We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Robin Capili. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Robin below.

Robin , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

We never wanted to be just a salon. Throughout our career we’ve done everything from photo shoots, fashion shows—commercial, editorial, runway, weddings, television, etc. We’ve been around long enough to know how much competition, separation, clashing, struggle, and toxicity there is in our industry and with other creatives. Our goal was to create a space that welcomes collaboration, cultivates partnerships, opportunities, and stewards passions. We’ve designed our company and space with our mission in mind. We have a designated corner in our studio that we use for pop-ups as well as photo shoots. We’ve since worked with several photographers on all sorts of projects, but also have collaborated with a local coffee roaster to create our very own coffee blend, which we serve to our clients and also have available for sale. We’ve also partnered with a winemaking facility in Toms River, NJ to create our own wine with grapes sourced from Napa Valley. We’ve designed 2 scents with the help of a local candle maker from Brooklyn. We’ve also used our space to host several types of pop-ups and events—anything from launch parties, educational classes, speakeasy chef’s menu restaurant, to Bible studies, and open mics. And the list goes on. We use KINHOUSE as a platform to create opportunities, and foster relationships and community with like-minded creatives.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been in the industry for more than 20 years. I started in a small salon in NJ, then a small barbershop, eventually worked my way up to a noteworthy barbershop in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, to Sally Hershberger Salon in the Meatpacking District. I was self-taught most of the beginning of my career, attended Hair Academy in NY, then sought further education with Mary Brunetti, Sassoon Academy, and other outside educational classes and programs. My passion for the industry has led me to work with several designers on runway during fashion week, celebrity clientele, photo shoots, editorials, and written up in several noteworthy publications—i was insatiable. Opening up our own concept salon was the next natural progression.

When we designed KINHOUSE’s service list, we wanted to make sure we covered all the bases—we saw a gap in education in the industry and we wanted to close that gap. We not only offer all kinds of salon services—all haircuts, all color, keratins, as well as elevated barber services. But first and foremost, we put relationships above everything else. We wanted our clients’ experience to feel less of an errand and feel more at home. We designed our loft space to feel like the quintessential soho apartment—most of us started doing hair for family and friends before doing it professionally—we wanted to honor those humble beginnings. We not only offer coffee and tea, but also wine, whiskey, and tequila. We cater every service to not only suit clients’ wishes but keep their face shape, hair texture, skin tone, lifestyle, profession, etc. all in mind, the same way a tailor custom fits a bespoke suit.

We’re not perfect by any means but we’re a small mom-and-pop shop that’s batting with the big dogs in downtown Manhattan—the epicenter of fashion and beauty on this side of the country. We’re humbled by the trust our team has for us and openly admit we would not be here without the grace of God. We may not be a household name brand but we care more about people than profits. Like any true passionate creative—we’ll always be a work in progress.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my wife and business partner, Jaime Lynn, at a previous salon we worked at. She had no interest in making friends, but that only drove my curiosity. It took a bit of convincing but my persistence paid off and we quickly grew close. There tends to be lots of gossip and drama that ensues when two people get together in a salon setting. so, until we knew what we were getting ourselves into, we kept our relationship a secret so as to not stir the social cauldron. Sometime between our 2 years of serious dating now public, we received an opportunity from an old friend, who at the time was managing Todd Snyder’s flagship store in flatiron. He was looking to fill an empty storage space with a barbershop. After some back and forth, we cut a deal with Todd and opened our first shop-in-shop four chair salon. All within a year and a half, Jaime Lynn and I got engaged, planned and threw our salon launch and opening, planned a wedding, and got married. It was a whirlwind. Since then, our lives haven’t slowed down.

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

After having been open for just over two years and profiting, we began planning business expansion and opening our second location. We had a small budget, so our goal for salon number two didn’t exceed 2,500sqft. We felt that slow and steady growth was manageable and low risk. We found a space that was perfect for our vision not too far from our annex-sized shop-in-shop.

As we began the process to put an offer in place, the covid-19 pandemic hit hard, and hit fast. We were forced to close. During our four month hiatus, we used our seed money to continue paying our team. Although with no business, we had no stream of revenue coming in, so expansion plans halted. As covid was running rampant, the BLM movement was on the uprise, downtown Manhattan was anarchy. All the while, we scrambled to take advantage of every government grant and small business loan we could, whatever it took to stay afloat.

We reopened in July of 2020, and business resumed somewhat as normal. Regardless, we were grateful. As we slowly replenished our stake, we went where no one was going…Soho—ground zero of the BLM movement riots. While everyone was packing up and leaving, we saw it as an opportunity to double down on our vision. We enter a newly vacated, oversized, out-of-our-budget, hair academy—just another commercial covid casualty. “How do we make this happen?” came from our mouths.

We steadily exhausted every dime we had to our names—loans, grants, even personal savings—to not only build, but also furnish this 5,000sqft sanctuary. As our General Contractor got to work, we unloaded our savings and continually scoured Facebook Marketplace.

Because Covid brought on a mass exodus, furniture was practically being given away. Piece after piece was picked up and delivered almost every day. We piled furniture up in our 1,000sqft studio, stored more in a nearby empty retail space we bartered for, and even hand-carried pieces several blocks in order to fill the space, cut costs, and make good time. We were nonstop, drained, spent, and burnt out.

And yet, just months later, what birthed from our resilience was a new home for a dream come true. So much more has happened between then and now, but we have yet to let up. 7 years long, 7 years strong—and many more to come—God willing!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kinhouse.co
• Instagram: kinhouse.co

Image Credits
Nic Bui