GLAM+GO’s Founder Erika Wasser Spills About the Blow Out Revolution
I don’t think there’s a single woman out there who doesn’t like to get a blowout. I also don’t think there’s is a single woman out there who likes to sit in a chair for over two hours to get her hair done. Erika Wasser is one of those women, and three years ago she decided she was tired of spending so much of her time getting blowouts.
As a standup comedian and TV host with “naturally unruly hair,” she wanted to find a way to cut the time she spent getting her hair done to the 20-30 minutes her team managed to transform her hair between sets. In her true entrepreneurial nature she started to pitch the idea of a speedy blow dry salon and started GLAM+GO with just two chairs. Fast forward three years and she has grown the business to 12 national locations in NYC, LA, Miami and Washington D.C.
When I heard that I could get a gorgeous blow out in half an hour, I was skeptical. My visit to the TriBeCa flagship shattered this doubt faster than I could finish my coffee. The trick is that they don’t wet your hair, and get straight down to business. The stylist had achieved a loose curl that is a very traditional blow out style in half an hour, and it even stayed intact the following day.
Erika Wasser has truly created a genius company that gives woman the hair we all want, in a fraction of the time. We sat down with the CEO and Founder to pick her brain on GLAM+GO. Trust me when I say you’re going to want to hear this for yourself!
GLAM+GO
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Q: Tell us a little bit about how you came up with the idea of GLAM+GO.
Prior to starting GLAM+GO, I was working full time as an on-air digital host for HGTV and as a stand up comedian. I was regularly in (very tiny!) green rooms where I was getting my hair done really efficiently without sacrificing quality.
Realizing we didn’t need all the hoopla to achieve the same — if not better — hair results, in less time, was a major “lightbulb” moment for me! This is what all busy women need, not just the ones on camera.
This is what all busy women need
Q: What were some of the hurdles you had to overcome starting the company?
For starters, I knew nothing about hair and had limited-to-no skill doing my own. Secondly, I knew nothing about business or how to start one. I was really lucky to have great people around me like my parents who are both entrepreneurial, and my then-roommate at the time Myk Likov (founder of Modern Om). He had a Wharton MBA and was just starting his business and had just made his pitch deck. I had no idea that all you needed to start a business was an idea and Powerpoint, but everything grew from there.
I had no idea all you needed was an idea and Powerpoint
Q: How did you cut down the traditional blow out time to 30 minutes? I left your salon with a blowout that looked like I was in the chair for hours!
If I told you, I’d have to kill you. : ) A small tip, the saying that “piss-poor planning creates piss-poor results” applies to blowouts, too.
Don’t get lazy about sectioning!
Q: You talk a lot about balancing your work and social life while still staying active and healthy. What are the best practices you live by to achieve this? I know it is always such a struggle for so many of us.
Finding time that’s yours and yours alone and being unapologetic about it I think it really important for your sanity. Figure out what works for you and be honest about it to yourself and others.
For me, that’s my mornings, because if I don’t work out in the morning, it is not happening for the day. Anyone who is scheduling things for me knows this. Balancing social life is a bit harder, but luckily, if I really mess up, I can gift a friend a blowout.
Q: You are opening up more locations this year, including one in D.C. and just opened your flagship in TriBeCa. Are you planning on growing your brick and mortar presence even more next year, or venturing into other areas of the beauty industry?
Looking at the end of 2018 into 2019, it really feels like we’re about to hit our stride. We’re adding multiple locations in California, a second Miami location within the Shore Club, launching a new partnership with Joel Warrens Salon Project within Saks Downtown Brookfield Place this fall, and, yes, entering Washington D.C. for the first time!
Our D.C. location, within the Fairmont Georgetown, will be our largest footprint, which is very exciting. We’re also branching out our service menu, looking to add a men’s membership for shape ups, hair cuts and root touch up across multiple locations.
We’re looking to add a men’s membership for shape ups
We’re careful to listen to our members, who we see on average six times per month, to make sure we’re giving them the services they want, where they want them, so we’re constantly innovating and coming up with new ideas.
It’s going to be a big year!
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With love,
FWO
