A serendipitous email 10 years ago drastically shaped Drea Baldini’s career path.
“I was working in a salon — a big corporate thing — and the manager didn’t really care too much about it; it was a constant fight for supplies. I thought, I didn’t sign up for this,” Baldini said between sips of coffee this month in the back room of André Richard Salon on Locust Street. “It was one of those ‘come to Jesus’ moments where I thought, I can’t do this anymore; something’s gotta give.”
Dismayed, Baldini returned from work that night to an email from then-owner of 12th Street Gym Rick Piper inviting her to check out retail space he recently renovated and was looking to lease in the building.
“The next day I looked at it and there was one chair and 200 square feet. I gave him a deposit that day. That’s where it all started.”
In the last 10 years, Baldini went from being in business by herself to employing 10 stylists, three assistants and two receptionists at the flagship shop at 1218 Locust St., as well as in the satellite ARS Parlour at 204 S. 12th St. She estimated hundreds worked for her brand in the last decade.
“This industry has such a high turnover, and at first I thought there was something wrong with me,” Baldini laughed. “There are people who go to beauty school then realize this really is a lot of work, it’s not as glamorous as they thought it was going to be, and move on.”
Finding the right fusion of personalities, in a way that allows people to hone their individual crafts, has been one of the biggest challenges of building the business, Baldni said.
“For however many human beings there are on this planet with hair, that’s how many different ways there are to do hair. You can be sharing space with God knows who, which can be hellish — and it has been at times. But I would say right now I have the best team I’ve ever had. No offense to the others … but girl, that’s a TV show,” she laughed.
The workplace dynamic shifted about a year ago when Baldini transitioned from male to female.
She said she was anxious about telling staff at first, but the majority of the staffers were very supportive, and those who didn’t mesh well with the transition have since moved on.
“I thought, what if my entire team quits? I went through all of this in my mind, but it was like, I’ll have to just figure that out because I have to do this,” Baldini said. “I told them and they kind of ambushed me with ‘We’ve got your back, everything’s good.’ The core group is still here but I’ve had eight people move on and I think it was because the dynamic changed so much: Dad was no longer showing up, Mom was. Younger people related to me very differently. But I think it was one of those things where if you really clean up yourself internally, you clean yourself up externally too. We have less people who work here, but we’re still doing the same amount of business and things are calmer. I’m calmer.”
With that energy, Baldini is moving into 2017 with a new focus on hair health.
In the business’ beginning, Baldini offered scalp analysis for clients.
“Everybody has different hair types but our scalp usually does the same thing: either it’s dry or oily because of silicon build-up. If silicon builds up, your scalp can get flaky or, in the reverse, it can produce too much oil because it’s trying to balance itself, which can cause balding,” Baldini explained. “[Plant-based French line] PHYTO used to come in with a scope and magnify the scalp 200 to 500 times to see if there was a buildup. From there, you can use essential oils to relieve these issues and balance it out.”
Over the years, the practice fell by the wayside.
But Baldini recently launched a Scalp Analysis and Treatment Program, which uses a pen-like magnifying device called a Capilliscope, connected to a laptop, to identify any scalp issues.
Once the analysis is complete, stylists treat the scalp and hair with PHYTO and Moroccanoil, infused with Argan. Treatments range from $60-$100.
“Ultimately, you want to have crazy, fun-colored hair but it needs to be healthy,” said Baldini. “This is a way to keep your scalp and hair health in check.”
She decided the renewed attention to hair health was integral to the business while reflecting on the 10th anniversary.
In looking back, Baldini said she realized there are few things she would have done differently, other than “get a filing cabinet,” she laughed.
“I don’t have any regrets. I’ve cultivated a great team and am going to concentrate on education for our assistants because they’re our future.”