Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Courtois.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I realized I loved doing hair when I was 15 years old. In high school, I attended a Cosmetology Class where I learned the very basic, but it kept me wanting more. After High School, I attended a Paul Mitchell Cosmetology School. I had won a selling competition through the school and was rewarded with a trip to Las Vegas to attend classes taught by some of the biggest names in the industry. (Angus Mitchell, Stephanie Kocielski, Robert Cromeans, Takashi Yamamoto). This sparked my passion and I realized I needed to be one of those people.
After my Cosmetology graduation, I was offered a job at a reputable salon in the area. Of course, I took it and quickly began building my clientele and continued to educate myself in different areas such as makeup, skin care, extensions etc.. During my building time, I was able to see what I like most about the industry and what I didn’t care for. I started realizing I absolutely loved doing makeup and up styling for weddings and photo shoots. I started focusing my free time on those things. I started working with local photographers and booking weddings throughout the year. After 5 Years I made a life-changing decision. I opened my own salon. It was the best decision I have ever made.
Since opening, 4 Years have gone by, and I have an amazing staff who are talented, hard-working people, that means the world to me. They each specialize in something different making my team strong and ablate accommodate many different services. We do hair and makeup for over 50 weddings a year and work on photo shoots monthly that has been in several publications, such as The Knot, NH Wedding Magazine, Elegant Magazine, Ellements Magazine, Breed, Vogue Italia, and more! We have also had the opportunity to work at NY Fashion week, working with the greatest models and designers catapulted us into working with professional models from different Boston agencies and winners of the USA and America pageants!
I am so appreciative of all my loyal clientele and staff, and am excited to continue growing!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Like all thing in life, there are great times and difficult times. The biggest struggle I had was learning to trust myself. Starting a salon was a lot harder and more expensive than I expected. For the first year, I wondered if I had made the right decision. I had to take a large pay cut and invest my savings into putting together a beautiful salon but I worked hard and stayed with it and now, things are perfect! Of course, long hours are still a must, but being able to travel for weddings and see different locations in New England makes the job different and fun!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with 5 Diamond Salon – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
5 Diamond Salon is known for its wedding styling. We do over 50 weddings a year all over the New England Area. We stay knowledgeable in wedding trends and have learned to replicate photos of looks Brides ask for. We take in mind the Brides and/or Bridesmaids look, and her dress and can also come up with beautiful looks that will compliment.
On a wedding day, things can be stressful and there can be a lot going on, but we stay calm and organized and set a nice mood for the ladies, keeping everyone feeling good and looking good! We also specialize in Airbrush Makeup, Extensions, facials, corrective hair color, Fantasy hair color, and precision cutting.
5 Diamond Salon was voted “Best Salon” by Hippo Magazine readers 2016 &2017
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We of course are always excited for future changes. I constantly try to change things up at the salon to keep everyone on their toes! As for big changes, I am hoping to open a second location within the next year or two. This will allow us to add more services that our space is too small to accommodate.
Contact Info:
- Address: 915 Holt Ave Suite 4
Manchester NH 03109 - Website: www.5diamondsalon.com
- Phone: 603-459-3367
- Email: sheargenius55@gmail.com
- Instagram: @5diamondsalon
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/5diamondsalon
Image Credit:
Hien Nguyen, Erin Brady, Marissa Butler, Hailey Raudat, Lauren Mailoux, Pratik Naik, Jenna Poitras, Samantha Dahlborg
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
