Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Elfar.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have been doing hair for 14 years. This entire process has been about self-understanding and self-growth for me. I grew up in a Middle Eastern household where my parents accepted me to go to school to become a doctor or a lawyer. I was always a very artsy person and could not make myself sit still. My grades in high school suffered as I was not able to apply myself properly. Years down the road, we realized this was ADHD. This has always been one of my biggest struggles, but has always made me work harder to overcome it. I decided that since I enjoyed science and chemistry, that becoming a doctor would be the best route for me. I ended up doing a semester at a community college and while there, my hairdresser at the time, Terrence, referred me to Paul Mitchell School in Rhode Island. Before that, I had never thought that doing hair could be a career! I had always thought it was cool – getting my hair foiled in high school, but never thought that one day I could do it and support myself. BUT after hearing about the Paul Mitchell School, I decided to talk to my parents. They encouraged me to continue with getting my degree at a community college first because they wanted to make sure I was successful and that I could make a future out of what I loved. After the first semester, I decided to take out a loan on my own and signed up for the Paul Mitchell School and THEN I told my parents. I promised to go back to business school afterwards if I needed to, but after my mom toured the school with me, the teachers reassured her that they also would be teaching us about business to develop this into a professional. When I first joined, my goal was to be a salon owner. After I graduated, my first job was in Providence, RI, near Brown University. It was a lot of men’s cuts, which admittedly, in school I would run the other way from a men’s cut! This was great training for me as I learn by doing. I may have messed up a couple of times, but I kept trying! I was just so excited about the end-result that I knew I could get to, that I needed to jump in and figure it out myself. I wanted to add on to my services and grow, so my boss at the time taught me how to thread eye brows. He showed me how to maneuver the thread, but not how to shape – that was all self-taught. The very first day, (after I returned my floss and bought actual thread. Yikes.) There were a bunch of high school kids walking by the salon. I would go outside and yell “who wants their eyebrows down for free?!” and they would all run! As they questioned why it was free, I explained I was learning (as I took a chunk out of their eyebrow) and promptly showed them how to fill it with an eyebrow pencil. A salon owner down the street had heard about me and wanted to take me in, I thought it was cool that I was starting to be scoped out! My first boss, came back and brought me BACK to his salon! I always had a soft spot for my first job, so I went back, but it still wasn’t enough to grow myself. I popped into a salon in North Attleboro, MA where Terrence was working at the time to let him know I got my license, I love what I do, and now I can even do eyebrow threading! Somehow, I left with an agreement with that salon and by the time I had started working there, there was already a big sign that said “we now offer eye brow threading” and I was BUSY there. My parents started to see that growth in me and they got really excited and moved by it. They saw that I could make a future out of this and believed in me so they decided to buy a salon. As they kept searching, I was becoming more and more hesitant. I didn’t think I wanted the salon handed to me. I wanted to work for it on my own and EARN that salon. At the time, I was also excited to be working at the salon where all of the NE Patriots players were going and wasn’t sure I wanted to give that up! I had dreamed of working with celebrities and in NYC and knew that if I went to work for my parents, I would be there all of the time and not be able to pursue some of my dreams. There was a lot of fighting with my family as they were hurt that I didn’t want to work with them, but they went forward with their idea without me anyways. I said I would help with anything they needed, but it wasn’t going to work full time. The salon was called Bella Nova Salon in Foxboro, MA. About a year after they had started, there were doing well, but were still thinking about closing their doors as they weren’t producing as much as they had expected and they needed me and my client base. At the time, I had over 200 clients (almost completely unheard of). All of the sacrifices my parents made for us growing up, I was at the point where I could not say no to helping them. They had poured their life savings into this business and I could not let them go under just for my dreams. I gave my notice at Salon Nuovo and sent out over 200 hand written invitations to my clients to join me at my new salon. I had almost 100% of my clients follow me. The salon was busy now, but there was still a lot of fighting, but I had to realize – I did not own the salon – my parents did. I brought on some friends to help work the front desk one summer and there was one person in particular that I brought on who started to get inspired by the environment and they wanted to go to hair school. He went and I helped teach him anything I could as well. I started to like his fresh, young ideas as opposed to what my parents were doing. We ended up buying the salon from my parents, as they had given up, for $20k (they had put over $120k into it). My goal was to work and get them their money back with fresh ideas. Due to some issues, the business had to be put under my partner’s name and after a year I was supposed to become part owner. Just a few weeks shy of our one year anniversary, I was pushed out of the salon and lost everything. After a major fight with my partner, he took out all my hard-earned money in the bank, called the police and had me escorted off the property with 5 years’ worth of stuff in trash bags. I had lost about $80-90k and I was not allowed to turn back. It was the absolute worst thing to ever happen to me in my entire life. But, 3 days later, I opened my own salon. July 4th, I sat and cold called every single one of my clients (from a paper print out I took with me) and through tears, invited them to my new salon that was opening the next day. I brought over one of my stylists to this 12ft by 12ft salon space and we named it Philosophe. August 18th was our grand opening and the line was around the entire building and it was the best feeling! I knew then that I would be okay. 2 years into this journey, my apartment and studio salon leases were up. I had nothing holding me back and decided to make the move to NYC. My end goal was to work in MA once a month with my clients, but spend most of my time in New York. I found a salon in Dedham, MA and spoke with the owner who was selling it at the time. I had learned from the past and was doing my best to buy this salon. She accepted my offer, but low and behold, after speaking with the landlord he let me know that she was actually being kicked out because she wasn’t paying her rent. While in NY one night, I got a call from my attorney letting me that that the old owner of the salon in Dedham was going to be taking the equipment out of the salon that was rightfully mine. The only problem was, I needed to be there. I took a red-eye train and rushed over. The train was delayed and I was 30 minutes too late and I lost all of my equipment. October 29, 2012 was the grand opening of the Dedham salon. At first, I wanted the salon to be booth renters, as I was travelling back and forth from NYC and couldn’t manage employees. I was trying to push for something to work, with everything going against me. I decided to give up NY and move back to Dedham full time. I got a new distribution company would was going to support me and the business and started picking up the pieces. They gave me the advice to sell the salon and rent a chair instead. I was just happy to have someone tell me what the heck to do with my business and have the support. Philosophe went through an identity crisis as did I. I started to strengthen my foundation and my dream was finally coming true. I wouldn’t be anywhere without my parents, but also with Jerry and Mary (I met them through my distributor company). My parents lived in Rhode Island and Jerry and Mary were in MA, so I was able to help take care of them. It felt good to have people I could take care of who were closer than my parents since I was working long days and could not see my parents as much as I wanted to. Jerry was my electrician and had helped with all of the salon needs. Mary and Jerry were both sick, but they would always be supporting me until the days they died. Now the salon is growing and doing great. I needed to hit the lowest of low to find myself and my true passion and build.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Biggest challenges:
-Losing everything in my first salon.
-Lost all equipment in my rightfully owned salon
-Depression during the tough times, especially traveling from NY and MA all of the time trying to please EVERYONE.
-Mom was going through health issues
-Mary and Jerry had big health issues (both had cancer)
-Finding myself and rising above all of the naysayers and negativity.
Philosophe Hair – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a boutique salon with a city feel in the suburbs. We are able to bring the cool vibe of the city out to the suburbs so people can get the same experience. Terrence, the NE Patriots hair dresser works with us now. We meet with clients FIRST and offer opinions and consultations before we start working. We want to personalize every experience and be transparent about what will work and what won’t. All of my stylists are called “artists” because that is what they are. I have pulled unique aspects from around the world into the salon. I have an entire wall of posters from an artist in London. I also serve tea out of a personal tea pot to each client if they want it. I want to create a unique experience for my clients. We have a mascot! Her name is Sophie and she is a rescue dog – but really she rescued me. She loves all of our clients and you can often find her sitting on someone’s lap or barking “hi” at people as they pass by outside.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Happy Clients
Thriving business
I, myself, am happy.
Being known as “Philosophe”
Pricing:
- Hair cut and blow-dry $55+
- Gentleman’s haircut $40+
Contact Info:
- Address: 65 CEDAR STREET
DEDHAM, MA 02026 - Website: http://www.philosophehair.com
- Email: contact@philosophehair.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philosophehair/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philosophehair/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/philosophe-dedham
Image Credit:
Terrence Manning
Emily Martin
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.
