THE WOW FACTOR Letitia Hutchings grew up around hairdressing and from the age of 4 can remember being around her mum in the salon. She started being a T’n’Tidy for her mum on Saturday’s when she turned 13 and when she was 17, decided to pursue hairdressing as a career. “I’ve seen the best and worst of this career going from managers that would want to grow their staff, to a manager that didn’t care and wouldn’t guide you. This made me decide what kind of leader I wanted to become.” 2011 Letitia qualified and continued her career working at Wow! Excellence in hair, and worked her way up to a management position and shortly after in, 2014 she took ownership of 2 Wow! Stores in Taigum & Strathpine, QLD. “This was a new chapter for me, learning the business side of things, from having to balance the books to organising stock. I learnt a lot about managing people, a lot about training and what my strengths and weaknesses were as a manager.” In early 2017 Letitia was approached by a leasing team member of Grand Central offering her a position in their shopping centre, which at first, she declined but later decided it could be a good opportunity. She decided to keep one salon in Brisbane and give Toowoomba a go! “We started the design and leasing process to building what is now my beautiful creation and rebranded Wow! Excellence in Hair. The same name but a different look!” Wow! Excellence in Hair, Toowoomba opened its doors in December 2017. Letitia brought a senior stylist with her, who she trained in Brisbane from a first year to qualified stylist and… “we have been smashing goals ever since!”
“Working full time on the floor while managing my busy Toowoomba salon left little time on my days off to visit the Brisbane salon and 2019 made me rethink my business priorities. I no longer had the time to spread myself between the two salons and was struggling to find a good work life balance.” So, in Feb 2020, she sold the Brisbane salon to be able to give her Toowoomba salon 100% full attention to help her salon grow and achieve her goals! “Covid was a slippery Slope for many businesses but for my salon we powered on through it! Some stylists chose to assist the business by going onto Job seeker and others decided to work the hours that I could provide, this meant the salon could paddle through these uncharted waters and successfully get to the other side!” “Post Covid was hectic as the salon came back twice as big as before and hasn’t stopped yet! Our clientele keeps expanding and we have built the salon on word of mouth! I’m getting close to qualifying another apprentice who started with us as a first year soon after opening. I enjoy growing my team from the beginning as I feel they then know and can meet my exceptional standards and I can ensure I’ve hand moulded them to ensure my customers are in the safest hands possible.” Wow! Excellence in Hair was named recently in the Top 3 best rated salons in Toowoomba, a beautiful compliment to Letitia’s team of wonderful stylists and just goes to show if you put the hard work into your staff they will return the effort in their work. “2021 is going to be another amazing year for Wow!,” says Letitia, “with new junior stylists joining our team to help the business grow and expand. My future goal is for my business to outgrow my current space within the next 5 years allowing us a bigger salon and more team mates to join the crew!”
“I feel so lucky to have the amazing team I’ve created and look forward to many more years in the industry creating beautiful hair and touching many hearts in the process.” Letitia is a loyal customer of M&U Imports using the Hilift True Colour, True Eco, Silver Brilliance and Cureplex ranges, Hilift retail and Magnesium hair straighteners. She also stocks and uses the Adore and ABBA range, Brasil Cacau, Speedy hairdryers and Zalon colour remover to name just a few. “My favourite product is Brasil Cacau smoothing, the results are amazing and it leaves the hair smooth and easy to manage,”, says Letitia. “True Colour is perfect for my salon being an affordable range which enables us to create beautiful long lasting colours that come in an amazing boutique range. M&U provide lots of marketing to us free of charge and I regularly receive beautiful banners and stickers making them the perfect partner for me!” Wow! Excellence in Hair, Grand Central Shopping Centre, Toowoomba FB and IG @wowhairtoowoomba
