salon in an area of town that was more my style- David Michael Salon off Dunlavy in the Montrose/Midtown area of Houston. To this day, this salon will always have my heart as this is the salon I felt truly helped kickstart my career. Plus, who doesn’t love a boss that’ll treat you to Mexican food randomly? Hello.

My favorite services to provide a client with is a color service of some sort & hair extensions. Hair color has always been so much fun to me because there’s so many options out there & it’s fun to experiment with different shades.

I am so blessed to be able to wake up every single day and love what I do. The best part about waking up & going to the salon is seeing my clients. They’re all so awesome & I’m so thankful that they chose me to be their hairstylist.

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

I know it’s scary but you have to put yourself out there. When I moved to Colorado Springs from Houston, I had to start from scratch. I have ZERO clients.

Social media can be a powerful thing! I am constantly sharing my work on my business Instagram page while making new connections at the same time.

I’m also the type of person that can start a conversation with anyone so if I was out & about around town, you bet I would talk to someone & share my business card with them. No one is going to know if your business is open or what you do if you don’t share it with them.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I had an instructor in school who once said, “you don’t have that client until they’re officially in your chair for a second time”. He wasn’t wrong.

When someone chooses me to do their hair, that’s huge to me. There are SO MANY talented stylists they could choose and they chose me. I make sure they enter a comfortable environment, I like to connect with my client especially since we’re usually hanging out together for 2-3 hours at a time & I always make sure they leave my chair feeling beautiful & confident! Your clientele is special- so treat them special.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @stylesbylauren