We recently connected with Leah Jordan and have shared our conversation below.

Leah , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

At 29 I decided to pack up my two young boys, our little scotty dog, everything we own and leave our hometown of Buffalo Ny to move out west to Denver, Colorado. I had visited my sister in Denver and was in love with the mountains and rivers of this sunny state. Business was so progressive, I would go back home after a visit and gush about how the roads were paved in gold and the sky was so blue like a Wylie E Coyote cartoon. When we arrived to live in Denver, I quickly had a rude awakening and learned that if I wanted to be able to afford to stay here that I better hustle. I wanted to snow board and put my boys through ski school and I couldn’t put that on charge cards for long. I wanted to have all the adventures with my boys, that was the real driving factor and where Studio 303 Salon was born.
At that point in my career I had really become a great hair colorist and was excellent at cutting hair and creating relationships with guests. I had a craft that I knew well, I just needed to learn how to make a thriving business out of it.
I was working at a large full service salon in the city and part time at a barbershop as well.
I was working for less than minimum wage doing groupons and building my clientele at that big salon. I didn’t have much money coming in and I knew I couldn’t keep that up for very long. I reached out to the Small Business Association to see if I could get some mentoring help. They referred me to SCORE ( a division within the SBA). They gave me a business mentor and I couldn’t be more grateful for who I landed with. I have two great mentors from SCORE still to this day, Jim and John. Jim gave me a business template and said write the first chapter and send it to me and we can go from there. He met with me after each chapter, picked them apart and I would rethink the weak areas. He sent me to work with a business librarian at the downtown library to help me learn more about marketing and demographic research. This service is all free by the way! Later down the road John my other mentor came on and helped me in narrowing down the best location for my demographic.
SCORE helped me with the free mentoring and countless librarians at several branches played a big part in putting together my business plan.
I learned how to do financial projections, balance sheets, profit and loss reports and so many other reports I had never even heard of at the time. I use these reports consistently in my businesses these days. I was working full time and spending at least two days a week at the library trying to get this business plan together. Not to mention many sleepless nights obsessing over getting it right. I asked for help when I needed advice and just kept moving forward one thing at a time.
I thought that coming up with the capital to build out my salon space and get started would be the most difficult part of all of this and in the end it really wasn’t. That all came together and before I knew it I was in a lease agreement with a space on S Broadway and I was building out my salon space. The most challenging part of this whole process was the delays and building permit issues I ended up facing.
When I had just got under contact and in a lease agreement for my salon space, I was working at that large salon, when the salon owner found out I was opening my own salon he fired me. At that time I thought my space would be ready in three months. I decided to turn my little condo into a salon and take my guests at my house until the salon was ready. I did it, It worked, I had over 100 guests regularly coming to my house to get their hair done! It was hard, my house had to be spotless and I had to sit on the kitchen counter to do their shampoo. People didn’t mind. They knew I loved what I was doing and I think they were all excited for me to be building my own salon. That build out ending up taking 6 months longer that expected. It was truly the toughest thing I’ve ever been through in this business. I had to have concrete poured then ripped out, construction got stopped by the city so many times, failed so many inspections and money was tight! Eventually every building permit passed and in the fall of 2015 Studio 303 Salon got to open her doors and welcome a big wedding party for our first day in business!
The Challenges, the no’s, and the setbacks have never stopped. Being an owner/ operator of a small business is incredibly challenging and discouraging at times. I often refer to it as 3 steps forward and 2 steps back. No matter how discouraging that can be, it’s still progress. I can say that the rewards do outweigh the those challenges. I’ve been able to watch so many stylists grow in their craft and their own careers. I’m so proud of them and it’s been so fulfilling to watch them grow.
This year marks 8 years since I started this journey and I couldn’t be more be more grateful for those challenges and the opportunities that this business has opened up for me and my family.

Leah , 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?

Studio 303 Is a luxury salon with a welcoming energy. We aspire to help you look and feel your absolute best! I have been in the beauty and fashion industry since 2001. The first part of my career I worked for nearly a decade as a hair color and style educator for Joico professional hair color company. There is where my passion for education was born.
I’m absolutely intrigued by the science of hair color and I love to collaborate with other artists to bring looks together.
One of my very favorite things is to make others feel confident and empowered through outward expression. Whether it’s one of my fellow stylists or one of my guests, I just love to watch them light up when they learn something new.
Style and beauty enhancements are such a special thing, in that it can completely change how one feels and views themself. I’m so happy to be able to be able to light people up in that way!
Here at Studio 303 Salon we specialize in Customized hair color, Balayage ( hand painted hair color) , Blonding, Vivid hair color, Sew in Weft hair Extensions, I-Tip (beaded) hair extensions, and customized hair cutting for everyone.
We take pride in being able to give you the tools to recreate your looks at home and strive to always bring you the latest and greatest in technology from the hair industry.
I’m the most proud of the humble nurturing that our team provides to our guests. The salon should be a place to unwind, connect and get refreshed mind, body and spirit. Our team truly excels in creating the perfect environment for just that!

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

In March of 2020, much like a lot of other service industry businesses, our business was closed due to the pandemic. We went from being in a great financial place to completely broke in just a few short days. We have a large space so our expenses were high and for 90 straight days we had no cash flowing in and expenses were piling up. It was abrupt and an extremely discouraging time to be in the service industry. I committed to do something for work every single day, apply for grants, stay in touch with guests and our team members. I had no idea what this meant for us. As time went on I continued this and still had no answers as to how I was going to pay back all of these accumulated expenses. We did end up getting grants, some we didn’t but we were able to eventually get enough in free grants to pay all of our back bills and when we finally reopened we came back to one of the busiest seasons at the shop to date! I was so distressed but one failure after another I kept moving forward the best I could with the information I had at the time.
It all came together much better than I could have ever imagined.
What I took from this was nicely summed up by Winston Churchill. “ Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm “
Anyone who owns a small business knows that the challenges are constant.
That’s one of my favorite mantras to help me keep my momentum when those challenges arise.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Our best source of new clients and new employees has always been word of mouth. Asking people that we already know to help us find new clients and new employees has historically been the most effective way to build for us.

Contact Info:

• Website: Studio303hair.com
• Instagram: @studio303salon
• Facebook: Studio 303 Salon
• Yelp: Studio 303 Salon