Local Entrepreneurs: F5 Hair Room

F5 Hair Room

An Interview with Its Owners

Interview by Melline Galani

Living in Korea as an expat implies a lot of challenges. Sometimes even the basic aspects of life are hard to fulfill, even such things as having a basic haircut. We know how important this is, especially for ladies. We here present an interview with the owners of F5 Hair Room, which has lately captured the interest of foreigners and received many good reviews. Gwangju News hopes to give a little help to those in need of such a place.

Gwangju News (GN): Hello and thank you for taking time to do this interview. For starters, where are you from and how did you meet each other? Kim Miyeon & Kim Jian: We would first like to thank the Gwangju News for this opportunity. We both come from the countryside, precisely the town of Jeongeup in the Namwon area of North Jeolla Province. We came to Gwangju for university, and after graduation got jobs at a beauty salon here. That is where we met for the first time.

GN: How did you start working together? We know you have some work experience abroad. Please describe that experience and any hardships that you may have faced there. Kim Jian: When I first thought about opening a hair salon, I had a lot of concerns and frequently asked myself whether I would be able to do it well on my own. Honestly, my friend and I had been talking a lot at the time. I wanted to start the business together with Kim Miyeon because I have always had faith in her. It has been ten years since I first met her and five years since we have lived together as roommates. Spending so much time together, we have come to know each other very well, and the idea of opening a business with my close friend came up almost naturally. Moreover, Miyeon has always had good ideas, and I am very grateful for that.

Working at a hair salon abroad was the best experience of my life. I honestly do not remember how we ended up going abroad together. When we first got a job at a beauty salon, the hair-stylist teacher who worked with us had been abroad to gain more experience. At that time, I also realized that if I wanted to be a stylist, I needed to go abroad. Miyeon and I talked a lot about it before deciding to go and, even if we had different points of view, we went to work in Australia together.

Living in Australia was challenging but also a unique experience. I was not good at English, so the language barrier was my main concern. I usually chat a lot with our customers to get closer, but there it was difficult to do so. This is how I realized that communication is more than just spoken words since I had to use so many gestures and facial expressions to be understood. People I met overseas gave me a lot of gifts, listened to me patiently when I tried to communicate in poor English, helped me with the language, and made me feel welcomed. I made good friends there.

Kim Miyeon: Like my friend has already said, we started this business together. When she asked me, I felt both grateful and concerned, thinking, “What if I would not be able to do it well?” For me, too, the hardest part of living in Australia was the communication. Therefore, I went to free English classes with Jian on our day off, and when I finished work, I went to an academy to study. I got a lot of help from my teachers. I am also grateful that our customers were caring and understanding.

GN: How did you come up with the idea of opening a business here? What were the major hurdles you had to overcome in opening a business here, and did you have anyone to help you? Kim Jian: Before opening our own business, we had been working at a salon in downtown Gwangju for a long time. This was the main reason for choosing a location so close to the same area. There were so many obstacles to overcome that I cannot even remember them all. It is true that it takes a bit of foolishness when you want to go down this road. There are so many people who have helped us. I think the customers prepared the opening together with us. I also got help from my acquaintances and a large number of customers for all the tax-related aspects.

Kim Miyeon: Having worked for others for a long time, it just felt right to have our own business. I did not know anything about the opening process and there were hardships, but with the help of colleagues, friends, and family, we managed to solve everything step by step, and I learned a lot from the experience.

GN: There are so many hair salons in Gwangju, but yours is always full of customers, including many foreigners. What do you do that you think sets your salon apart from your competitors? Kim Jian: We do not always have a lot of customers, but those who come to our salon seem to like us. In my case, I pay extra attention to foreign customers because I have lived abroad and know all the hardships one must face when moving to another country, especially if there is a language barrier. When I was in Australia, even ordering a meal was stressful, but my salon customers always treated me kindly and warmly. I want to have the same approach towards the foreign residents of Gwangju who come to our hair salon. I try my best to help them. Since there can be misunderstandings due to language barriers, I always double-check what a customer wants by showing them, even drawing if necessary, to be sure there are no mistakes.

Kim Miyeon: Most of our customers come to the salon after work, so they are tired. In addition to the service they request, we try to make them comfortable by applying massage techniques while shampooing to reduce the fatigue. Still, I do not consider what we do to be special services, except in the way we treat people.

GN: How did you go about growing your customer base? Why do you think foreigners are attracted to your business? Kim Jian: I try my best to treat everyone with sincerity, and then I think people recognize the effort. The best advertising we have is made by our customers

▲ Kim Jian (seated) and Kim Miyeon.

recommending us and our services to people around them.

Kim Miyeon: We talk a lot with the clients and try to make them as comfortable as possible. We also explain everything in detail to avoid any confusion. For the foreign customers, I think it matters that we have some experience in working with foreign hair. Ultimately, the number of foreign customers has grown on a word-ofmouth basis.

GN: We know that foreign hair is different from Korean hair, and sometimes is difficult to deal with. What kind of requests regarding style, coloring, or cuts do you receive from your foreign customers? Kim Jian: Indeed, it is different, but I have never thought it was tricky or difficult to do. Our foreign customers’ concern is mainly with hair colors, while our Korean customers are concerned with almost everything possible, from hair color to perms. Honestly, if you dye your hair or get a perm, the hair will definitely suffer damage. Korean customers will do anything for the style they want without taking into consideration the possible damage to the hair, while foreign customers focus mainly on hair colors, which is a little more comfortable. Foreign customers sometimes want hair bleaching, with techniques such as ombre and balayage. After bleaching the hair, they

▲ F5 Hair Room entrance view.

always ask us to neutralize the resulting yellow through complementary colors. Kim Miyeon: I do not have as many foreign customers as Jian, because I specialize in cutting, but when they come, they usually show me pictures of hairstyles they want. Male foreigners mostly prefer short hairstyles, though there are some who do not.

GN: What are the main challenges you fi nd in dealing with your foreign customers? Kim Jian: I would not say there are challenges in dealing with the hair itself. Language is the hardest part for me. Th erefore, I have to check several times to make sure everything is understood on both sides.

Kim Miyeon: I agree with Jian. I think the most diffi cult part is the language. Th ere are a lot of things I want to say, but I cannot always express myself. I must study English, but it is not easy.

GN: What kind of advertising do you do for your business? Kim Jian: I cannot say we do a lot of promotion. Our best advertisements are the recommendations our customers make to their acquaintances, although we do have an Instagram account that we upload content to. Kim Miyeon: We do promote on Instagram, but I wonder how eff ective it is. I think our customers are promoting us a lot, calling themselves the “F5 Hair Room salespeople.”

GN: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we know many businesses are facing hardships. Please tell us how the pandemic has aff ected your business. Kim Jian: Th e number of customers has decreased a lot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of our customers come from regions other than Gwangju, therefore there have been many cancellations even aft er making reservations. Most of the foreign customers are working as English teachers in schools or academies, so they are cautious about moving around during times when restrictions are in place. Since I have more free time, I use the opportunity to study and research styles through YouTube and the internet.

Kim Miyeon: Certainly, as the coronavirus in Gwangju got worse, the number of customers decreased. In the beginning, I was worried that there were a lot of cancellations, but I am positive that customers will soon be making reservations again.

GN: Kim Miyeon and Kim Jian, thank you for sharing about the F5 Hair Room, about yourselves, and about your clients – including the “F5 Hair Room salespeople.”

Highlights from F5 Hair Room.

Photographs courtesy of F5 Hair Room. F5 Hair Room (에프오헤어룸)

Address: Gwangju, Dong-gu, Jangdong-ro 52 Dongmyeong-dong) 1st Floor 광주 동구 장동로 52(동명동) 1층 Operating Hours: 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Closed Mondays. Phone: 062-225-8845 Instagram: @f5_hairroom_my

The Interviewer

Melline Galani is a Romanian enthusiast, born and raised in the capital city of Bucharest, who is currently living in Gwangju. She likes new challenges, learning interesting things, and is incurably optimistic. Her favorite salon in Gwangju is F5 Hair Room. Instagram: @melligalanis