We recently connected with Raven Wilkins and have shared our conversation below.

Raven, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

To me, a key element of being a business owner (who doesn’t hate their life) is creating routines that are self sustaining and simple. That way an owner is not chained to their business and responsibilities 24/7. One of the misconceptions I was under, was that simplicity equaled freedom. The innovative thing I wish to share is that freedom is found through discipline, and often times the burden of simplicity is mistaken for the burden of responsibility.

Real quick: I opened my salon as a response to the covid pandemic NOT as a life long dream I followed. In fact, if you had told me a year prior that I would be doing what I was doing I would have laughed in your face and called you crazy! I bring this up because, I had no ownership education I had no experience advice or mentoring going into this situation. I HAD been renting my own chair in a larger salon and knew the ins and outs of.client care but I did not know what was in store for me upon opening a brick-and-mortar storefront

Skip to almost 2 years later. I am surviving but not thriving. The salon is an overwhelming amount of work, focus, and sacrifice. I’m still building it out and creating it as the image I want it to be. I am still serving my clients during the day, answering their emails in the evening, doing all the laundry and maintenance myself.

Literally, at the brink of madness I asked for help from a friend of mine. Just to come in and reception for me two days a week in order to relieve the traffic jams that were occurring between clients.

On her first day I could already feel a small percentage of energy return to me! This was the first step away from the K-I-S-S (keep it simple stupid) model
and I was seeing positive results. After work I actually had the energy to go for a walk!

Skip to about 4 months later and she and I have really gotten a groove going. We have accomplished twice as many tasks as I could have alone and created a type of momentum together. We are ready to hire an assistant to help me behind the chair.

This is where I regressed and kept coming back to the concept that less is more and more is just more work! Not to mention my fear of failure kept me asking could I afford her? Do I really have anything to offer her? I often referred to myself as “I’m just a girl doing hair in a room.” Not seeing myself as a business owner with knowledge to share and a safe space to learn…

The cognitive dissonance of seeing myself as a salon owner but not feeling it, led me to revisit my old salon and connect with my old coworkers and mentors. It wasn’t until I sat in the halls of my old Salon that I realized the pressure and complexity that had been put on me by not incorporating other humans into my work. I realized it truly takes a village to accomplish these things greater than ourselves. Like raising a family or raising a business! I realized that I didn’t have to be a boss, I could be a mentor and truly help guide people toward the life they would like to live. It was the next day that I received an application on Indeed and two days later met with that person for an interview.

Since hiring my assistant, the salon’s success, my personal life, my energy levels, and my joy have skyrocketed! My salon now not only has help and support but it can help support other people as they accomplish their dreams and goals. There is more work to be done and more focused to have each day but the fulfillment is something I had not felt for many years. I finally understand what being a business owner means to me and that is, using it to help people who might not have had any opportunity aside from working with that “girl in a room.”

I realized that by trying to make things more simple for me, by trying to take on less responsibilities, I had actually created more work for myself and a life void of deep meaningful interpersonal service. By making mentoring and giving back the focus of employer/ employee relationship, I have created a space where we function as equals and the complexity of each day is easily tackled. Leaving each of us with more energy to enjoy your freedom and personal time away from the salon

Raven, 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?

Howdy! I’m Raven, proud parent of Salon Intrinsic! I’ve had the pleasure of working with hair for 10 years and experienced every step from apprentice to stylist liaison and now to salon owner. We opened in September 2020 amidst a world rife with confusion. So many in my industry were forced to pivot from multi-chair salon work to private practices. My clients wanted a safe space for their bodies and their identities. Many of them them live alternative lifestyles or are active in the LGBTQA community and often feel unseen or unsafe. People wanted to be comfortable during the chaos, to feel normal and beautiful again; to be seen; and to share gratitude for life again. That’s why I named it Salon Intrinsic; I want every client to be appreciated for their inherent essence and beauty.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I like to say “I don’t have goals for my salon!” My goals are to help my employees discover and meet their goals under the safe umbrella that is the salon. My role is to mentor them so they feel safe to learn and grow. What is important to my employees is important to me. This aligns with my mission to help people who are raising a child alone. My wish is for my employees to feel they are part of a community, where we work toward our goals together. Like the saying goes, “It takes a village.”

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We offer a range of classic and creative hair services including gender-affirming care. Everyone is welcome at Salon Intrinsic; our clients are a diverse bouquet of people from reverends’ wives to programmers and sex workers. They know they are accepted for who they are because I am also a member of their community. Think of us as the Island of Misfit Toys from “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” – misunderstood or seen as different, but actually beautifully complete. Because of the support from our clientele we don’t need to advertise or have a publicist; our clients are our publicists!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.salonintrinsic.glossgenius.com
• Instagram: @raven_salon_intrinsic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salonintrinsic