July 22, 2020

Suite Elite Storytellers 2020; Benjamin Avery

Celebrating our Members just feels right! Many of our Members are very successful working out of their personalized salon suite. Today, we are featuring Benjamin Avery who owns owns B. Avery Salon & Barbershop at the MY SALON Suite – Fiesta Trails located in San Antonio, TX. Benjamin has been a Suite Elite member since December 2018 but has 20 years of experience in the hair industry.  He started off in a small studio somewhere else and “had nothing but a credit card and a dream” to own his own business. He grew his business slowly and two years later he moved to  a double suite and single suite at his location (Three total salon suites).  He is currently in the process of developing his own product line and has a YouTube channel.

Benjamin started getting interested in hair at the age of 10  with his first clients being Barbies. He later moved on to practice on mannequins that he obtained through his grandmother who was a cosmetologist. Every summer when he would go visit her, she would buy him a mannequin head to practice on, then bring him to her job where he would get to watch people in the salon work for hours. This followed him throughout life and allowed him to become involved in the beauty industry. He loved watching how creative people could be in the industry and the amount of self-expression that is openly welcomed in the business. He loves all the different kinds of identities and walks of life that are free to create and innovate whatever interests them. 

For Benjamin, owning his own business “means that I’m my own boss. I can do what I want, say what I want and even take the day off if I want. Owning my own business is freedom.” He also loves the freedom of  setting his own prices and selling the products he loves. 

Benjamin shared with us his experience during the COVID-19 closures. “Closure for me was good and bad. Good, because for the past 2-3 years, I have been in business and worked constantly with no break. I needed time off. The thing I love the most is that they [MY SALON Suite] care about us being business owners and do what they can to help us out financially, especially during COVID-19. They didn’t charge us rent when we were closed… Thank you, MY SALON Suite!”

What piece of advice does Benjamin have for someone thinking of joining The Suite Elite?

  • Plan ahead! Pick out your salon name first.
  • Decide what you are going to carry and use for your products.
  • Make your mission statement. Define your business goals and identity.
  • Follow your plan and work hard!! 
  • Put away money for emergencies or pandemics.

Follow Benjamin on Instagram @B.averyhair and check out his personal website to learn more about him and the work he does.

 

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