Headroom Hair Turns Twenty

How Headroom was born

In 2000, Sally Clarke was looking for the next step in her career and decided it was high time to open her own salon. The New South Wales district of Ballina became the home of Headroom Hair.

Sally’s first salon on River Street had a modest start, with just one other apprentice, and her mum helping with the front of house. As a former apprentice herself, one of the main reasons she wanted to have her own salon was to provide mentoring to younger team members. 

Having had experience working in some top salons in Byron Bay and Perth, she used her impressive background to grow her business and team. Focusing on providing great customer service led to her building up enough clientele that she could open a second salon in Ballina. 

By 2018 the business had grown so much it was decided they would open a third salon in Lennox Head, which brought about some new changes for the business. 

“When we added number three salon to the Headroom family we knew it was time for a software upgrade. After using an extremely outdated and very clunky way of logging into the second salon to make applications we needed something more streamlined. 

After looking at many different options and meeting with different companies we knew that Timely was the one for us!

Over the years we have utilised the system to add in new things to make the day to day running of the 3 salons much easier such as SMS reminders, SMS marketing and the ease of seeing all 3 locations with a click of a button! 

We also added online bookings and afterpay for our clients which has created more revenue for the business, and convenience for our clients too.

We love that Timely is always improving with lots of new and exciting features and the support and education that we receive from the whole Timely team is absolutely incredible.”

​Opening the third salon is among Sally’s career highlights, along with watching her young apprentices grow into incredibly talented hairdressers.

What sets Headroom apart from the rest

Headroom Hair salon has become known not only for its high level of service to customers but also for it’s high level of care and dedication to staff development. 

As the winner of multiple awards herself, including the Northern Rivers Hairdressing Associations’ annual competition, Sally used her knowledge to train her team who have gone on to win their own awards on the North Coast and have also been finalists in national hairdressing competitions. 

In 2008, the North Coast’s Small Business Awards recognised Sally for her hard work and dedication to training apprentices. 

“I have always loved and lived by Richard Branson’s quote “take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your business”. 

The team has also been able to work with their salon partner Goldwell-KMS, presenting and working at the Hair Expo in Sydney, in training sessions and seminars.

Reaping the rewards

This year, Headroom have achieved another milestone, receiving Gold accreditation from the Australian Hairdressing Council. This accreditation speaks to how much work has been done by Sally and her team as the awards are only given to reputable and quality salons. 

Over the years the team has gained many accolades including Runner Up at the Australian Apprenticeships Minister Awards in 2008, Finalist in the New South Wales Small Employer of the Year in 2008, and Winner of the North Coast New South Wales Training Awards for Small Employer of the Year in 2011. 

Speaking of her goals for the next five years, Sally added that she wants to continue to educate, inspire, and enjoy her craft.

Reflecting back

After being in hairdressing since she was fifteen, Sally feels hugely grateful to the people who have been with her along the way. She is still doing hair for some of her original clients, as well as their families. 

“That loyalty means the world to me and my family, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I have had amazing support”.

With so much success over the last twenty years Sally still has some advice for her past self;

“I would tell myself to put healthy boundaries in early and practise yoga or pilates from the 1st day of my apprenticeship”.

A very happy birthday

To celebrate the twenty-year milestone the Headroom team have plans to close on a Saturday and enjoy a fun-filled sleepover at the beach. 

We look forward to seeing Headroom achieve even more in the future, and wish them a very happy birthday!

We believe in balance and wellbeing. We help to make your business run smoother so you can focus on the things that matter, the people. 

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