All in Your Business

Yeisha meets Amber Robles of Halo Hair Salon

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Amber Robles owns and operates Halo Hair Salon in Perry. Photo courtesy Yeisha Lee Photography

Editor’s note: This is the first in an ongoing series of columns by Yeisha Sarceño, who writes about business and lifestyle matters. Yeisha lives in Perry and works as a studio photographer.

Small business owners know the increasing importance of raising shoppers’ awareness of Perry and of all the wonderful things it has to offer. In light of this, here is our first weekly business profile, one of many more to come.

This week I spoke with Amber Robles, owner of Halo Hair Salon at 1623 W. Second St. in Perry.

Yeisha: Why are you in business?
Amber:  I’m in business because it’s what I love to do. I like to have control of all the aspects of my career that I can, the environment my clients are in, the hours I work and everything.

Yeisha: How long have you been in business?
Amber:  I’ve been doing hair since 2007. I worked in a small salon that gave me a great start into my new career. I then opened my own one-chair, studio type salon in June 2009.

Yeisha: Where do you see your business in one year?
Amber:  I predict my business will be along the same lines of what I have now. Everyday I’m thankful the business grows just a bit bigger.

Yeisha: How has technology affected the way you do business?
Amber: Technology is a great tool for business owners, whether it’s running credit cards, responding to appointment requests or getting the word out about your business through social media or other search engines. Facebook has an option for a business page that allows you to interact with your followers, run specials, let people know prices, hours and openings. Technology is an amazing tool.

Yeisha: Who do you go to for business advice?
Amber:  My parents are great for the business side of things. As well are other cosmetologists. I’m part of an amazing community of stylists, owners and operators. We all help each other so much with advice and techniques. My accountant is also a big help. I ask my clients their opinions on a lot of things. If I’m thinking of making changes of any kind, I like to run it past the people it will affect.

Yeisha: What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced while running your business?
Amber: Staying open in itself is a challenge. One in four businesses go under in the first three years. Thankfully, I surpassed that! Trying to be so open to people, on openings and prices, was a big deal, especially in the beginning. You want to accommodate everybody so that they want to give you their business. Sadly, part of the business side is dealing with people who might not appreciate what all you do for them. I’ve thankfully been blessed with a great clientele.

Yeisha: And finally, why shop local?
Amber:  It helps build our community. It’s sad that so many people have negatives on our town. If you’re not trying to benefit Perry, then there shouldn’t be negativity. If we all pulled together and gave Perry our business, it could flourish.

Readers can support local Perry businesses by visiting Halo Hair Salon and supporting Amber. Tell her you saw her name in ThePerryNews.com!

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