We recently connected with Jenni Lowe and Jessi Wassgren and have shared our conversation below.
Jenni & Jessi, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
Our generosity comes from how we were raised with our parents. We both lived under the motto “if ya have some, give some”. Having been in the industry for almost 20 years we have dealt with employers and other stylists who can seem greedy when it comes to personal gain and that has never been our motivation. We are constantly thinking about what our next donation or giveaway could be and love seeing how happy people are when receiving it.
All of our stylists rent their stations so they are self employed and can thrive in this business since we know how hard it can be to afford basic living when working at a commission based salon.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
We are equally as focused on being great business owners while excelling as hairstylists. We want our business to be successful and have our clients leave our salon loving their hair and feeling like the best version of themselves.
Our salon offers haircuts, hair coloring, hair extensions, and wedding services, such as hair and makeup services.
Seeing our clients reactions to the before and after of their hair is one of the most rewarding parts of this job. You can see their happiness in their faces and how excited they are when we help them achieve their hair goals.
Our clients often leave thanking us for not only their hair, but also for providing a safe welcoming space they feel comfortable in.
We are very conscious about what we bring into our salon for retail. We want to sell our clients clean brands that will only improve their hair while also being user friendly. We listen to our clients and their wants and try to find products that will fulfill those needs.
We recently started carrying the Jolie filtered shower heads that removes heavy metals, chlorine, and other contaminants from your shower water. It helps improve your skin and hair, which is what we are all about.
We carry three different product lines, Aveda, Four Reasons, and Mr. Smith. We picked these product lines based off how clean and eco-friendly they are. We both went to the Aveda Institute so Aveda is a brand we are very loyal to. Four Reasons is a product line from Finland and since our salon is very Finnish focused it felt like a perfect fit. Mr. Smith is an Australian brand we decided to carry based on how user friendly it is.
We are also all about accessories. We try to stay up to date with the latest trends and carry the accessories that we know our clients will love.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Finding people you trust to help. If you don’t know how to do something, ask for help! No question is a stupid question and as cliche as it sounds, it’s true. We didn’t know how to build a website or anything accounting related so we hired recommended people to do it for us.
2. If you don’t like how someone else (a business or previous boss) does something, take that into consideration when you are creating your business. Don’t feel obligated to do things a certain way because that is what you are used to or because everyone else is doing it that way. We decided to allow our stylists to rent their stations because we both worked at a commission based salon and didn’t enjoy working for someone else. We want to empower our stylists to be the best they can be in their career and to help guide them as they also navigate being their own bosses.
3. Find something you’re good at and figure out a way to get paid to do it.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Letting go of work related thoughts once we get home is our biggest challenge. We often think of things we need to do or get done once we have left for the day. Home life if just as important as work life so being able to turn off “work mode” once we get home is what we’re working on.
We are in a career that is constantly changing with new trends and innovations, so when we get home we are often watching hair videos to know what is in style and so that we can be prepared for what our clients might want next.
In this industry you have to be present and in the moment with your client and aren’t always able to check emails or direct messages, post on social media, or communicate to plan our next big thing so those often get done once you are at home. It is important we make time in our work day to take care of those necessary things so that when we get home we can unplug and recharge to be the best version of ourselves for our clients the next day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sisubeautyduluth.com
- Instagram: @sisubeautyco
- Facebook: SISU Beauty & Co.
Image Credits
Emily Theisen @litecreatives
