Wauconda hair salon grows
An interview with Dina Piazza, owner of The Wild Hair Salon & Barbershop in Wauconda.
Q: Describe your business. What do you do?
A: I do exactly what I love! The Wild Hair is a place to get a custom look, no matter what it may be. While you are here you also get “The Wild Hair Experience,” especially after redoing the shop so that everyone that enters gets treated like a V.I.P. The new look reflects a bit of my hairdressing past of doing hair for bands. I did that in the 80s, at a shop in Palatine, but also backstage for various music events and even some famous bands such as Metallica, Marshall Tucker Band & Danny Bonaduce. I do everything from Mohawks to Pixies and anything in between. I am always craving more education and learning up-to-date techniques that help me deliver the best service in the industry. I think that every client should not necessarily “look” like a rock star, but be made to feel like one. The new salon has the total V.I.P. treatment in mind; a beverage station that includes Starbucks Coffee and Perrier and a new flat screen video monitor. The shop features retail products by TIGI Bed Head and will soon include T-shirts, hats and cool art to our merchandise selection. I even wrote a book about the shop that is in the works of getting published.
Q: What made you start your business?
A: Well, everyone that goes to beauty school always has the dream of “opening their own salon.” I had it, I’ll admit. I learned everything I could in the beginning years of doing hair, soaking it all in and taking good notes. After about 11 years, I decided that 1997 was the time to do it. Here we are, 15 years later, after tons of hard work and still learning every day. The hairdressing industry is the most exciting now that it has ever been because there are so many new learning resources available to me. This is how I constantly hone my craft and deliver perfection. I have a few mentors in this industry that I have followed and learned from, including Tabatha Coffey and Geno Stampora. My family inspires me in an incredible way as well. I have dressed a bit crazy since I was 16 while just starting beauty school, and my mom and dad always supported me, no matter how unique my look was for any given day. I am very proud to be in business for 15 years and am now ready for another 15 with the “new” shop.
Q: What has been the most difficult obstacle in running or starting a small business?
A: This “new economy!” I love having my own shop, but every once in a while you have a day where you wished you worked for someone else — then you have a little talk with yourself and realize how excited you are every time you turn the key to come to work and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Q: What do you enjoy most about operating your business?
A: I love making people feel good about themselves. Not too many people/places make you feel that way anymore. When my customers leap out of the chair and can’t stop looking in the mirror at their new haircut, that is what I live for. Even if it’s only for an hour or two, because of me, that person feels like they can rock the world that day. That is so awesome.
Q: Is this what you pictured yourself doing when you were young?
A: Yes. I always knew I was an artist, and that I would be making my living that way. I have been doing many forms of art my whole life, such as fashion design & illustration, graphic design and marketing and interior design.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: Sometimes I suddenly sit up at 2 a.m. and wonder if someone’s life changing haircut is working for them. Sometimes it might be that I’m wondering if people will like the shirts I designed. Did I laminate the price lists and order the printing? The other thing that keeps me up at night is wondering when Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is going to come in to get some feathers. I know he would dig it here — it sort of looks like how he would want his dressing room backstage!
Q: If you could give one tip to a rookie business owner, what would it be?
A: Have a plan and be ready. Learn as much as you can before you open so that you can be as knowledgeable as possible in your profession. Read a lot. Soak it in. Get ready for a wild ride being a business owner and be prepared to give it your all. Most of all try to love what you are doing! That makes it not be “work” at all.
— Kim Mikus
Ÿ We cover a small business every week and want to hear about yours. Please contact us at kmikus@dailyherald.com.