Today we’d like to introduce you to Lay Akhotmy and Nikki Nguyen.
Lay and Nikki, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Lay and I have worked side by side for almost 20 years. We met at the prestigious Jose Eber salon in Highland Park, where we quickly developed a clientele base that we shared as a cut and color team. When an opportunity to open the Plano location came up, we decided to make a move up north. We built a following there and expanded our clientele in the DFW metroplex and beyond. After building a loyal clientele base, we realized that we wanted to go independent, where we leased our stations and ran our own business behind our chairs. That was the best thing we could have done for our future. It was a step closer to owning our own business. We learned so much from being in the industry for all those years. We implemented all the things that we thought worked best. We had a clear vision of what we thought would be the ideal salon atmosphere—That’s when the conception of Nikki | Lay Atelier was realized.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The main challenge we faced was within ourselves and our own self-doubt. Opening our own salon is something that we always wanted to do, but we kept on putting it off. Years went by, which gifted us many blessings but also took away loved ones. That’s when we realize that life is too short not to follow your dreams. It took us almost 20 years to finally say, hey, we got something here, let’s make it come to life. There were many times we doubted our vision. When one of us had doubts, the other one would be there to build each other back up. We built a solid foundation and stuck to our vision, and we could not be happier that we followed through with our dreams.
Please tell us about your business.
Our vision was to create a full service hair salon that offers the opportunity for stylists to run their own business. We wanted to create an upscale, modern space where our clients and stylists would be proud to be in. It was also important for us to invest in our stylists and help elevate them by giving them the tools to succeed through guidance and education. We make sure that we are on top of the trends of this ever-changing industry. Most of our stylists have worked with us at previous salons and have become family. We are not going to fill our seats with just anyone who walks in and wants to work here. We want them to share our same vision and become a part of our growing family. The most rewarding thing has been seeing the growth in our stylists and how happy they are to come to work. When you walk into our space, you can expect great service from start to finish, creating the ultimate salon experience.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
In hindsight, we wished we would have started our own business earlier. With that being said, there is a time for everything. When we were finally ready, the stars aligned and everything worked out in our favor, from finding the perfect location to finding the right people. We will always be learning and wanting to do better. The only regret is not having the loved ones we lost with us today to share all of our accomplishments with. We know that we have angels watching over us and that they have guided us to where we are now, and they would be so proud.
Pricing:
- Womens haircuts $65-$125 Mens haircuts $40-$60
- Shampoo and blow-dry $45-$60
- Base color $65+, Partial highlight and root touchup $180+, Full highlight and root touchup $215+, Balayage $175+
- Brazilian blowout $250+ Extension price upon consultation
- Kerastase in salon masks and treatments starting at $20+
Contact Info:
- Address: 6363 Dallas Parkway Ste #104
Frisco, TX 75034 - Website: www.nikkilayatelier.com
- Phone: 4696306363
- Email: salon@nikkilayatelier.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkilayatelier/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikkilayAteliersalon/
Image Credit:
Katherine Gail
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