Inspiring Conversations with Hollie Haskins of Session Salon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hollie Haskins. 

Hi Hollie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Growing up in small-town Kansas I never even had access to dream what my life has become today. But what I have come to realize is those small lessons I learned in my hometown, prepared me for this bigger than me, life. Some of those lessons were always show up, be on time, be kind to others, support your local community, and take pride in everything you do, 

Fast forward to my senior year of high school. I had always wanted to go to cosmetology school, but the closer I got to graduating I just felt like that wasn’t a real career or it was a “backup” option for that. So, I did want the rest of my friends did and enrolled at The University of Kansas where I was pre-Business and then switched to Education. I come from a long line of educators on both sides of my family. I quickly learned in 1 year at KU I did not want to sit behind a desk in the world of business and education in the traditional school setting was just not for me. 

This lead me back to what I always wanted to do, hair. So, I racked up the nerve to tell my dad, and much to my surprise he was very supportive, He himself is a businessman and gave me some advice I’ll never forget. He said, “you are only 19, you have the opportunity to finish school by 20 and start working full time while most people your age still have 2-3 years left of school and they are just racking up student loans.” And the next day I started the journey of becoming a hairdresser. 

With a little bit of natural talent and A LOT of personality, I realized this was exactly where I was supposed to be. The instant gratification when someone loves their hair and feels more beautiful never gets old. This industry is about so much more than hair, It’s about self-confidence, self-care, and inner beauty. We just get the opportunity to bring that out externally with their hair! 

About 4 years into my career, I was recruited to become a L’Oreal Professional educator. Meaning I got the opportunity to train with the #1 hair color brand in the world and then give that knowledge back to other hairdressers. Just when I thought doing hair was rewarding, this brought out a whole new level of generosity, gratitude, and fulfillment. 

After quite a few years of training other hairdressers in her associate program behind the chair and going into salons all over the country and showing them the latest trends, techniques, and how to grow their business I decided I needed to do this for myself. And that is where Session Salon was born. 

The idea of Session Salon was born in early 2019 and came to full fruition in June of 2020. That’s right, everything I had prepared for was put to test when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. I had already signed the lease for Session Salon to be in the Woodside Village North building and I was in the final stages of documentation for my SBA 7A loan to be approved when I got the call… My loan was being suspended due to the uncertainty of the pandemic and they were not issuing any funds to new business that were not currently operating. The most devastating call I have ever received. My dreams felt crushed, I had no idea how I was going to move forward. But with the help and encouragement from friends, family, and clients I was determined to persevere. 

I took the biggest risk of my life and pulled almost all of my life savings together to keep this dream alive. Once construction was deemed “essential” we started the build-out process. The great thing about this was that we were still in lockdown but the salon was starting to see progress and we were getting closer to opening! 

June 16th, 2020 Session Salon was open! It was a quick success but after our first couple of months, we were hit with the rollercoaster of the pandemic and faced with many obstacles. I have to give it up to my team though because their hard work, dedication, and perseverance paid off by March 2021. Since then, we have seen significant growth month after month and I am just so incredibly proud of them! 

2021 is our first full year in business and on November 1st we hit over 1 million dollars in revenue and still have 2 of our busiest months ahead! I believe we got here by creating an inclusive environment, offering excellent customer service, and delivering with beautiful hair. 

What a wild ride, but honestly, I wouldn’t trade a thing. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Session Salon is an inclusive, vibrant, salon that. welcomes you to come as you are in hopes that you leave feeling like then best version of yourself. 

We offer many different hair services from color, cut, extensions, keratin treatments, relaxers, silk press, and more. 

We specialize in color and extensions. 

What sets us apart is our vibrant energy and team synergy. We have really cool systems in place that allow us to work together as a team so we can work for efficiently giving our guest a beautiful result in a reasonable amount of time. We understand it’s a fast-paced life and people have other places to be, so we try to work as efficiently as possible while still delivering with a beautiful result. 

I’m most proud of our team-based environment. In an industry where so many people go to work independently, we believe we are better together. 

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Yes. Be patient, get creative, nothing lasts forever. I actually felt so creative and stimulated during the Covid 19 crisis because I was determined to show people we could continue to work, do it well, connect with our clients, make them feel beautiful, and do it all safely. 

I believe crisis reveals character and I wanted to always be looking on the bright side because I knew even if it wasn’t coming tomorrow, better days would eventually come and it would be our preparation on our bad days that had us ready for the best days. And I think that’s truly what happened at Session Salon. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.sessionkc.com
• Instagram: @holliehaskinsnhair & @session.salonkc

Image Credits
Gina Ribando