DOLLYLOCKS Hair Salon has been open for less than two years but owners Mia Rawlinson and Hannah Brown have already made a name for themselves in the hair and beauty industry.
The pair, who grew up in Great Sankey, first welcomed customers to their salon on Halton View Road in Widnes in April 2022 and they’re finalists in the Hair and Beauty Awards UK 2024.
Here, in our latest Meet The Salon Owner feature, Mia, who is 25, and 28-year-old Hannah tell us about their hair extension training courses and their two-year and five-year plans for growing the business.
If you would like to appear in one of our Meet The Salon Owner, Meet The Makeup Artist or Meet The Beauty Therapist features email heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk
What’s the name of the salon/business?
Dollylocks Hair Salon
What’s the address?
51 Halton View Road
Widnes
Are you the owner/manager?
Yes we both run the business as a partnership.
How many employees do you have?
We have a freelance salon team of eight.
When did you open the salon?
We opened in April 2022.
Has it always been in the same location?
Yes
Are you local to the area? Did you grow up here?
Yes we were both born and grew up in Warrington, currently living in Penketh and Great Sankey.
Tell me a bit about your salon/business
We opened our own salon just by the Eight Towers. We have recently entered a competition and are through as finalists for Best New Salon 2024.
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What do you do? What services do you provide?
We are both fully trained senior stylists offering all hair services. We specialise in blondes, brondes and balayages. We are also trained educators currently offering hair extension training courses.
Why did you decide to open your own salon?
We are both from Great Sankey and trained together as apprentices in Penketh after leaving school. After a few years, we decided to work for ourselves to gain the best clientele and extend our services. After two years of building clients and over filling our diaries, we then completed our teaching courses in hair extensions. We launched Dollylocks hair extension training courses across the UK, training groups of hairdressers that wanted to expand their skillset. This took off really well and we knew we wanted our own base – somewhere to offer the courses as well as our day-to-day services for clients. We opened Dollylocks Hair and Beauty on Halton View Road in Widnes. We have achieved so much in such a small amount of time and now, after both starting our own families and having babies, we have returned to work and made it through as finalists in the Hair and Beauty Awards UK – we’re up for Best New Salon 2024. This is something we are both extremely proud of. We run a very busy salon offering all hair and beauty services with a lovely team.
Why this type of business?!
We have always had a strong passion for hair and beauty. From starting in the hair and beauty industry at such a young age to get to where we are now is a dream come true. We pinch ourselves knowing how lucky we are to work in such an amazing industry. For us at Dollylocks, we love being able to express our individual selves and share our creativity with others. Being able to work and progress in an environment with a team where we truly feel at ease really is something special. Working in this industry means there is always room to grow, achieve and set new goals. The support we get back from our clientele is amazing. Doing something you love every day is such a privilege and one which we will always be grateful for.
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What makes your business different to others in the same area/field? What sets your business apart from your competitors?
Dollylocks is the only salon to offer training courses in our local area. Our hair extension courses are highly advanced meaning students can complete their course within one day of training, learning the most popular and natural methods of hair extensions in the UK.
Everyone at Dollylocks works together as a team and we offer our senior stylists and makeup artist exclusive bridal packages. Since opening Dollylocks, our packages have become so popular and we are so excited to attend all the weddings we have booked around the UK for 2024 and 2025.
Why do loyal clients return to your business?
We are a warm and welcoming salon with a very loyal clientele. We are committed to customer satisfaction and we are lucky enough to call our clients friends not just customers.
What’s next? What do the next few months hold for you and your salon?
Dollylocks will be offering many more training courses and masterclasses in the next few months. Our two-year goal is to travel around the UK and Ireland teaching our training courses and hopefully one day teach on stage at the Hair and Beauty shows. Our five-year goal is to launch our very own products including the Dollylocks Luxury Locks Hair Oil and our very own curling wand to create our signature glam waves. We have also just extended our beauty team and renovated extra space so can offer even more services.
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