Confidence in every haircut 

By Calvin Tang

Cindy Hair Salon, a local business that's been in San Jose for many years, has been providing quality haircuts, styling, and color services to the community for many years. Even through tough times and struggles, such as covid,Cindy Hair Salon has been providing quality service and creating a welcoming environment for its customers.

Cindy Nguyen’s job of being a hairstylist has allowed her find peace of mind, making herself feel confident.Cindy always makes sure that her customers are comfortable getting the hair styling or haircut that they want and ensuring that they will be satisfied with the final result and allow them to be happy, and gain newfound confidence through themselves through their new haircut.

Nguyen: I wanted to gain confidence, and make my customers feel beautiful and happy.

Cindy uses various advertising strategies such as regularly posting on social media about the new haircut or styling she’s done on a customer to attract new customers while ensuring that existing customers return for new,fresh haircuts or styling. Cindy also utilizes social media platforms like Instagram,Google and Yelp to showcase her work, posting before-and-after photos.

Nguyen: I get my customers from websites like yelp,google, and instagram. I get them to come back by make them feel comfortable and give them the exact haircut they want.

Although customers have different preferences, some haircut styles are requested more often than others.Balayage and layerings being the most requested. With different range prices, with each haircut and styling varying in time,sometimes subtly, and sometimes significantly.

Nguyen: For haircuts, customers ask for layers, which adds more volume,And for colorings they ask for Balayage the most.

With all this information, some may wonder how many customers she styles, or cuts hair for daily or how busy she gets with haircuts and styling. Or maybe how packed her schedule gets, and how much time she spends on various haircuts and styling services, With Cindy often having a set amount of customers a day, as each haircut,or styling takes a while.

Nguyen: I get  7 customers a day, I’m booked 2 weeks in advance. Each customer takes me 1 hour.

Now, some may ask, if she has all this success, why doesn't she decide to branch out and establish more stores to try and make more profits? Cindy stated that she doesn't want to branch out as she prefers to stay as a local business.

Nguyen: I want to stay as a local business. Because San Jose has a lot of people, I can get customers easier

Cindy also ensures that she is friendly with her customers, and makes sure they’re having a good time. This allows her to motivate herself when she’s working on customers who’s haircuts take a long time. And it also brings her joy knowing that her customers are happy with her work.

Nguyen: I like to talk to my customers and make them feel happy with haircuts.

When covid first started, the whole world was affected, including Cindy. In covid’s early stages, business was slow as people were scared to go outside, which heavily affected the customer flow Cindy had.

Nguyen: My biggest struggle was going through covid,I had to close my store for a short while. And I got a lot less customers.

Luckily, she was able to pick herself back up once restrictions eased, and her business flourished once customers started coming back after the fear of covid went away. Through the years, she has had many memorable experiences as a hairdresser, but one stands out in particular.

Nguyen: My favorite memory as a hairdresser was fixing a customer's hair. She tried dying her hair at home, but she messed up.I’m glad I fixed her hair for the wedding.

Cindy’s dedication to her work as a hairdresser, and her adaptability through challenges has made her a staple business with many loyal customers.As she continues her journey in the hairdresser industry, her love for the profession and the connections she builds will always be at the heart of her work, as as my mom, I truly appreciate how determined and hardworking she is.

For the warrior times, this is Calvin Tang