Salons, barbershops and hair studios are attractive places of comfort for many people. Sanct Salon owner Kendra Lise’s ambition is to take comfortable haircuts to the next level.
Lise opened her new approximately 500-square-foot salon at 2855 Main Ave. Suite A109 on Jan. 4. It’s a cozy salon with soft lighting, two studio spaces and, occasionally, a sensitive, mild-mannered beagle named Pawl to greet guests at the door.
She uses one of the small studio rooms, and her colleague, renter and fellow hairstylist, Maddie Cook, operates in the other.
She said Sanct Salon is a safe space for clients away from toxic products, toxic environments and toxic people. She studied at the Aveda Institute’s beauty school in Denver and has worked in hair studios across the country. She lives life intuitively; she teaches yoga, is a trained life coach and is in school for psychology. She also has an autoimmune disorder that makes her extra sensitive to certain hair and beauty products.
Hairstylists are exposed to various chemicals such as ammonia and endocrine disrupters all day, every day, which for someone with autoimmunity problems can result in rashes, itchiness and respiratory problems. She said her condition became so bad that she can’t be in the same environment as irritating hair sprays anymore. Over her career, she’s realized there are many other people in similar predicaments.
Certain hair treatments recommend users wear goggles and a mask – Lise said if she has to wear personal protective equipment to apply something to her hair, she shouldn’t be using that product. Pregnant clients are more frequently being told not to use coloring in their hair unless their hairdresser can apply it cleanly.
Lise’s approach to hairdressing is a holistic one, she said. Customers will find Sanct Salon’s products are vegan, ethically produced and ammonia-free. She noted most companies use ammonia in their hair color products.
She said she implements her holistic interests and skills to cater to her clients’ needs as whole people, meeting them where they are and providing a safe space and a break from the chaos of the world.
That’s how she came up with the name of her business – Sanct Salon, as in “sanctuary,” she said.
It’s also how she organized her business space. She said she was always conducting her business in the corner of other hair studios where she had no real control over her environment. In setting up shop, she found herself worrisome and wanting to control every little detail. But then she remembered to let it come organically and to think about how she wants her clients to feel when they leave.
“Then it’s all easy,” she said.
Opening a brick-and-mortar salon was a roller coaster all its own. She said she’s only now realizing how vulnerable one is putting his or her name on a business and presenting him or herself to the public. Priscila Newbold, a business navigator, helps entrepreneurs navigate the pitfalls of starting a small business.
Newbold also works with the city of Durango and La Plata County Food Equity Coalition’s Food Business Workgroup. She’s proved to be a useful contact capable of connecting entrepreneurs to state and area resources essential to starting a business.
“You can plan as much as you want, but then there’s a deposit here and a fee here,” she said.
She didn’t know where to begin on taxes. Newbold connected her to a contact with the Colorado Department of Revenue.
“I’m at a perfect point in my life to deal with the wavering stress and excitement of it all, and kind of finding that center,” Lise said.
All things considered, Lise started her business at lightning speed, she said. Which is good for her, because she is used to acting intuitively – if something is rough to navigate and she’s faced with barrier after barrier, she usually decides to change paths. But in establishing Sanct Salon, she came upon green light after green light.
She said she practices intuition in her approach to the art of hair styling, too. Early in her career, she began trying to figure out her clients’ dispositions and gauge their moods.
“Is this a person that wants to talk and they’re just shy, or is this a person that does not want to talk? And it’s a fine line,” she said.
She has implemented that into her formal hair consultations. Some people are chatty with their barbers or hairstylists. Others don’t want to talk at all. At Sanct Salon, Lise’s clients get to choose the experience they receive, she said.
Lise has had clients who requested a five minute bang trim who ended up spending two hours telling their life stories, she said. And she’s had teenage clients who spent two hours on their cellphones.
She shared a story about an old client of hers, an engineer and rocket scientist who worked for Lockheed Martin. He was shy and didn’t say much. But he kept coming back to Lise, and at every new appointment he became a little more talkative.
cburney@durangoherald.com
