Have you ever stopped and thought about how far you have come over the years?
We lead such busy lives these days constantly working towards the blank boxes on our ‘perfect life’ checklist we often don’t stop and celebrate the ones we have already ticked.
7 years in business, and honestly it feels like 50!
Seriously though as a business owner I can’t count how many times I have sat with my head in my hands and thought
“this is too hard”
“I’m not good enough”
“I don’t have the time”
The harsh reality of owning a business and in my case by myself. I am the sole owner of Ataraxia by Morgan Drew. I am not financially backed by family wealth of any kind.
Sure I have so much support from my partner, family, staff, friends.
However this business was started from scratch with only a dining chair and a random mirror in my mum and dads kitchen and it still to this day is a working progress.
No successful small business owner will ever stop striving for growth.
When I started Hairdressing I was 14years old and i fell in love. I traded in my saturday’s and social life for long days sweeping floors and washing hair. I then started my much anticipated apprenticeship when I was 16 at a local salon and I have to say i truly am grateful for the opportunity’s I was given and the hard, confronting lessons I learned at this salon.
I completed my Cert 3 Apprenticeship in March 2010 when I was just shy of 20years old.
Things started to change and I was introduced to the competitive side of hairdressing, the nasty belittling side. You see my days were no longer filled scrubbing tile grout with a toothbrush, cleaning toilets and taking apart pipes to clear drains. I had made it, I was one of them and at that point in time I couldn’t have been more excited.
Still craving to know and learn more I went on to do extra studies with the Australasian College in Sydney where I completed my Cert 5 Diploma in hairdressing.
Now I’m not going to elaborate on my time working at this salon. However I will say that the situations I was put in, the bullying received and the lies I watched unravel has made me the business owner I am today.
I have a strict no bullying or bull shit policy and I back my staff 100% I never feel the need to belittle them or sabotage their careers for personal gain. If my girls succeed in their career that’s a milestone I will celebrate right along side them.
With my mental health and confidence at an all time low. I felt that Hairdressing wasn’t for me and I did not have the skills needed to succeed so I left the salon behind and started teaching etiquette courses for a Modeling agency as my primary job in October 2012.
Shortly after I was inundated with messages and phone calls off women wanting their hair done. I was also missing being in salon, I love being hands on and constantly challenged, I love to create, inspire and break all rules and boundaries, I needed more.
In January 2013 I had this crazy idea that
‘hey, maybe I am good enough’
So I took a leap of faith and opened my own business, my first ever salon.
Now when I say salon, please don’t get excited just yet.
I upgraded to two salon chairs and two standing mirrors in a garage, a basin that ran into my mum and dads bath tub with the attached chair placed in the shower entry.
There was nothing fancy, just little old me with some colour tubes and a serious addiction to hair.
Little did I know that this would be one of the most challenging experiences i am yet to come across in my life, but on the other hand equally as rewarding.
I worked my f##king ass off in this space Day in and Day out I started at 7am in the morning and worked through to 11pm at night every day, 7days a week.
I worked my way to a third chair, a designated makeup area and I hired a junior assistant. Not long after I reached the point where I was too overwhelmed and I hired a makeup artist to take over that side of things,
did I mention I’m a qualified makeup artist?
I had a full book of over 200 current clientele and a overgrown waiting list of new clientele ready to jump on board when the situation suited, I was booked ‘weeks’ in advance. Now this was still unheard of in the hairdressing industry, salons worked off a call for an appointment today type of vibe. That didn’t work for me.
‘Morgan Drew Hairstyling Mua’ was a place where you wanted to be, a salon that was known by many.
I grew my name and reputation with Social Media. I use to fill peoples feeds with photos of my work and gather my friends for photo shoots.
I would convince them to let me stick feathers and shells to their face, wrap them with snakes and paint them gold.
I would then use this content for branding and to create ‘talk’
I still to this day will gather my friends for crazy photo shoot ideas to create original content.
I am my business, i am my salon.
I find myself overcome with emotion when writing this because this is something I hold so much passion and love for.
I am now 30years old and in January I will be celebrating 8 successful years in business.
March 2016 ATARAXIA BY MORGAN DREW opened its doors
A 6 station salon with an extra makeup station and a beauty room. Myself and my apprentice.
Fast forward, 8 weeks out from Christmas my apprentice gave her notice and informed me I was her way to ‘get out of school’
Left Fully booked to the brim juggling 3-4 clients at a time just myself and my new Junior recently hired. We made it!! Smashed it, in fact!
Ataraxia was once again thriving,
I hired a senior hairdresser in the new year and continued expanding.
Then out of nowhere my life took an unexpected turn and I found out I was pregnant with my First Child.
I was working 50-60 hours a week, feet the size of a kettle (they soon became the long running salon joke).
Fast forward through some terrible staffing choices, myself returning to work 6weeks after birth and almost seeing the loss of Ataraxia. I was convinced that no one will ever respect your business the way you do.
Staff is by far the biggest struggle you will ever have in business mark my words.
Since Opening Ataraxia has expanded our services and our salon to 8 stations,
A Manager/Stylist- Lauren Pender, 2 Stylist’s Lauren Wheatley and Liz Hensby and Apprentice Sarah Woodger,
Not only a salon but also an online shopping portal for all your beauty needs.
Ataraxia now has their own Hair Extension, Accessories and Candle Ranges exclusively to Ataraxia.
I personally have traveled to Sydney to shoot 'hair tutorials' for Fanola Australia in 2016, Added overseas weddings to my resume in 2017.
Had my First Child 2018,
Had my second child 2019
added a blog to my overflowing to do list 2020
and have finally NAILED IT when it comes to my staff!
Even though there is plenty of hard road ahead for me, the amount of hard work that was put into the road behind me will forever humble me. I am an advocate for Strong Women, Success and doing anything you physically can to make your dreams come true!
I am a Hairstylist, Master Colourist & Balayage Specialist.
I have over 10years wedding experience in and 16years Industry experience And I feel it is my duty to you to introduce you to
Ataraxia - A state that comes when the mind is at ease
With love Morgan Drew
