PEOPLE | interview
Beauty, Brains and a Lot of Hard Work At an age when many girls are still just finishing their studies, Bahraini entrepreneur Yara Salman, 21, is already the boss of one successful business, Yara Beauty Lounge, with more on the way. She told WTM the secrets of her success. How did you become involved in beauty and wellness? Growing up around business-oriented parents I was always inspired by their determination to become a success. I believe in finding every opportunity to turn something into a business venture and that’s how I came up with the idea of establishing something that was elite and at the same time provides ladies with the latest beauty treatments in the Kingdom; a combination that is very rare to find today. When and how did you decided to open your salon? By the age of 17, I had graduated from St Christopher’s School and had an option to study overseas or study and work as well, in Bahrain. Setting up a business of my own and studying were both my priority at that phase and honestly, it was not easy. It was a struggle in the beginning to have a proper balance between studies and work as I had to give up on my social life and focus only on my priorities, but eventually everything fell into place and it was all worth my sacrifice and hard work. I decided to launch YBL since I wanted to offer the consumers of Bahrain a unique concept. I wanted YBL to be the first and largest five-star establishment of its kind to be launched in Amwaj and I can proudly say I have succeeded in doing that. Are any other members of your family involved in the business? I belong to a family with business in our blood line. I have inherited my business skills from my father Jameel Ali Salman, founder of JAS Group. My mother, Dr Hala Alsayed, is a well-known dental consultant and my elder brother Mohamed Salman will be opening an exclusive entertainment lounge this month. I did have an option to choose between following my father’s or mother’s footsteps, www.womanthismonth.com
so I decided to do a combination of both along with my personal charisma. How long did it take to get up and running from the time you decided to going into business? I always wanted to do something unique and different and, after endless travelling and research, I knew I wanted to propose to Bahrain a very different concept. Honestly, under the constant supervision of my father and his expert skills, I was lucky enough to launch my beauty lounge in a very short period of time. The beauty lounge is very glamorous looking, who designed it and where did you source your materials? My taste I would say is very bold and simple. ‘All white’ is my signature. The founder of Unisono, Mr Liam, who is also a great friend and entrepreneur, ensured he could put my ideas into life. With his expertise of taste and touch, he definitely knew what I was looking for. Are you a qualified therapist of any kind yourself? No; although I like to keep myself updated with the latest trends of beauty, fitness and cosmetics. I also like to study about professional personnel’s practices and tend to hire only the best. You offer the new cryotherapy, how did you hear about this? Have you tried it yourself? I have personally tried Cyro a while ago in the US and then again in Dubai. It was something worth introducing in Bahrain. CRYOtherapy is a non-invasive alternative method of beauty enhancement and a ‘no work-out’ way of losing weight by helping the body increase its metabolism – burning up to 1,000 calories per session! It has been January 2016
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