LONGEVITY AND A HAPPY VIBE

By Louise May

Owner of Elvarl Hair Artistry - Meg Bates, is an awardwinning stylist with 18 years in the industry, who never gets tired of hair!

She has expert skills, love, and passion for creating hair masterpieces, and a desire to make people happy and feel good about themselves. Team these together, and you’ve got a recipe for the perfect hair experience! Meg has built the Elvarl brand from dreams and love and prides herself on the salon being high-end while down to-earth and friendly.

Hair Biz Editor Louise May recently caught up with Meg to chat about her journey in the industry and her love of Lisap Milano Products.

Can you tell us about the journey of yourself in the industry and Elvarl? How did it all begin, and what have been the highlights of your journey so far?

Elvarl first began in 2008 when my first daughter was a baby and I had friends hounding me to do their hair at home when I wasn’t working. Then they’d ask to bring their friend, or their sister.... and before I knew it, I was running a business. I quickly outgrew the idea of a home salon and I decided to take the plunge and buy an established local salon in 2012.

I had a tiny budget of $3000 to rebrand and update so I painted, scrubbed, got some new signage and pretty lights and the new salon Elvarl Hair Artistry was born. I decided on the name “Elvarl” from my two children, ‘Ellia’ and ‘Varlee’. My daughter Ellia is now 15 and an apprentice at the salon!

We’ve had the usual ups and downs of the journey, throw in a divorce and 7 years spent as a single mum, the dreaded covid time, staff coming and going, but we’ve always soldiered on, and it’s paid off!

Over the years we have grown from 1 staff member, where I kept the apprentice on that was employed at the salon before I purchased it and grew one by one to now being a team of 11! We were fortunate to have the opportunity 5 years ago to relocate to a new development not far away, to a lovely big space where we are currently, and I will never forget the feeling of walking into such a beautiful salon that I can call mine. I feel that when I open the door every morning!

With a team of 11 full-time staff members, Elvarl must have a great work atmosphere. Can you describe the salon’s work culture and how it contributes to your success?

The energy of a day and the vibe of people’s happiness is so important to me. It can feel like we spend more time with our team than our own families sometimes, so having a team that is a safe space, a truly peaceful and happy environment to be in is essential.

We attract a vibe of people who align with our values – zero drama, happiness, support, love, and genuine respect. Happy people will perform better, they will WANT to come to work, and they will reflect happy vibes which makes the clients happy also. We are all genuine friends and spend a lot of time on our relationships, everyone is always voluntarily early to work to catch up with their teammates, we have team bonding days, and our group chat has a whole lot of non-work-related chats and laughs going on, which shows me how genuine our bond is.

I personally want to come to work every day and enjoy it, enjoy the people, and feel uplifted so it’s important to me that vibe reflects through the whole team and the clients! We often get comments on how happy and REAL everyone is here, and I truly believe if everyone is happy it helps create a successful workspace too.

Specialising in blonde hair is a unique niche. What inspired Elvarl to become a blonde specialist, and what sets your salon apart in this area?

I never set out to be a blonde specialist! One of the funny things about my career is things have just happened to me and I’ve just taken it and ran! Being blonde myself, I know how important certain aspects to the process are and I was able to project that knowledge onto doing great blonde work.

It was something I was good at, and that passion passes on to my colleagues. My team and I are very passionate about blondes so have always thrown ourselves with hunger into education about it! Every new member of our team learns our techniques and using Lisap Milano products makes it honestly a dream for blondes, their high lift tints are the best I have ever seen, and powder lighteners are so gentle on the hair while being highly effective!

Elvarl has been using LISAP MILANO products since its inception. What initially drew you to this brand, and how has it contributed to the salon’s success over the past 11 years?

I will never forget the day I first tried LK colour. I was an apprentice at the salon where I did my training, and my boss had the technicians come in for a demo. We fell in love immediately!

As soon as I opened my salon, I knew what I wanted in my salon without a doubt! The flawless coverage of colours, the amazing range of toners and the reliability of the colour has helped immensely.

Having confidence in the products you are using is so important, clients want to have the results they are expecting while maintaining the integrity of their hair and the biggest thing –longevity! It has been so lovely to see the brand grow on the journey too, so many new colours added to the range and new amazing products like the ‘lightscale’ range – our biggest selling product is the Anti-Yellow shampoo which obviously tones hair but the Diamond Dust and Hydrolised Pearl inside the product keep the hair offering shine, and does not produce the dullness that purple shampoos can do to blondes sometimes.

Can you highlight a few key LISAP MILANO products that have become favourites among your clients and team members? What makes these products stand out in your salon?

The unanimous favourite across the team is Protech Lightener, everyone is so in love with the product! It gives incredible lift and is so gentle on the hair. Anyone who uses it for the first time, comments on it being the best lightener they’ve used! Being a hybrid range, LK colour is a fantastic tool for toning along with their lightscale toners and Metallic toners. The favourite toner of the team that I need to order millions of tubes of is 10/8 for the CLEANEST brightest blonde possible!

The newest Favourite product is the Bond Saver Lamellar Water – literally a 9-second treatment at the basin that warms up in your hands and gives the most amazing repair and shine. It’s available for retail too, and our guests LOVE IT!

The relationship between a salon and its chosen professional products brand is important. How does the philosophy and values of LISAP MILANO align with Elvarl’s approach to hairdressing and client satisfaction?

We are so grateful for the care and support we receive! M&U imports and the whole team are always on the other end of the phone whenever needed, our beautiful rep, John Szczypka, is always a pillar of strength for us and acts more like a friend than a rep – a type of relationship that is important to us!

As a family-orientated business, we really appreciate a company with the same values. Client happiness is honestly so important in our hearts, and we know that Lisap Milano products, as well as everything M&U imports has to offer, can not only deliver that but want the same thing as us!

Elvarl Salon has been in business for an impressive 11 years. What do you believe are the key elements that have contributed to your salon’s longevity and continued success in a competitive industry?

Owning a business is not easy!! There have been many challenges, mistakes, and lessons along the way. But that’s normal!! There have also been far more amazing moments, glimmers, and growth and the one thing you have to have to sustain the harder moments is heart.

You have to have determination and true love for your business, team, business relationships and salon because that will always project into success. I could not have gotten to 11 years without support from others, I have such a loving and dedicated team and working with companies like M&U means that there is always genuine support there!

Providing an exceptional client experience is often a hallmark of successful salons. How does Elvarl go above and beyond to create a memorable and enjoyable experience for each and every client?

When a new team member starts, they always comment on the level of love and service we have for clients, when to me it’s just what we’ve always done! We treat our guests like true friends, while still maintaining a high-end atmosphere. People feel comfortable in our salon and having a solid foundation of a team means the energy is always high, and our guests often comment on how good it feels in the salon.

We are always updating our “points of difference”, so something regularly feels new. We take a holistic approach to our little details; we have crystals and inspiring reading material everywhere and every guest is given a motivational quote with their beverage of choice. Overall, our clients are treated equally, with an exceptionally high level of service to make them feel special because the goal is they walk out feeling like they could move mountains.

With over a decade of successful operation, what exciting future plans does Elvarl have in store? Are there any upcoming expansions, new services, or innovative initiatives on the horizon?

We have had such an exciting year of growth this year, with our team really settling into the most beautiful group of people that are ready to conquer the world so I think we will be doing some great things! Some of my team is keen to explore the world of comp work in 2024, we have exciting education planned and the level of personal development in the salon is huge. As I tell my team, the happier you are, the more good stuff happens to you. So, I anticipate an amazing time ahead!

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