We were lucky to catch up with Siobhan Silva recently and have shared our conversation below.
Siobhan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When you’ve been a professional in an industry for long enough, you’ll experience an industry-wide U-Turn, an instance where the consensus completely flips upside down or where the “best practices” completely change. If you’ve experienced such a U-Turn over the course of your professional career, we’d love to hear about it.
The Beauty Industry has changed immensely over the last couple of years. There has been a huge shift where coming to the salon is more about client experience and less about volume of clients. This also helps stylists have a better balanced day where we can give our 100% to each client throughout the day because we are also able to take care of ourselves (ie. Eat lunch, take a break, reset our space and our minds).
Siobhan, 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 love my salon so much and always have client experience as a top priority. I didn’t always want to own a salon but my journey in the industry led me to it and I couldn’t be happier. .
I got into the Beauty Industry after graduating from Florida State University. Like many college graduates, I was unsure of my future and path and decided to go to hair school after hearing about the new Aveda Institute opening in St. Petersburg Florida. I enjoyed every minute of hair school and went to work and be trained by one of the top salons in the country. I went on to move to a few different cities where I was always successful in building my clienteles. I then moved to Tampa and it wasn’t until after a few years of renting a chair at a salon that I decided to open my own micro salon where I’m the only stylist.
My focus is on teaching people how to embrace their hair, whether it is straight, wavy or curly. I love to show my clients how they can easily air dry their hair and give them haircuts that are very individualized and grow out beautifully. We are all unique in our desires for our hair, and consultation is a key component to a visit, even if they’ve been a long time client. I use all eco-friendly hair products and love to educate my clients on how to use them depending on their hair and their desired outcome.
I’m so proud of the space I’ve created. Most often I hear that it is a very comforting and relaxing environment and how cute it is. I love that clients can really be themselves when they see me. I hold space for all.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
I mostly keep in touch with clients through a monthly newsletter and Instagram. My newsletter sometimes includes a personal touch where I fill them in on things happening in my life but mostly I try to add value by introducing new features of the salon experience and also some of my favorite eco-friendly brands and other local businesses I admire and love. On Instagram I put out content almost daily through stories which keeps my current audience engaged and through posts and Reels that are either educational or inspiring. I engage with all my comments and DMs. I also like to send out random emails or texts to say hi when I’m thinking about someone or to say happy birthday!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
My best source for new clients it’s Instagram which leads them usually to Google and then to my website. I do ky best to have my brand be cohesive in all areas and to be clear about my messaging. It’s really amazing that most new clients fit the market I try to reach.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thelunaparlor.com
- Instagram: lunaparlorhairstudio
Image Credits
Ashlee Hamon Photography