Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Cantu.
Hi Victoria, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Well surprisingly, I never had touched hair in my life, not even my own. I didn’t even know how to curl my hair til senior year in high school. I did enjoy going to the hair salon with my mom though growing up. I think I just liked being in the environment. After high school, I did go to go college on a running scholarship. Did that over a year til I realized one day in class that I was over being in school. I remember calling my mom and telling her that it wasn’t for me and I just didn’t want to do it anymore. She told me well if you’re not going to go to college then you need to figure out what you’re going to do. So I started thinking and couldn’t think of anything. Then she suggested going to school for hair. My response was, seriously? I don’t know, but I’ll go and check it to see if it’s for me. So I went and I actually loved what I saw. I graduated from the Paul Mitchell school in Austin in 2007 and started work as soon as I got my license. But I hated it. I was 21, my friends were all floating the river and enjoying life and I was at work on the weekends (busiest times for stylists). I was in and out of salon for a solid 2-3 years. I even moved to San Antonio and went back to school while working on a salon to do something different. One day at 23, I had a light bulb pop on in my head. What if you actually gave hair a chance. Actually stay in a salon build clientele and see. So I moved back to Austin and stayed in one place. I was able to build my clientele less then two years. In those two years, I had my son and you know things changed. One day I was at work and a coworker’s husband car had broken down and couldn’t pick up their daughter. So she panicked and told our boss she needed to leave so she could get her in time. Our boss told her you can’t leave, can someone else pick her up? And at that moment, I was like wow what if something happens I wouldn’t be able to leave either. I soon left shortly after that and became my own boss.
In 2015, I rented a suite and opened up my first salon, Salon VC in 2016. I had a vision but my mind was not in the right place at the time. I had so much personal things going on and then owning a business and training employees, I was carrying too much. So I had subleased my space and went back to renting a suite. I was able to focus on the things I needed to focus on learn to manage my schedule and time around my son’s school. I was able to stop working on Saturdays and enjoy my weekends. I was content. But I think I was too content cause I felt like I needed and wanted more. My friend reached out asking if I wanted to check salons out so we could rent a chair in the same salon. I had told her yea let me know what you find. We’ll In that search, I ended up finding an existing salon and thought I could do this again but do it right. My real estate agent reached out to the shopping center in July and I signed the lease in August. My overall goal in this salon is to help teach, educate and guide any stylist who is willing to be teachable. I run a commission and booth rent salon. Most stylists these days want to be their own boss and that’s what I want help them do. When I started working for myself no one helped me, no one helped with me with my pricing or learning to budget. This is what I want to do, I want to help these stylists build their clientele, train them to produce bomb ass hair and eventually work for themselves.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I dont think it’s a been smooth road working towards where I am now. A lot of challenges I had were within myself. At times I got content and was doing minimal. But than I would give myself pep talks and would have to snap out of it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Salon VC?
Specializing in blondes, such as in foilayage, balayage, highlights, bleach outs. Especially Latina hair. That was my main focus for years and any stylist that comes in the salon will definitely get education on that! It’s not easy trust me. I make sure to do thorough consultations, giving them the best options for their hair to help them achieve their goal or put them on the right path for their hair journey. Definitely ask 21 questions during the consultation. It can seem like a lot but clients appreciate it after. I’m proud of my current team members trusting in me and being part of the salon. I may not have it together all the time but they’re my priority just as much as my clients are.
We are currently taking new clients to any potential client reading this, I hope you can give us a try! None of this would have been possible without the support from my boyfriend, family, friends/clients.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
That is my goal for this year. Work has always been my everything. So once I slow down a bit, I definitely will have recommendations.
Contact Info:
- Email: Salonvc16@gmail.com
- Website: www.Vagaro.com/salonvcllc2
- Instagram: @salonvc_
- Facebook: Salon vc
