We were lucky to catch up with Randy Garber recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Randy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Hair Rescue Salon was created out of 2 things. My entire career was always fixing work from bad home jobs, to not being heard at another salon so not getting the desired end goal. So Hair Rescue was a no brainer.

6 years ago, a puppy mill was shut down and they needed to home a lot of dogs. A friend at the time decided it was a good idea to take in one. Now , I have always been a huge animal activist. Done what I could for any animal that I came upon that was in need. The Salon I was working at during this time had about 15 people or so in it. From employees to clients on the floor. My friend walked in and put this puppy on the floor and he made his way ignoring everyone, comes to the back where I am washing a color bowel. Then he decided I was his human and sat on my foot.

Knowing his background puppy mill and all, my heart broke for him, Covered in fleas , his ear mites were so bad they damaged the muscle in his one ear. He was the smallest and the run of his litter. That fist week, all his siblings didnt make it and passed away, Always Hoping for a reunion one day , I was crushed for Finn. He has had tons of medical issues, surgeries but rescuing him was one of my best decisions in my life. To see him , is to see pure happiness at 6 years old. Everyone says how lucky he is that I saved him, but he actually saved me.and made me become a better person.

So I wanted to incorporate that into my Salon as well. So I partnered with a local Rescue “Lucky’s Legacy” in Hagerstown Maryland. They are an amazing organization. They go across the country to kill shelters and rescue as many as they can. Bring them back to go into foster homes and hopefully forever homes. We hold events for fund raising , our fenced in dog park area we use for adoption days. So I knew my biggest loves Hair and My Dog had to merge and Hair Rescue Salon was born.

Randy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve always called myself a Hairrapist. As a Hairstylist people don’t understand the toll this industry takes on our body, but we do it every day because we love it we are passionate we eat sleep and breathe hair. The motto behind my salon Hair rescue salon was to help rescue anyone’s hair from whether it’s a home job or another salon, but also partnering up with an animal rescue and helping put foster animals into good and loving forever homes that is who Hair rescue is making sure that when you leave the salon, you feel like you are on top of the world that you know yourself or than you know I don’t know matter what you have a home. I always make sure that I create an energetic positive atmosphere for whoever walks in that door in and was having rescue of my own, I have a platform that I wanted to use for a good cause. It’s sad because it’s almost like customer service is no longer a thing however, to me is the most important thing of all so whether you’re getting a haircut, your hair colored you’re getting hair extensions installed and getting your eyebrows waxed and matter how big or little the service it’s the client that is always the main importance.

I think people take for granted what gift they have with there two hands. I wake up every day happy loving, but I do for my career because it never feels like work. When you love what you do we have where we have a client submit photos of us with their pets and we put them on the wall, so you see this wall of love. Listening to your clients and just letting them sometimes vent. I think it’s a big deal so being a Hairrapist is taking in all this negative and exhausting energy and recycling it out as positive and uplifting. I think what sets me apart from others is that I truly care I want no one to leave unhappy I have OCD, so no hair can be out of place. All my clients notice hairrerscuesalon is for everybody for all walks of life.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Well funny that you asked that question. So after 4 years and defying all odds and not being able to find any stylist willing to actually work. I had to make the decision to downsize. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. Now I did not loose my business just overhead was killing me. So I went from owning my salon to doing booth rent with a good friend. Ill admit I was pretty shaken to the core and defeat and failure was all I could think of. However, I remember I was listening to a commercial that popped up on a social media platform. It was business owners and celebrities talking about how its not failure. Every great business has to fall to learn from it. Its a requirement that leads to greatness. Everyone has to fall but its what you do with that, that will defy who you are. So I remind myself it was a chance to take a step back and regroup. I know as a first time business owner I made mistakes. Ones that I learned the hard way, but none the less a lesson I’ve learned and can grow from. Sulking isn’t an option, I love what I do, my passion can’t be matched with set backs.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Another Passion of mine is Animals. So, I partnered with some non profit rescues and we raise money and house some events. Clients bring us pictures of there four legged kids and we put them on the wall. This is a huge audience to target. Us animal lovers flock usually together. That group is what helped launch the Salon to have 1,000 followers in the first year. 1,4k subscribed. Social media is vital to any successful business. Your presence will make you or break you. Not enough no one knows who you are, to much and they are annoyed and unsubscribe. Its a time consuming, soul sucking, sleepless nights. You need to know who your audience is your going for. You will learn what they like and don’t like. It is always like playing chess. You need to be 5 steps ahead to win.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.hairrescuesalon.com
• Instagram: Hairrescue01