Community Highlights: Meet Matt Showalter of No Name Salon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Showalter.

Hi Matt, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I guess something that stands out as strange or unique to most people when they start to learn about my wife and I’s life before moving to Los Angeles is that we’re both from rural Utah and came from a population of around 9,000 collectively. Not that we’re some anomaly, but leaving everything you know that’s comfortable and moving to a place like Los Angeles and starting a business during a global pandemic can be a blessing or a death wish. I grew up in the Automotive Industry; it is all I’ve ever really known. I spent a lot of my childhood working in various positions around my family’s Ford dealership before assuming the General Manager role in 2015 at the age of 25-years-old. Looking back, it all seems like a strange dream.

With the global decline of oil and energy production, it left the only industry aside from the annual summer spike in tourism to areas like Dinosaur National Monument or Flaming Gorge Reservoir with a pretty bleak future. With sort of a void in life, I wasn’t living a life of my own. Maybe I’m just wired weird, or I didn’t realize what I had but, I felt like living on the laurels of others before me, or my last name isn’t really living. So I decided to change it. To the dismay of some in our small community, something that was synonymous with the auto industry for 84-years it changed ownership, and I decided to pursue my own endeavors in life.

And that’s how we ended up here {Los Angeles} or the “Emerald City” as my dad likes to call it. My ambitions for moving here in the first place were to work in the film industry. And I didn’t know which niche I wanted to be involved with, so I enrolled with a mentor and started working on small productions here and there around the city, most of which I found on craigslist or sites like Mandy, Backstage, etc… A lot of it was unpaid work or volunteering at film festivals – which was very humbling and rewarding at the same time. Then 2020 came roaring in and sidelined most of my ambitions there and opened up an opportunity to start a business. Today we own and operate No Name Salon in DTLA (located behind Verve Coffee), which has been in operation since September of 2020. My wife, Harlee, is the creative force in our vision and a full-time stylist as well. I don’t cut hair, which’s probably for the best, so I oversee the day-to-day operations.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing in life is perfect. But there’s a lot of people who paint a picture to make you believe that’s the way it is. I’ve had plenty of struggles and failures in life. Owning your own business isn’t a ticket to success. To a fault, you tend always to be “plugged in” and worrying instead of collecting a paycheck and heading home. There are always stresses. It hasn’t been a smooth road by any means. Even the fact of starting a business during a global pandemic comes as a blessing in disguise or a death wish. But through it all, we love the challenge and the rewards that come with seeing your vision come to life. It’s hard to start something from the bottom. Even committing to building out our salon space was an undertaking and full of roadblocks and surprises along the way. Yet, I see all of them as lessons in the process, as they build – or break you – if you let them.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about No Name Salon?
We’re a salon based in DTLA behind Verve Coffee. We specialize in women’s/men’s haircuts and full coloring services such as full highlights, balayage, blonding, or hand-tied extensions. And I’m working toward bringing in some original clothing designs from my passion project, Lazy Bones, to the salon as well. I’m really proud of our team and the talented individuals we’ve been able to attract to come and work with us. They’re all great people, and I love learning about their backgrounds. I also love our space and how well my wife (Harlee) decorated it. It is really open with huge ceilings and storied history in L.A. from serving up dances to being raided for operating a speakeasy – our building is really unique and preserved with architecture and history. That’s ultimately how we ended up with ‘No Name’ for our business name. To pay homage to its speakeasy root and not to create one single identity, but letting it be whatever you want it to be – No Name. I’m also proud of our commitment to our clients. No matter where you’re at or what industry you’re involved with, one thing never changes – customer service. I want our customers leaving happy with a quality product no matter what. Maybe I come by it honestly or learned it in the automotive industry, but you have a sinking ship without a good team and customer service.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I’ve had a lot of mentors in my life, both personally and professionally. Someone once told me, “always surround yourself with the best people.” I internalized that and took it to heart. I feel it’s key to anyone’s success to be choosy on who’s advice they take and who they’re spending time with. That goes for your friends and romances as well. Time is such a valuable resource that quickly slips away. When I started networking after moving to L.A. I was amazed at how many opportunities this city provided to me in such a short time after putting myself out there. And I began to understand why it’s referred to as the “city of dreams” I was able to work with super talented students at AFI and USC on their cycle films and go to Universal Studios and Warner Bros. without buying a ticket to get in.

I’m also incredibly grateful to Tanner Beard and everyone at Mammoth Film Festival for giving me a home working internally during their 3rd festival year – it was a much needed push to get me back into the swing of working and meeting new people in a new place. And what’s worked well for me is just getting over myself and realizing I don’t have all the answers. And never take yourself too seriously. However, you’d be surprised at what someone has to offer you if you’d just listen. I also make it a point to never forget about the people who’s helped me along the way. If 2020 has proven one thing, it’s showed us how easily we can connect with others no matter the distance or how “busy” we believe we are.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: nonamesalon.la
• Instagram: nonamesalon.la
• Facebook: nonamesalon.la
• Twitter: nonamesalon.la
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/gdq3ERUagcb
• Other: lazybones.shop

Image Credits
@devin.walston