We recently connected with Stephanie Simons and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk about keeping costs under control when growing. How have you managed to keep costs from getting out of control?

As a bridal stylist many times I have to do trials and this is an opportunity for me to save and cut costs. I tell my brides that for their trial I do not use as much product as I would on the day of and this is simply to not only help me save on product but to also help me style the hair an additional time without making it frizzy or having an excessive amount of product in their hair making it difficult for a second style. For wedding days to help keep my costs low per service, I have a minimum amount of adult services that need to be provided for the day of the wedding. I keep this number at 4. This is because I think it’s a very easy number to accomplish. If you think about it, you have the bride, there are two mothers and a maid of honor that’s four people. I would say that my prices are very affordable compared to others within my area, and I like to try and keep it that way. I also have a pre interview with my Brides that’s extremely short, but really gets me to know the bride.As I don’t like to take on clients who I would find difficult to work with.
Lastly. I offer a military discount to my bride if her or her fiancé are combat veterans. As well as a discount to any brides who are former clients via being a bridesmaid in a wedding I’ve done!
I understand that these are not traditional ways to cut costs and save money but, for me this works. And I’m able to enjoy my work still in the process. I will do anything to keep my cost as low as possible for my clients!

Stephanie, 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?

Hello my name is Stephanie Simons and I am branded as Designer Styles. This is a bridal hair company out of Minnesota. In fact, I travel all over Minnesota and Western Wisconsin to perform bridal hair services. I have been in the business for over ten years now and graduated from Aveda institute in Minneapolis. What sets me apart from others in this business is that I have my business set up with the client in mind. I literally put myself in their shoes and think of all the things that would be helpful for me or that I would like from my bridal hairstylist. This includes lower cost services, a generous travel allowance, and making sure I go up oven beyond for the client. This includes helping them find a hairstylist if I’m not available!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think so many people can relate to COVID really pivoting their lives and career. By the time COVID had started and the world shut down. I was working in a salon and going to school to further my education more but as COVID happened, I decided to step away from the salon. I haven’t turned back since and I focused a lot of my time on my business and marketing.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I feel like my reputation has really built my business. Despite what my social media looks like. If you were to look at my social media you would see that I don’t have many followers as others. But I think my kindness and willingness to go above and beyond for clients really amplifies for weddings and bridal party’s notice and they want that same experience for their wedding or they refer me to their friends who are getting married. I would say that a lot of my business comes from word of mouth.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.designerstylesmn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie.simons3?igsh=MW54ejl6aXUyd3p2eQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesignerStylesSP?mibextid=ZbWKwL