We were lucky to catch up with Shelly Devlin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shelly, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Friends call me the Great Manifester… there is truth in “believe it and you will see it. “ After leaving high school, and not wanting to invest as much time in schooling to become a psychologist and an artist….I entered hairdressing school and to my surprise it gave me both and so much more. I open my first salon when I was 23 …had up to 28 employees and ran it for almost for over 25 years. I’ve been a hairdresser since 1984 and an educator since 1999 in the beauty and inspiration industry. I realized the business was so much more than making people look pretty. It made People feel amazing on the inside and I got to know their stories, which is what inspired me to write my first memoir, “As the chair turns …untangling the meaning of life”… I am currently working on the sequel…” As the chair turns …combing out the knots”. After almost 40 years in the beauty industry, as a hairdresser, and an educator, former salon, owner and inspiration coach I still love it every day but now I set aside time for meditation and practice in the art of Reiki, which I have recently gotten my masters degree in energy healing…. And Little side, passion projects like “GRATEFUL lSeaglass jewelry” were all proceeds. Go to charity and Zen art another passion project dabbling in all different mediums from seaglass to tumbled glass and so much more making jewelry and art
Shelly, 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?
When I am asked, what do I do? I always chuckle and ask what would my elevator speech be? and I guess it depends on whether we’re going to the third floor or the 103rd floor! My clients come to me for many different reasons. At this point in time in my career there are clients that need their hair done into drastic and uplifting makeovers….I love being an inspirational coach, and offering Reiki services to my clients….aways saving time for making jewelry and all mediums of of art for my passion project Zen art and Traveling the East Coast, teaching other salon, professionals, technical and business skills ….. it’s a little pieces of the Shelly puzzle♥️… and working on publishing my second book
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
After owning my very successful salon, for 10 years, I decided to move the salon for the third time to a much bigger space with a much bigger fit up cost. Although the business was successful and I’ve been in business for so long the Fit up costs, and cash flow issues had me drowning and walking the tight rope to bankruptcy …every day would wonder if I could make payroll and didn’t take a paycheck for myself for quite some time . I sought out industry leaders for advice and partnered with an amazing distribution company that helped pull my salon out of the hole. I remember some days the staff thinking that I was fashionable with blue sunglasses on coming to work, but the fact was that I had cried for my business all morning and just pulled up my bootstraps and waited out of the storm. It took me a few years, but got the salon back up and to this day under new ownership it continues to thrive.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think in any industry, there’s a saying that people will forget what you gave them, but they will remember how you made them feel !… whether it is a Client sitting in my chair or a staff member in my salon or a fellow stylists in a class I was teaching… it’s about technical skills, ethics, manners, and just being a good person. It’s about being a good listener it’s about educating yourself to make you better than you can ever be. It’s being a student for life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shellydevlin.life/
- Instagram: ShellyDevlin
- Facebook: ShellyDevlin