Hello to all and today is the first official day of maintaining my blog. My goal is to give my customers a glimpse of the grind to make my company, Salon Armor, thrive! I will give you a sneak peak of my creations and my new ideas.
A lot has happened since I launched with Michael O'Rourke at ABS Chicago in 2009. I was so taken back by the positive response that day! I had been using my wristband since 2006 and I was hoping people would see the convenience of wearing it as I did. I cannot work without mine on!
I decided at the end of 2013 to get in front of my invention and start showing it to other companies. I brought a close friend and we went to our first show, AACS (American Association of Cosmetology Schools). I was overwhelmed by the response and knew then that I had a product. However, I learned that my Large was not big enough and the S/M was not small enough. I heard the owners stress concern over State Board approval which I hadn't even considered! I came back to my studio and started to grind. I now have 4 sizes and 15 State Board compliances. It takes a lot of time to contact the States and some Boards require you to come to their meetings to present. I will continue to work on this to get more compliance.
My first big show was 2014 Premiere Orlando then to ManeStream in Tampa followed up by Fashion Focus in Indianapolis and by the end of 2014, I was at the start of distribution. I was experimenting with different designs in 2014 and brought the designs to Tampa to see their response and get sizing. I took more designs to Fashion Focus and realized people wanted to put their own spin on the wristbands and some stylists had certain tools they wanted slots for. I sold out completely at Fashion Focus and knew the Design Bar would be at every show in 2015.
March 2015 was insane as I did 2 shows with 2 weeks in between. My Design Bar was a hit and sales doubled within the 2 weeks from IBSNY to ABS Chicago. Martino Cartier made my day in NY when he showed up at my booth asking for a wristband in his custom designed black and gold leather outfit designed by Lady Gaga's designer! He brought Vicki Casciola back and the two wore my band all weekend. ABS Chicago brought NAHA winner Chrystofer Benson of Matrix to me and I am excited to say he will be launching a collaborated design made especially for him at Premiere Orlando! I now have 5 locations at Premiere for you to buy a Salon Armor Wristband: Basic Hair Care with the beautiful Micheline Barber, The Massive Justine Kace, extremely talented Chrystofer Benson, and the man who got me started...Michael O'Rourke. My Design Bar is located only at my booth.
I continue to refine my products to make them work as we as stylists need them to work. I will continue to bring you new ideas that will make hairstyling more efficient!
I hope you enjoy my journey...
Many Uses
Many Uses
