Not Always Magenta

By Tamsyn Reynolds, Hello Hair

I've been in this industry since birth. My great uncle Mason Costa led the way, my grandmother, my aunt, all stylists before me. Salons have always held a special place in my world.

At 21 I took over my aunt's salon, 24 years later I have experienced hairdressing in many shapes and forms.

Just like you, I've employed people I was proud of and people who broke my heart when they left. Built client relationships that have lasted over a decade. Balanced the cost of stock against the price of a treatment, weighed staff wages against slow months, and learned that owning a salon gives you more creative freedom than almost any other business you could choose. How the space looks. What the brand says. How your team represents it. Which suppliers earn your loyalty. So much room to grow. And just as much room to be knocked down.

There have been years I wanted out.

A few years ago, post Covid, I went the retail route. Products, kits, rituals people could take home. I learned a lot in that space, mostly that real return on product needs consistent traffic, either in person or online, and a budget behind it to keep growing. I tried the hair influencer route too, wondering if I could sell what I know beyond the limits of the chair. I looked at other industries. Event planning. Property. Interior design. Customer service roles I could do from home. Anything that promised time freedom and still let me use the parts of my brain that need to create and organise.

Along the way, I found something I hadn't expected.

We already have one of the best setups there is.

If you're employed and earning above a certain threshold, a large chunk disappears to tax before you've even seen it. Most jobs mean driving between meetings, sitting behind a laptop, or hustling against someone else's deadline. Ours looks like hustle too, foils folded fast, a full book, a queue at reception. But the difference is who's in the chair. They chose to be there. They're listening to the music you chose, trusting you with their hair and, more often than not, offloading whatever their day has handed them. You're not just changing hair. You're shifting energy. And you're doing it on your own terms, structuring your business in a way that's tax smart, choosing your hours, deciding when a school concert belongs in your diary and not having to apologise for it.

Hello Hair has just relocated, and with it came a real rebrand, not a redecoration. We have returned to what the name has always meant. Good hair. Results that last. Care and connection.

Quiet months still happen. They still bring stress. Staff still leave, the economy still bites, standing for hours a day still takes its toll on your back and your patience. But this career also offers you something most others don't: the freedom to build the space, the mood, the pace, and the standard, on your own terms.

If you've been thinking about throwing in the towel, hold onto this. The grass isn't always magenta on the other side.

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