Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Wervey
Hi Erin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Believe it or not, this really wasn’t one of those stories where I knew I wanted to be a hairdresser at a young age, can fondly remember styling and cutting my dolls hair. Nope, I didn’t ever really exhibit any passion for hair prior to going to Beauty school, it sort of just happened with a mom (my mom) who knew a lot more about her daughter than her daughter knew about herself. I guess she just saw certain qualities in me like my love of socializing and getting my own hair done. So when she suggested moving to New York City and going to beauty school at the Aveda Institute in Soho, I was excited for the adventure and hoped she was right that this would be the right career path for me and well, I guess she was. Moms always know best! I moved to NYC 6 months before September 11th, I was 13 blocks away when it all unfolded, and well obviously it was a very traumatic experience for me and despite some pretty serious anxiety that it left behind, I managed to push thru and I’m so glad I did because I would say that my time in NYC really shaped me into the person I am today! In the words of Frank Sinatra, “if you can make it there you can make it anywhere” no lyrics have ever rang so true in my life. After spending 8 beautiful years perfecting my craft, taking in all of the city life I could, working with celebrities, on tv, being surrounded by the best of the best in my industry, it became clear that I spent my best years there and it was time for me to return to Cleveland to be closer to my family. Upon returning to Cleveland, I realized very quickly that the beauty industry was completely different from NYC and that if I wanted to truly be happy in my craft, in this city I would have to think about opening my own salon. Similar to the beginning of my story where I never thought I would be doing hair, I also never had any desire to own and run a salon which is sort of ironic because here I am coloring hair and owning a beautiful salon space in the amazing Van Aken district in Shaker Heights. After only 6 years I have managed to double my size, I have gone from 5 service providers including myself to 15 and growing at a rapid pace. As far as how I got here, lots of twists and turns, a love for the industry and always sharing whatever I can with my team so they can be the best in this industry too, at the end of the day, I am making people beautiful with my craft and I’m surrounded by strong woman that make everything I do worth every minute so I can see them grow and be successful.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting and growing a business is never a smooth road but my years in NYC made me resilient and I have a very determined attitude. To be honest its kind of a blur and I prefer to look forward but Covid and the shut down were a pretty big challenge, luckily we have amazing clients and I have an amazing team and we managed to get through it better than most.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We are a highend luxury hair salon, I am haircolorist, I specialize in balayage and natural looking haircolor. We offer haircuts/styling/eyebrow shaping and now we offer head spa services for complete and total relaxation. We make people feel beautiful, relaxed, confident. Often times we have been thru major milestones with them. Marriage, pregnancy, illness, death of spouses, parents, children. I don’t know if people realize how deeply we connect with our long time clients, some of them we see every 3 weeks for services. Its also a really difficult career emotionally and physically challenging but so rewarding, watching a client smile and be so excited about what they see in the mirror after we finish, is really the main reason we do this job. In my opinion it is the best career in the world and I’m so thankful that I get to go to work and truly love every minute of it. I’m most proud of the culture within my salon, yes its design is stunning and you feel transported to something or somewhere bigger but we are a family and our clients recognize our love and respect for one another. I get stopped so frequently and told ” you should be so proud of yourself, your team is so amazing and inviting and loving, its really obvious that they love each other and they love being here.” I guess thats what I’m most proud of and also what sets us apart. And of course we do amazing hair too!
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Just that I’m grateful for being able to share my story, I hope people enjoy it and I hope people feel a little inspred to do life unconventionally. Not every career path needs to be mapped out, and also listen to your mom or your mentors, they might know a little more about you then you think and it may lead you to greatness or at least help you figure out what path to take.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.andrewscolour.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewscolouratelier/
