Shalean Marie is the owner of Vital Touch Hair Studio, which currently operates out of Osseo, Minnesota.
Raised in Central Point, Oregon, a majestic region in the southern portion of the Beaver State, as a child Shalean fully embraced living on the West Coast.
“I loved growing up in southern Oregon. We were an hour from the mountains and three hours from the coast,” says Shalean, a jovial individual who prides herself on being a constant source of positivity.
A competitive cheerleader in high school, Shalean’s amiable personality also endeared her to classmates of all different backgrounds.
“I spent time with the jocks, but I also hung out with all the misfits. I didn’t have one particular group that I hung out with,” she shares.
“I mean, I even hung out with the band kids, but I also would go up into the mountains to party on the weekends.”
Unlike many of her peers, by the eighth grade, Shalean already knew what she wanted to do with her life.
Inspired by her two aunts who were both hairstylists, she began researching what exactly the vocation entailed, and after taking a test in high school that confirmed her interest in cosmetology, Shalean never considered alternative career paths.
“I just ran with hair and cosmetology, and I have since been in the industry for eleven years,” she notes.
For context, her first job as a hairstylist was with Supercuts, a nationwide salon company that offers quick and affordable haircuts.
Then, when Shalean later moved to Minnesota, she started working at Fantastic Sams, another conglomerate in the cosmetology industry.
From there, Shalean transitioned into working for Salon Adagio in Rogers, a more boutique outfit located just outside the Twin Cities.
Those three stops taught her much about hairstyling and customer service, to the point that recently Shalean decided to venture out on her own and begin the journey of entrepreneurship, which is ultimately how Vital Touch Hair Studio in Osseo came to fruition.
For reference, Vital Touch Hair Studio is operating as a subsidiary of Stormy Lee Salon, meaning Shalean is running her own business and assuming responsibility for all things related to her clients, but she is doing so without having to rent out her own commercial space.
“What I’m doing now is different because at all the other salons, I was an employee, but now I am my own boss,” she says.
“There are obviously a lot of benefits to doing this, like being able to set my own hours and pricing, but I’m also taking on additional responsibilities because if ever things go wrong, it’s on me to rectify it, and I don’t have a manager that I can turn to for help.”
As an independent contractor, Shalean’s haircuts are not as budget-friendly as one might find at a Supercuts or Fantastic Sams, but by paying a little more money, her clients receive added perks that chain salons simply don’t offer, such as a more comprehensive service that’s devoid of expediency and impersonal interactions.
“In the walk-in salon world, hairstylists are instructed on how much time they are supposed to spend with each client. Whether you are working with a man, a woman, or a child, they want you to finish in about 25 minutes, and that includes a shampoo and drying hair,” Shalean explains.
“That experience is okay, but it’s not as luxurious as it can be. For example, I spend 45 minutes to an hour with someone so that we can go over what exactly they’re looking for with their haircut, and then later they can also have a really nice scalp massage and, if need be, a really beautiful blow out.”
For the sake of transparency, all of Shalean’s prices are listed on her website.
In most cases, men pay $40 for a haircut and women pay $50 because their haircuts typically take a little longer to properly complete.
“But I have even seen haircuts with other stylists go all the way up to $80 or more,” Shalean says.
“It all depends on your area, supply and demand, plus where a stylist wants their prices to get to, and if people are willing to pay that.”
Of course, there are an array of options when it comes to choosing a stylist for your next haircut, and while Shalean readily admits that most hairstylists are talented and competent, often in chain stores, where volume supersedes personal touch, stylists can feel pressured to meet time-limit quotas, which can lead to less-than-stellar haircuts and customer dissatisfaction.
To mitigate the risk of her clients not liking their haircuts, Shalean separates herself from some of her competition by offering an in-depth consultation before she ever grabs her scissors and clippers, a process that is unencumbered by time constraints.
“During the initial consultation, I ask questions that my clients might otherwise not think about, and that helps me really understand what they like and don’t like,” she says.
“I do this because my ultimate goal is for them to be able to sit in my chair and relax because I have already cultivated an environment that makes them feel comfortable with just being themselves. By doing that, they not only will feel physically renewed after the haircut, but loved and cared for as well.”
Looking ahead, Shalean is still contemplating whether she will ever open her own salon with her own commercial space.
For now, each day she is aiming to become as clean and carbon-neutral of a stylist as possible, but her ambitions also extend beyond the work she does in-house.
“I also want to do volunteer and nonprofit work. Things like going around to different homeless shelters and helping those who are in need with a haircut, because appearance does matter when you are trying to go out in the world and get a job,” she mentions.
“And those that are homeless or low-income, they don’t always have the resources to go get a quality haircut, so I want to be able to offer that, and if nothing else, do my part to make the world a kinder and more welcoming place.” QS
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