Self-employment
Profile of successSuccess comes in many shapes, sizes, cuts and colours. Just ask hairstylist Heidi Hurtarte and hair-colourist Stracey Burtch. After years spent working in various salons around Toronto (and racking up a legion of die-hard fans along the way) this dynamic duo decided to open shop for themselves. LAUREN BRESLIN |
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 [ 2006-05-24 ] |
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Hairstylist Heidi Hurtarte (left) and hair-colourist Stracey Burtch are the young and dynamic co-owners of Lift Salon in downtown Toronto.
That was three years ago. Today, Lift Salon & Spa (90 Adelaide St. E.) is a haven of hair artistry, specializing in of-the-moment hairstyles spotted in fashion mags and on Hollywood's hottest heads. Everyone from graphic designers to TTC drivers, students and the Bay Street crowd come to Lift for an awesome head of hair without a trace of attitude. But what makes this success story all the more "uplifting" is that Hurtarte and Burtch, the proud co-owners of this hip downtown salon, are both under the age of 35.
BORN INTO IT
Guatemalan-born stylist Hurtarte always dreamed of running her own salon. "I was kind of born into the industry because my mom's a hair stylist," she says. "Actually, my mom didn't want me to follow her and become a hair stylist, but I just loved it too much."
Burtch, who moved to Toronto from her hometown of Niagara Falls, also fell in love with hairdressing at an early age. "I used to flip through magazines when I was a kid -- I just loved hair, fashion and makeup," she says. "I thought, 'This is the job for me.'"
The two women crossed paths roughly 12 years ago when they each took a job at the same uptown salon. At the time, both were starting to build a loyal clientele, and when they eventually moved on to new salons, their customers followed.
"Then Stracey came up to me and said, 'Why don't we create our own place, for our own clients?'" Hurtarte says. "So we started researching everything we needed to have to start a business and how much money it would cost -- and then we're like, yeah, I think we could do it."
"And we did it," adds Burtch, smiling.
Their vision? To create a salon that combined the best aspects of every place they'd ever worked in, all pieced together to create the ultimate salon -- their baby.
They chose to keep the setting simple, with a stark-white and Mediterranean blue decor dominated by massive front windows. The overall vibe of this 3,000-sq.-ft. space is airy and inviting. It almost feels like the set of a fashion shoot.
"We knew that we wanted it clean, yet welcoming," Hurtarte says. "We like the cleanliness, we like the feeling of 'fresh'. It's really cool, and people just love the atmosphere we have going."
In the back room, a ceiling-mounted video projector plays fashion shows splashed onto the white wall. "We have it playing in the background so if people don't want to read magazines they have something to look at," Hurtarte explains. "It's great because we also use it to show some of the work we've done."
But Lift hasn't succeeded on good looks alone. The brains behind this outfit love to adapt runway styles to everyday life, and clients return to Lift for quality colouring and shapely cuts.
Hurtarte and her partner-in-colour have even taken a young student under their wings to teach him how to cut hair so it flatters the face. "We've been teaching him everything we know," Hurtarte says. "I'm going to make him just like me -- my own clone."
As for making the transition from hairdresser to salon-owner, Burtch says all the little details of running a business were overwhelming. "To this day it's overwhelming because we're still learning a lot," she says. "At first I would panic, like, oh my god - what's next? But overall it's just a fun job. People come in and you make them feel good -- and that's the greatest thing ever."
"DO YOUR HOMEWORK"
Burtch advises anyone looking to open his own business to do his homework. "At the beginning I was just reading anything and everything about business," she says. "So whatever industry you're going into, do your homework because a lot of unexpected things will come up, and you don't want to be like a deer caught in the headlights."
Meanwhile, Hurtarte says if you want to succeed at your profession, loving what you do is key. "Really successful people only become so successful because they put so much love and passion into what they do," she says. "You shouldn't work to live, you should live to work."
How many hours a week do you work?