The Summit Social | Issue 11
The Summit Social: Issue 11
ft: Weekly - Trim True
Credits:
Weekly - Trim True | Whyte Ave & Downtown | @weeklyyeg
Craig Boa | Business Development | @doing_it_rong
Patricia Boa | Creative Director | @patriciajhair
Spencer Gatt | Photographer | @gattsby_
Rachel Tripodi | Graphic Designer | @totally_mild
We all understand the importance of social media when it comes to building your business. Nowadays, running your own social is a necessary part of growing a clientele as a salon professional. But what if it wasn’t about filling your books and building just any old customer base? What if you could strategically attract your ideal guests - the kind that inspire and fulfill you artistically? The good news: you can. It’s about carefully curating and being intentional about your personal brand online. While many of us see posting as a daunting task, and indeed it can be overwhelming at times, this is an interesting concept for all artists to consider. Each of us has the power to create and showcase our work in a signature way, to directly impact and attract a large portion of our clientele, and to allow for more creative freedom of expression in our day to day lives. The hair and beauty landscape is ever evolving, and the art of social selling and listening is no different. There are a sea of incredible hair photos floating around out there in cyber space, and some of these images have a great way of standing out from the pack. We love perusing through our daily tags, to double tap and see what our Summit family has been up to; and there are a number of our salon partners who’s images consistently catch our eye. One of these salon partners is Weekly - Trim True, our friends from Edmonton. When we look at Weekly’s Instagram profile, we can immediately recognize their target demographic - a diverse, young and trendy individual who is not afraid of taking style risks. We know this intentionally curated feed did not happen by accident, and so comes The Summit Social Issue 11, featuring all things Weekly - Trim True. We sat down with the owner and founder, Craig Boa, and his business partner, wife, and Creative Director, Patricia Boa, to get the scoop on all things Weekly, plus snag some golden nuggets for our fellow salon pros to consider, when curating their own online presence.
1. Tell us a bit about the Weekly team and your story.
Weekly - Trim True was born in 2013 under the name Weekly Barbershop. We leased space in a downtown warehouse that was home to many other local start-ups. We didn’t know this at the time, but being part of a mixed-use building with many other businesses played a huge role in our ability to get people into the space.
At the time, our idea was to create a space with more of a neutral feel than the traditional salon model, which, we found, spoke largely to a female demographic. The plan was to create a modernized barbershop that spoke to everyone. This sparked our first lesson in marketing: put a lot of thought and consideration into verbiage. It didn’t take long for us to realize that using the term ‘barbershop’ deterred a large portion of the market. Not only did a big chunk of our desired market shy away from us, we felt we were misleading customers who came in expecting a ‘barbershop experience’. The quick 15–20-minute cuts, lower prices, being able to sit down and jump in the queue for the next available barber etc. (we have always accepted walk-ins when available, but are typically fully booked for the day).
Feeling a change was necessary, we went back to the drawing board and came up with the Weekly you know today, Weekly - Trim True. One thing that hasn’t changed is the importance we put on creating a welcoming space for everyone, while doing our best to support the community around us.
Today we have two locations in Edmonton, our initial 9-chair shop in the Ice District downtown, and a 5-chair shop on east Whyte Avenue, just off the Millcreek ravine, that shares a space with Take Care Cafe (a friendly neighbourhood coffee stop). We’re very proud of the team that has come together and the community we’ve been able to create.
2. Can you describe your two unique salon concepts and the inspiration behind these spaces?
Both our spaces were designed by the talented people at Dub Architects. Our inaugural downtown location has a very unique feel to it. It’s situated in the lower level of a 100+ year old warehouse. We left the concrete walls and old timbre ceiling exposed, and used solid oak planks and steel gas pipes to construct our stations and retail area. The shop has a big city feel being that it was created in a bit of an unconventional space. By that I’m referring to how when real estate is limited in big cities, one must get creative situating their business. Conventional options were definitely available in the up-and-coming area we chose, but lease rates were much higher and would therefore put strain on business operations. Unconventional it was! The plan to support our decision was to ensure a high level of customer service while providing top notch hair.
We opened our second location on Whyte Ave in January, 2020. Being that the hair industry experienced a shift in salon models (studio rentals), our idea of how the salon should operate had changed. For this location, we weren’t interested in cramming in as many styling chairs as our square footage would allow. Instead, we thought of new ways to utilize our space and help market/generate new clients. What we landed on was the addition of a fully functioning neighbourhood coffee shop.
When a hair salon moves into an area, it doesn’t exactly excite the neighbourhood; but when a beautifully designed coffee shop rolls in, so too do the neighbours (and as it turns out, people from all corners of the city!) Our hope with the coffee customers is that they’ll notice the salon in the back and then, one day, decide it’s time to move from the coffee stool to the hydraulic chair. Side note - having a mixed use operation definitely helped the financial picture when the salon was forced to shut down due to the pandemic on several occasions.
3. How would you describe your brand?
We’re here for everyone, and we’re not here to judge.
4. What are some of your fave products that you carry, and how do these lines complement your brand identity?
Our favs are definitely R+Co and K-18. We make a conscious effort to carry brands that are cruelty free, vegan, paraben free, and that offer artist support with education. The creative stand-out packaging and visible results are the reasons why we gravitated to these two lines.
5. We noticed your team has a strong online presence. Do you have any strategies in place, to ensure your stylists represent the brand effectively?
As a salon, we have round table meetings for content ideas and teach a basic photography/ editing class to any new team members. We also provide staff with a DSLR camera that they are free to use at all times.
Additionally, we work with a professional photographer, Spencer, to ensure the work we do is properly captured and displayed. It certainly isn’t easy to create and produce images on a consistent basis, but it’s the game one must play, to keep things fresh while constantly adding to the growth and success of our business and team.
We don’t have any strategies in place with regards to our stylists and their social media. With that said, we do stress the importance of creating and maintaining a presence online. Staying top of mind is extremely important today as there is a lot of talent out there. Salon professionals must constantly remind their audience why people should choose to spend their time and money with them. Unfortunately, you can’t JUST be a good technical hairdresser and allow the rest of the pieces to fall into place. A hairdresser today has to wear several hats to stay relevant in our fast paced, digital world.
6. It’s clear that marketing is a focal point for your business, can you expand on your process?
We’re very lucky to have Rachel on our team. Rachel worked part-time as receptionist/barista while studying design at the University of Alberta. She has since graduated from her program and seamlessly taken over all of the design elements of our business.
Rachel created a variety of brand assets and a brand identity we lean on to market all elements of our business. Essentially anything we put out on social media either comes out of Spencer’s camera, or off Rachel’s Adobe design software.
So as far as strategies go, our strategy is to lean on and work with people who are pros in their respective field.
7. Your client photos are brilliant. Walk us through how you nail the perfect shot, every time.
Step 1: Do great hair.
Step 2: Create a casual mood board to ensure we have some sort of overall vision.
Step 3: Text Spencer to line up a time to shoot.
Step 4: Anxiously wait for Spencer to develop his film.
Step 5: Fall in love with the photo.
Step 6: Post to Instagram.
8.What are some of the tools or resources you use to plan your Instagram grid?
Spencer shoots all of our work on a medium format film camera. We don’t actually use any type of apps to manage our posts. That said, we definitely audit our page before posting. It’s easy to lose sight of how the grid is looking, so we make sure we’re not getting too repetitive (ie. everyone looking left etc.) Another thing we made a conscious decision to avoid was to post too many ‘floating heads’ on the feed. Although we are a hair salon, and we market accordingly, Instagram pages that exclusively feature closeups of hair can get a little monotonous (in our opinion).
9. We find that your salon profile stands out. Do you have any tips for beginners on how to differentiate or set themselves apart?
Try mixing up your feed, so it’s not just a grid full of close up hair shots and try to incorporate some lifestyle. Establish your own identity online and work to collaborate with other creatives in your community. Try reaching out to people who embody a look/energy you vibe, and offer them a free haircut in exchange for a little photo session. The easiest way to attract the demographic you desire is to post that exact demographic on your social.
10. How have you been able to use digital as a tool to attract your target market and retain clients that fulfill you artistically?
We are particular about the work we post, as we want to continue to attract our target market. That said, we make sure to showcase a variety of cuts and colors, to highlight the well-rounded team we have built. This diverse skill set allows us to speak to a larger audience.
11. Do you have tips for stylists looking to curate their own authentic online presence and get new customers?
Don’t hesitate to post the content you create. The more you do it, the better and easier it will get. Post what excites you, post what you’d like to do more of, and post the target demographic you’d like to attract.
