Today we’d like to introduce you to Yvonne Hager.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in El Paso. I grew up as a really poor girl. My family had struggles and I could remember thinking that there had to be a better way to live. I had a loving family that tried their best to provide for us yet it was hard to make ends meet. I remember being a little girl and spending a lot of time alone, living in not very good housing and having shoes that would fall apart and thinking that I would have a better life. It was not about longing for material things but I had aspirations for bigger things in my life. I wanted a great career and a happy family of my own.
I took cosmetology in High School as it was offered as electives for junior and seniors. At first, I took it simply because I enjoyed coloring my own hair and thought it would be fun to learn how to do it correctly… I had not intended to go into a career in hair. As I took cosmetology I began to really fall in love with it. I knew after we had a mannequin competition where we got to work on a mannequin for a week and be as creative as we could and winning, that I wanted to be a hairdresser.
After graduating high school, I got a position as an Apprentice at Hair Odyssey. Hair Odyssey was the most prestigious salon in El Paso and I worked 50-60 hours a week during the day and attended community college in the evenings and weekends. After completing my apprentice program, I relocated to Salon Red, the new prestigious salon where I was doing everything including, cutting, coloring and make-up. One Friday the salon received a call where they were requesting a stylist to come out on location to work on a movie that was filming in El Paso. The movie was Committed a Miramax Film, starring Heather Graham and Luke Wilson. The salon sent me out to style hair as I was newer and available. I styled Heather Graham’s hair that day and the director told me they would give me call if they needed any additional help. The following Monday, the director called me and told me that they had really liked my work and wanted me to be the key hairstylist for the entire film. I was ecstatic and accepted the role.
Working on film was a great learning experience. I got to work on many celebrities and I even got to travel to New York and LA. It was a very proud moment for me at the age of 19. It was my first opportunity to travel by plane and get to visit cities I had never been to before. The biggest perk was getting to earn more money than I could have ever imagined. I saved my money from the film and took that opportunity to leave El Paso and move to Dallas.
Once in Dallas, I searched for the best salon to apprentice at. I searched and interviewed at pretty much all the top salons and decided on Osgood O’Neil. I apprenticed for 6 months there before becoming a colorist. I quickly became one of their top colorists and was promoted to Artistic Director where I oversaw the Color Education Program and trained Color Apprentices. During that time, I also maintained a position with local music magazines as Fashion Editor and Educator for Davines an Italian Hair color/Product Company.
I continued to work for Davines while I worked at Osgood Oneil. Being an educator for Davines led me to more travel and learning opportunities. I got to travel all over the United States and to Europe. I enjoyed that aspect of my life very much and taught for Davines for over 10years.
I was happy and satisfied with my career until I had a daughter. My first daughter was born in 2006 after being married for just a little over a year. Once I had my own family, things changed. I was not enjoying the amount of travel needed to be an Educator for Davines nor the amount of time and effort my position at Osgood Oneil was taking. Those roles were taking too much time away from my family. It was then that I decided that if I was going to be away from my daughter and family as much as I was that I was going to build something for myself. That is when the idea of starting my own salon began.
Planning to start a salon began shortly after my daughter Mia was born. The first original idea was to start a salon with 3 of my friends. It was going to be called Salon Four. My husband who has a Finance background recommended that we write a business plan and helped guide us along. I had no idea that my quest to start a new business would actually end up taking more time and effort than my other roles… funny how that is but it felt different because it was for us. My friends and us completed the business plan within 8 months. The business plan was completely detailed and we had worked out all the kinks along the way…after we completed it, we took it to a bank where we were approved for a loan. The bank was so impressed with our professionalism and attention to detail.
However, during that time one of my friends had started dating someone and fell in love. Their plans changed and she was moving to Austin. Once the plans changed and she no longer was going to live in Dallas and the plan to start Salon Four died.
After that plan died, I just could not stop thinking about starting my own salon. We had spent so much time thinking and dreaming of a salon that I could not let it go. An opportunity came up a few months later. One of our other friends was thinking of starting a salon… He had no plans just a really great childhood friend that was going to be his “angel investor”. I talked to his investor and shared my business plan with him. He then thought that we would make a good team. He approved of lending us the money to start the salon. However, he thought we needed one more person with a strong clientele to bring in to be a good source of income. So, we brought on Natasha Khan. She was one of my friends that was part of the first plan to start a salon.
We began looking for locations for a salon in 2009. Shortly after I was pregnant with my second daughter. I worked 5 days a week at Osgood Oneil and spent my Sundays and Mondays planning the salon. We opened the doors to Lure Salon on May 25th, 2010. Just a few weeks after my second daughter, Valentina was born. The mission of starting Lure Salon was to create a salon were creative and passionate people could work in an environment where personal growth and creativity is encouraged. We wanted to create an environment where we were we treated our staff with the same kindness and regard as we expected them to give to our clients. We started Lure Salon with 5 people and now have 25 people working at Lure Salon.
Some things have changed in the 7 1/2 years we have been open but the core of the business has remained.
Being a salon owner has not really given me more time but it has brought me more satisfaction and pride that I could have ever imagined.
I love being able to see our staff grow and proud to have had the chance to create a brand that we can all be proud to be part of.
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?
Starting Lure Salon has not been a smooth road. I compare being a business owner to being a parent. It is the most difficult but most rewarding thing ever.
We have had our own shares of struggles. Real sweat and tears. We first set out to open a 10 station salon and we ended up opening a 20 station salon. It was scary to start such a big salon.
I started Lure Salon with 2 business partners. And like many relationships, we had our struggles. Since then, my husband and I bought the company from the original investor and now solely own the company. Natasha and I remain as the Co-Founders.
Recruiting and keeping staff could also be a struggle for a commission salon. We work really hard in maintaining a great culture and providing our staff benefits they can’t get elsewhere like competitive commissions, Paid Vacation, 401K contributions, Great in-house and outside Education and Medical/Disability Benefits through Aflac.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lure Salon – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Lure Salon is an upscale contemporary, eco-friendly West Village salon providing the best talent, education and experience Dallas has to offer. Lure is an organic blend of beauty professionals that are dedicated to providing their guests with not just amazing hair but must have natural and clean home care products that keep hair healthy.
We provide a positive and rewarding atmosphere for our employees with the opportunity for learning and professional growth. Creativity and innovation are always encouraged and essential for the growth of lure salon and its employees. Above all, employees are provided the same concern, respect and caring attitude within the salon that they are expected to share with our clients. That is what sets us apart.
We also try to not only make people look good but do good. We have partnered with Dallas Children Advocacy Center as our Charity of choice and put any and all charity efforts into helping them. Last year we provided backpacks, helped stuff them and donated Lure Gifts cards to their staff.
We are also the only Official Green Circle Salon in Dallas. With our partnership with Lure Salon, we are able to recycle about 95-98% of our salons waste. We are also proud members of the LGBT National Chamber of Commerce and a Certified Women Owned Business.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are currently undergoing a remodel in the salon where we will be going from 20 stations to 26 stations. We are reworking our space to add a Blow-Out Concept and expand our Retail area. We plan to add more retail items, including unique gift items, jewelry and one of a kind handmade objects.
We recently launched our online store and plan to be able to offer all of our items to be purchased online.
Pricing:
- Women Haircuts $65-95
- Men Haircuts $40-75
- Partial Highlights $75-140
- Full Highlight $95-160
- Balayage $90-160
Contact Info:
- Address: 3839 McKinney Ave. suite 100
Dallas TEXAS 75204 - Website: Luresalondallas.com
- Phone: 214-919-5873
- Email: yvonne@luresalondallas.com
- Instagram: @luresalondallas
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/luresalon
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