Community Highlights: Meet Alexis Piseno of Poppy Hill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Piseno

Hi Alexis, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out in High School doing all of my friends hair and makeup for the school dances and prom. I realized that I really enjoyed getting everyone else ready more than I liked going to the dance. From there I started looking into cosmetology schools and working at Sephora as a makeup artist. In fall of 2014, I landed at Johnson County Community College Cosmetology school. Once I finished school I left Sephora to pursue hair. I started at Bijin Salon and Spa as an assistant. I worked there for almost 9 years and ended as an educator and senior stylist. Now I’ve opened up my own salon studio called Poppy Hill and I’m loving it!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely not been the easiest transition. Going from a commission stylist to small business owner is scary. When working in a salon, that has a large staff to make sure everything is taken care of for you, you can get comfortable. I was used to clients getting booked for me and coming to work not having to worry about if the color bar was stocked. Now you can say I’m “wearing all the hats”. Some stylists may think that it’s too much work but I’ve found it incredibly rewarding and worth risking leaving the comforts of a commission salon.

As you know, we’re big fans of Poppy Hill. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I’m a hairstylist that specializes in lived in color. A lot of my clients are low maintenance and don’t like to come in every 4-6 weeks getting their color done. So I pride myself in my techniques that give them color that can grow with them, letting them go 3-6 months without getting a highlight. That being said I do also offer single process/grey coverage color services and traditional highlights. I also love to cut hair! My specialties in that area are women’s bobs and pixies. I do mens cuts but I’m no barber! I strictly cut with scissors so most of the mens cuts I do are lower maintenance and add more of a flow to their hair.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I would say any business owner is a major risk taker! For me personally I took a huge risk leaving an established salon to go off on my own. I had a very full schedule where I was working with an assistant and double booked. As nice as that was as far as paychecks go, I found myself not being inspired and honestly experiencing major burnout. The client experience is my top priority and once I realized that I wasn’t coming in and doing my best to make sure they got what they wanted that’s when I knew I needed to make the leap and part ways. In doing so I risked losing a big chunk of my clientele which leads to lost income but the reward was giving each of my clients my undivided attention. I’ve also made room for new clients in doing so and getting to focus on doing what inspires me behind the chair.

Pricing:

• Highlights starting at $160
• Balayage starting at $190
• Single process color starting at $120
• Haircuts $74

Contact Info:

• Website: https://poppyhill.glossgenius.com
• Instagram: @alexis.hairkc