Roisin Lea (right) with her sister Liv (left) (Image: Roisin Lea)
She’s a 27-year-old hairdresser who has carved a niche for herself in the competitive world of a major city’s hairstyling scene. With clients scrambling to book appointments, they’re wanting to keep Roisin Lea’s salon their little secret.
Partnering with her sister, Liv, the sisters realised their childhood vision by launching Liverpool’s Salon 88 back in 2019. Diving into hairdressing straight after school, Roisin sharpened her skills as an apprentice at another of the city’s salons, Voodou, then honed her craft further at hairdressing heavyweight Toni and Guy.
Ultimately, Roisin ventured into self-employment as a mobile hairdresser. She reflected on the bold step she took telling the Echo: “It was a huge risk but I just thought ‘go for it’. I told myself I’d give it three months, see how self-employed life went and if I didn’t get busier I could always go back to working in another salon. But I’ve never looked back. I was 21 years old and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Her salon’s success with colour transformations is making waves, and Roisin, along with her sister, is enjoying the fruits of entrepreneurial spirit and talent combined.
Roisin, after amassing a dedicated clientele as a mobile hairdresser, took a significant leap in her career by partnering with her sister, a skilled nail and eyelash technician. Roisin shared: “My sister and I always said growing up that we were going to have a business together – it was all we dreamed of. By the time she was ready to get her own shop, I had only been self-employed doing mobile hairdressing for a few months, so I couldn’t commit to paying bills on a premises. I decided to just rent a station off her in the salon at first.”
The sisters’ venture into their own business was a bold move, yet their reputation quickly attracted a growing number of patrons, fuelled by word-of-mouth praise. However, their burgeoning enterprise, Salon 88, faced an unforeseen challenge when the coronavirus pandemic struck, forcing them to shut down less than a year after opening.
Roisin described the lockdown as a “scary time” for entrepreneurs. To keep her business afloat, she provided clients with at-home colour kits delivered right to their doorsteps.
Despite fears that customers might grow accustomed to home hair colouring, Roisin found that her business surged post-lockdown. She expressed her astonishment: “I was worried people would just get used to colouring their hair at home and not come back to the salon. But after lockdown business for me bounced back bigger than ever – I couldn’t believe it.”
Roisin has become a local sensation in Liverpool, known as the ‘queen of colour’, and her business is thriving with the help of her sister. Her clients’ glowing recommendations and her savvy use of social media have attracted a steady stream of new customers eager for a makeover by the stylist.
Roisin’s Instagram is a gallery of her talent, displaying transformations from lacklustre locks to vibrant balayage, fiery coppers, and eye-catching blondes. Her work is so renowned that her clients are often stopped on the streets by admirers curious about their hairdresser though some clients prefer to keep Roisin as their little secret.
Roisin shared: “I love when a client messages me after their appointment to say how much they love their hair, or to say someone in a shop has just complimented them and asked where they got it done. Although I do have a couple of clients that keep me top secret because they don’t want anyone else to have there hair colours! I find this hysterical, and say to the clients ‘they are new potential clients for me!’ But they just laugh and say ‘No, you’re mine – no one else is getting my colour’.”
Roisin, who has built her own thriving business from scratch, is now so sought-after that she has a weeks-long waiting list. Despite her success, she ensures to reserve appointments for her loyal regulars who have been with her since the beginning.
She shared: “I have had a lot of my clients for many years – some still from when I first started my hairdressing career. It’s such a lovely thing to have actually made friends out of clients who have been so loyal over the years. Every time they come in it’s like catching up with a friend – I look forward to every appointment.”
The triumph of Salon 88 spurred Roisin to take another significant leap in her career. The 27-year-old entrepreneur recently unveiled her own hair extension brand, Roshi Weft.
She said: “I love hairdressing and I never see my self leaving the industry, but I wanted something that meant I had a plan for the future, because it’s a demanding industry which involves being on your feet all day, never taking a lunch break and working through sickness so I never let any of my clients down. I thought to myself ‘I need a five-to-10-year-plan on how to stay in the industry but not be on the shop floor’.”
With a ‘true’ passion for her craft, Roisin gushed: “I love everything about hair extensions and I love how much they can transform your hair. I love a more natural approach and would always encourage clients to have their extensions fitted to enhance their natural hair rather than anyone being able to tell they’re wearing extensions. So much hard work went in to it behind the scene, and now I’ve just brought out my own range of hair brushes and combs.”
Ten years of dedication and tireless efforts have paid off, and Roisin’s Anfield-based business is poised for even greater success, with the talented stylist aiming high for a dazzling future in the industry.