e v i t c e l l o C n o The Sal
By Louise May
As well as being a great salon with an outstanding reputation, Cowra’s Salon Collective is just a very cool place to hang out. With it’s cool & eclectic vibe, and their commitment to providing only the best client experience, it’s no wonder they have received so many accolades to date.
Starting her apprenticeship as a mature apprentice at the age of 20, salon owner Alicia Ball completed 12 months in a Sydney salon, before moving back home to Cowra after being offered a position at a gorgeous new salon “Ambience Hair” in her hometown. After completing her apprenticeship, Alicia went on to purchase the business. Starting solo on her own, she grew to a team of 5 and then to 7 in no time. In 2017 Alicia began working with a salon mentor as she wanted to really level up and create a space that really represented her values, her vision and her “Why”. She loved her existing business, but it was somebody else’s vibe, the name was once someone else’s, and it just did not feel right to Alicia. This is when The Salon Collective was born! At the same time as the rebranding was taking place, an old building that Alicia had always admired, became available for lease. It has much more space and totally fitted the whole look and feel of the vibe that Alicia wanted to create. The salon just exploded, with the new name, new branding, new look and totally awesome vibe... The Salon Collective just went from strength to strength. It has been so wonderful to be able to express who I am and who we are as a team, and what our mission is also for our clients and our community, says Alicia. I wanted a name that represented my team... “a group of likeminded people working together toward the same goal” the salon collective was born - The salon I dreamt of was now my reality... Since the rebranding and the move, both the salon and Alicia have won multiple business awards, including Local Business of The Year, Outstanding Business of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of The Year, Business Leader of The Year and nominated as Finalists in Regional Awards also. In 2018 Alicia opened her 2nd salon business, Brother Fox Barbershop - A place where boys & men can come and sit and have a good yarn with great blokes. The concept of Brother Fox Barbershop came from my passion of men’s mental health. Brother fox was in fact named in honour of 2 important men in our lives, who are no longer here, but who mean the absolute world to me, says Alicia. In 2019 once established, Alicia sold Brother Fox to one of the amazing barbers at Brother Fox Barbershop, who is also a very dear friend, to focus
Alicia Ball on future growth for The Salon Collective, and to this day they continue to work very closely together as brother - sister salons. Also, in 2019, Alicia was extremely fortunate enough to train under the one and only Lorraine Massey (the curl queen herself) and the Curly Girl Method & dry curl by curl cutting was introduced to the salon collective. “I will be forever grateful to my dear friend Kimberley Marks, from Yeah The Curls in Seaforth Nth Sydney, for this career changing opportunity and educating & training my team. As a curly girl myself to be able to offer this service to all curly girls in the entire Central West of NSW has been a game changer, so much so, to keep up with demand the entire team at The Salon Collective has now been certified in dry curl by curl cutting, Says Alicia. We are excited to launch in 2021 as a curl specialist salon.” “I have been blessed with my time in business to work alongside so many amazing Hairdressers & barbers that have made my business what it is today. Says Alicia. They are all a part of our journey and will forever be a big part of the heart of the Salon collective. I have qualified 6 apprentices in my time in business, and there’s nothing I love more than my volunteer work. It is the most rewarding part for me, in my 17- year career I have been fortunate enough to be accepted into many organisations to meet their gorgeous clients and I am forever grateful to my dear friends at the Cowra Information & Neighbourhood Centre for gifting me the opportunity, as that is where it all began. I have been more than blessed in my career with a team that is now my family, their passion is so incredibly inspiring I am truly honoured to work alongside these women each and every day. We have some huge plans for The Salon Collective and I look forward to our next chapter, it’s going to be huge!”