June 29, 2016

Meet Koreatown Hairstylist: Julianne Cho

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julianne Cho. She’s doing what she loves, she’s built an impressive client list and works in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in LA – in short, she’s living the LA dream. We’re impressed with her work, her story, and her entrepreneurial spirit. Find edited excerpts of out interview with her below.

Julianne, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?

I always enjoyed fixing and styling me and my friend’s hair ever since I was a child. Later in high school, it turned into a serious hobby as I started cutting my friends and family member’s hair. It was fun and me easy way for me to express my creativity through hair design. Besides- it brought me great satisfaction when my friends liked their haircut. I never thought of pursuing it as a career, but all that changed when I immigrated to the USA. Jobs were limited and hard to come by. So when a friend encouraged me to look into turning my natural talent to a job- I decided to attend Vidal Sassoon Academy for proper training. I graduated in 2003 with credentials in haircut and color. I first worked as a hairstylist at a prestigious Beverly Hills hair salon my first two years then spent the next 10 years at some of Korea town’s largest and most successful hair salons. In 2014, I built a large enough clientele and good reputation of my own to open up my own beauty salon in the heart of Los Angeles.

Has it been a smooth road?

I really can’t complain. My 13 year career has been relatively very smooth. My transition from student to trainee, trainee to salaried stylist, salaried to commission, commission to independent stylist (renting a station) and now a owner of my own full scale salon has been both a fun adventure and blessing. Yes I had my share of struggles but the hardest was transitioning from a commission to an independent stylist that rented a station (or two) at a hair salon. When I was a salaried or commission employee, the salon owner embraced and welcomed my talent, popularity and how busy I was. Now when I became I independent, because the owner no longer profited from my many clients- they did not appreciate how busy and crowded my station(s) got. I soon discovered my talent and popularity was no longer appreciated or welcome. I tried hard to spread out my clients and stay in one place for the convenience of my clients, but I was constantly forced to move. As I expanded from one station to four with two assistants- I eventually outgrew every salon. In a good way my success forced me to open my own salon. It was a harrowing and frightening experience, first tightening my belt to save savesave- then investing every penny into opening my own business. But finally, in 2014, I was successful in opening my very own “Hair by Julianne.” The rest is history. Receiving my credentials from the world renowned Vidal Sassoon then being fortunate to continue that education through invaluable mentoring Sooni eat Bruno and Soonie of Beverly Hills. Then finally becoming a strong enough stylist to have loyal clientele that would follow me wherever I went. And of course, mustering the courage to open my own business.

What are your plans for the future?
In the future, I hope to expand by opening a few more hair salons. But rather than becoming a CEO of a large corporation with multiple branches, I would rather be a boutique with a few medium sized intimate locations where I can truly guarantee the quality of work from me and my employees.

Let’s dig a little deeper into your story. What was the hardest time you’ve had?

As an immigrant the hardest thing in my adult life was learning a new language. As a hairstylist- there was not just one but many struggles. As in life, every forward step was met with an equally challenging obstacle that had to be overcome. As a graduate of Vidal Sassoon- the hardest part was getting my foot into the door, a chance to prove my abilities. When I initially branched out on my own, first as a station renter style hairstylist at existing hair salons- it was very difficult dealing with owners. Some were nice, but I had some who went out of their way to give me and my assistants a hard time. They would go so far as to try to interrupt me on purpose when I was with a client. I felt terrible for the poor customer service, which ultimately led me to the conclusion that I needed to open my own salon.

Now venturing to open a new business was the scariest experience of all. During construction of my very own salon, I felt stuck. I can admit now but before I opened my doors, I was afraid that I would not have a strong client base to succeed. There was definitely some serious hesitation and doubt but I moved forward because I believed in myself and it was my dream. Today, my hair salon is thriving and can’t keep up with demand so I have to constantly expand and hire.

Everything happens for a reason, even the bad. At the moment, life may seem unfair and curse at the unfortunate circumstance, but in the end you will come to realization that it was all part of the master plan.

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