Meet Master Stylist, Educator and Salon Suite Owner Tonya Chaney of Mykal Grant Salon Suite in Denver, CO
Mykal Grant Salon Suite in Denver, CO – 1152 S Colorado Blvd., Denver – 303-477-1712
https://www.styleseat.com/m/book/v/tonyachaney
We sat down with MY SALON Suite owner Tonya Chaney to find out what she loves most about the Suite life.
Q. How long have you been a beauty professional?
I’ve been a beauty professional for more than 20 years. In addition to being a master stylist I’m also a professional educator and previously owned 2 (multi-station) salons. Before becoming a beauty pro I was in IT for about 10 years. But when I was growing up, even when I was a little girl, I was always doing my own hair and my friends hair. While I was in college I even had clients. It was just always something I could do.
Q. What drew you to the Suite life?
I’ve been a MY SALON Suite owner for the last year and a half. At the point in time when I found MY SALON Suite I was a salon owner. My lease was up and I was in a conundrum about what to do next. Honestly, I was tired of the part of being a salon owner where I needed to manage stylists and operations for other people.
I wasn’t sure what to do next so I turned to a higher power. I got into a deep prayer process and just made myself ready for what the right thing for me to do next was going to be. I actually found MY SALON Suite then, when I received a flyer in the mail that got my attention.
I’d had a really tough day in the salon that day so I just went, and Shane and Cliff just happened to be there. It was perfect! They even had move in specials and other offers running. They were ready for me. The signs couldn’t have been clearer. MY SALON Suite was just right on time.
Q. What do you enjoy most about the Suite life?
One of the things I really love is that my Suite is just as clean when I come in the next time as when I left it. As a Suite owner, you can do “you” without worrying about other people.
The other aspect that’s great is the privacy, the intimacy. I have a lot of high-end clients who really appreciate how private the Suite is. We’re therapists, you know, and people like that they can talk to me privately without other people listening in about whatever they need to talk about.
The environment here is very collaborative. Many of the Suite Owners will even walk around and check to see if anyone has time to do a client’s haircut or service if they have overflow. You get nowhere in life being selfish, in our industry we should know that better than anyone. We all realize that you don’t “own” your clients. They stay with you because of what you do. The customer service you provide. We have a great network of stylists here who are very unselfish people – some even offer to share space.
Q. Share your success! If you were going to give a new Suite Owner one piece of advice, what would it be?
Either bring a solid client base with you or be ready to build one. I’ve seen a few Suite owners come in right out of school. It can be challenging for them because they don’t have a client base. I would advise beauty professionals who are just getting started in the industry to put themselves into a situation where they can learn, learn as much as possible.
When you have an established client base it’s easier to move. Most of my fellow Suite owners here have been in business for over a decade, and many were previously salon owners. Transitioning to Suite ownership is very natural when you have this experience.
5. What’s your favorite color?
Yellow. Yellow is my happy color, so I have little spots of yellow in my world everywhere.
We also asked location owners Shane Conant and Cliff Stults what makes Tonya’s Salon Suite so special; here’s what they said. “Tonya is a true entrepreneur and is a very talented Stylists. She has the ability to make her clients feel comfortable and they trust her and her creativity.”
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Tonya Chaney is a 20 year professional master stylist and Design Essential Educator who specializes in healthy, thought provoking, and stylish hair.