Hidden Gems: Meet Michelle Ghassemi of Meraki Salon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Ghassemi.

Hi Michelle, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I graduated from Northern Michigan University in 2005 for Cosmetology and attended Finlandia University in 2009 for Business and Communications. Throughout my career, I’ve played a variety of roles in both local independent salon & spa businesses and corporations as well as booth renting as an independent stylist. Although I’m no longer behind the chair, making the transition to managing my own salons, I remain a growth centered strategist who strives to remain innovative in my approach to the industry & the needs of my team. I highly value a holistic, low toxic environment for my salons, striving to ensure sustainability for stylists and the best haircare for guests, showing you can achieve luxury hair without the toxins!

I enjoy listening & communicating in a sincere authentic way, valuing active participation in each individual growth. I take the time necessary to ensure that anyone that enters my business will leave feeling appreciated, heard and respected. I have a passion for people & love the variety of life! I strive to create & maintain a natural, organic, health-centered, sustainable environment for both my family & business.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
From having to step away from the chair for severe skin issues and blood toxicity to partnering with a colleague that wasn’t the best fit for my business. I bought out my partner due to severe struggles with her style of leadership. Six months into owning my business my husband lost his “secure” job meaning I was the sole earner in a startup business. I continued to research and grow to make my vision and culture more and more clear, my “why” everyday but that also meant saying goodbye to habits, ways of thinking and people who were no longer aligned with this vision which is always hard. when I opened my salon I didn’t know how to do payroll or anything about taxes, HR or employment issues and made mistakes(many financial) in teaching myself the ins and outs of being a responsible employer and fair in my practices. I’ve learned to trust my intuition in making decisions and to not take things personal when people say things that are meant to hurt and are simply untrue. I’ve learned to know when and how to speak up while maintaining dignity and remaining solid in my convictions which means knowing and being clear on my boundaries and non negotiables. Long hours, working on faith and hope and building trust in myself and those around me, learning to ask for help!

As you know, we’re big fans of Meraki Salon LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a Kevin Murphy Session Salon, a Holistic Hair Tribe Partner Salon, a certified Green Circle Salon, Clean Air Salon(by industry standards) & a “Safer Space” Salon thru the Dress Code Alliance, utilizing all the resources and support these certifications include to provide the safest & cleanest salon space for both our guests and team. We are also a top 200 salon in North America(out of 1 million!) and members of our industry’s Professional Beauty Association.

We aim to consistently care and connect to our guests using organic, eco-friendly, cruelty-free, low toxic hair care products to produce a high end customizable craft hair salon experience. We intend to fix, reuse, recycle and repurpose whenever possible.

We strive to become the best hair salon and in turn deliver the best both in our craft, our industry and in our communities here in Raleigh & Durham. It is our desire for all who enter our doors to be treated uniquely and with respect, leaving with a sophisticated and trendy style/color/cut and feeling exceptional!

The word Meraki means doing something with total love and pure soul, leaving a little piece of yourself in your creative work.

We invite you to join us in our endeavors to promote a business primarily focused on people through innovation, creativity and sustainability in our hair salon on Hillsborough St. in downtown Raleigh and in Durham Southpoint!

Our passion for an eco-conscious, holistic wellness based and eco-friendly environment in our hair salon is supported by not only the products we provide (many of our brands free of all the “bad” ingredients, including ammonia) but also through ongoing education to ensure we reach this goal effectively while remaining current on the most innovative non-toxic and low-toxic professional hair techniques and products.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Consistency and persistence, everything is figureoutable!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: merakisalonnc.com
• Instagram: @merakisalonnc
• Facebook: merakisalonnc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/feed/my_videos
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/meraki-salon-raleigh https://www.yelp.com/biz/meraki-salon-durham-durham-2
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/merakisalonnc2017/pins/, @merakisalonnc~tik tok

Image Credits
All original photos meraki owns. Logos by generate design Brunette hair pic by Summer Mitchell Blonde hair pic by Ashley Walden other pics taken by social media contractor Jess Fritz/Hygge Jewelry