Client Spotlight: Blow and Blush- Bearsted ,Maidstone, Kent

We recently visited Zoey Diessner, owner of Blow & Blush, a colour expert salon based in Bearsted, Kent:

“Hairdressing was a job that I fell into, I started working at a hairdresser in town, but I didn’t enjoy it at all and after 3 months, I left and went to collage to study travel and tourism.  It was my dream to travel the world and be an air hostess, although I hate flying now so I’m glad I didn’t choose that!

During the summer holidays my mum said I needed to get a job and one day we walked past Toni & Guy in town who were looking for a summer apprentice. I had an interview and got the job! I really loved it and never went back to college. I stayed for 2 years there and then went to another Toni & Guy for another 5 years.

I also worked for L’Oréal in London Hammersmith, doing education for them. My schedule was so full – I had three part-time roles in hairdressing, home appointments and working in London, all while having 2 young children. It was a lot, but I just loved my job!

One of my clients said, “Would you ever have your own salon?”. I instantly thought, no it’s too much stress and I have seen first-hand what it’s like running a hairdressing salon. Then my busy schedule got too much, I was finding that I was missing out on being with the children and I didn’t want to be in London anymore.

I found out about the building that was being let out here and I just thought, you know what? I literally live two minutes down the road, it’s just a perfect opportunity. I just couldn’t turn it down. I couldn’t say no!

Blow & Blush are colour, extensions and balayage hair colour specialists. My education and training for L’Oreal has allowed me to create an expertise in this area and as my team of two has grown to eight, I have ensured that all the girls are trained to a high level and have very high standards with their colour to offer the best service for our clients.

Opening a business three months before a global pandemic, was not ideal, especially as it was my first and I had no real knowledge of how to run a business.

But I think COVID did us a favour to be honest with you.  Because of where we are located, lots of people walked past the salon, and could see the progress of a new business taking shape.  We really pushed our social media through lockdown, more people were spending more time on there and the word seemed to spread quickly, which was beneficial for us as there was a huge demand for hairdressers when we came out of lockdown because people couldn’t get into their normal salons.

As we were a new salon and didn’t have any clients on our books, we had lots of availability and were able to accommodate people. We ended up with a massive three-month waiting list! However, the second and third lock down wasn’t quite so great. Due to the pandemic we hadn’t actually been properly open for a whole year, but I’m happy to say that next month we will have been open for a whole year for the first time since opening the business, which is such an achievement.

I think finding good staff can be a barrier for my business. Finding people with good work ethics and who share the passion that you have for hairdressing, I think is a special thing. Blow & Blush have a really good team here now that are passionate about what they do. They want to train continuously, which is needed in our industry because fashions are constantly evolving. Now we have Instagram and can show off our work, the transition is huge, even from five years ago.”

To find out more about Blow & Blush, or book an appointment, visit www.blowandblush.uk today.