I’ve always known I wanted to be a hairdresser. When I was little, I used to sit on my great grandmother’s front porch and fix her hair 90 million ways (even if she only had a few hairs on her head due to her age!)
To be honest, I either wanted to be a hair dresser or a whale trainer at SeaWorld, but I grew up and decided I really felt sorry for those whales! So off I went to hair school!
Hair School
Hair school was fun for me. I enjoyed learning and found inspiration from the smallest things. I learned that my ability to find inspiration so easily within this industry meant that I was where I needed to be!
While in hair school, I always dreamed of moving away and working on movie sets, music videos, and with celebrities. Honestly, I wanted the HELL out of Arkansas. As hair school was coming to an end for me, I sought out an assistant job in Las Vegas, Nevada. My goal was to to assist the people I wanted to be like. In my mind, these were people surrounded by opportunity, making a LOT of money! I set out on my move to Las Vegas thinking I may never move back to my hometown.
Las Vegas taught me a lot. I learned that every client was a celebrity, no matter if you found them in the local Whole Foods or saws them in the movies. They all changed me in such positive ways. Also I learned there that I REALLY REALLY loved hair extensions. The biggest thing I learned though? Success to me was being able to live right down the road from my family. Family is everything.
So off I went, back to the Oklahoma/Arkansas state line! I went to work behind the chair immediately as a booth rental stylist. I grew my clientele quickly through word of mouth, and some resilience. To think I grew such an impactful business before social media was a thing, still blows my mind. But it truly set the ground work for what I was going to eventually become.
Opening The Salon!
After 6 or 7 years behind the chair as an independent stylist, I really wanted more. After all, I had spent several years on the west coast experiencing those “big city” salons and knew I needed to recreate that in our small town of Fort Smith, AR. I also really missed having a team to work alongside everyday. I knew it would be MY dream place to work, so I prayed it would be other’s dream job as well!
I then did what any normal person would do…. I refinanced my home to open my dream salon. Normal, right?! Ha!
As crazy as it seems, It all worked out. Even when I second guessed myself. Especially with that kind of risk – Sometimes you really have to risk it all to have it all. At the time though, I never knew this was just the beginning, and that I would be facing many similar risks to get to where I am today.
I opened the salon of my dreams. I did so many things right AND wrong. With the help of my incredible team it quickly became the “it” salon in our town, and the growth was mind blowing for me. Sure, I had tons of trials and tribulations, I still do! (You’ll have to tune into my new podcast to hear those – I’m excited to share the nitty gritty of salon owning.) Today the salon is a multi million dollar business, and my team is not only made up of the most incredible stylists in the industry – but the most incredible humans as well! Dreams really do come true!
After all those years behind the chair independently and then after few years of owning a salon, something still rang true… I was STILL obsessed with hair extensions. I found myself with a clientele that was 90% extension based! I was on top of the world, making my dream income and doing what I loved, but something was still not right….
After diving deep into the extension world, I was constantly trying the industry leading brands of hair, and running into the same issues over and over. The quality was just wasn’t there when it came to hair extensions… and that was a hard pill to swallow! I had invested so much time and money to perfect my craft, and it was my livelihood behind the chair! I NEEDED better quality for my clients, in order to stay on top.
I again did what any normal person would do – I hopped on a plane to China.
Off To China!
You may be thinking, why China?
If you didn’t know I’m about to tell you, some of the most world renown hair extension manufactures reside there! I did my research, hand picked a manufacturer, and oddly enough convinced one to meet up with me!
I was desperate to have someone finally listen to what I had to say about the production of hair extensions. As hair experts, we are the ones who work with the product! It never made sense to me why would I let someone who is clueless about hair create the product I’m using on my clients.
After a lot of trial and error, we created the hair that would soon build one of the world’s top hair extension companies.
So to no surprise, I again did what any normal person would do, and I emptied my savings account to order a small inventory of hair. This will probably shock you, but I didn’t have plans to wholesale the hair at the time, I just wanted better for my own clients.
But, of course, word got around. My friends wanted to try it, then their friends wanted to try it, and so on!
Before long, “Harper Ellis Hair Co.” was born. Due to the quality of hair, our stylist-first customer service, and many other things, within a few years we became a multi multi MULTI million dollar business. It’s been anything BUT easy, but has it been worth it? 1000% yes!
Harper Ellis Hair Co. has been one of the most challenging ,yet rewarding businesses to be the CEO of. I still can’t believe it is what is it sometimes! But, please understand I couldn’t and wouldn’t be here without the best team in the world.
Our mission is to simply be good to people, and honestly it’s been our mission since day one. We want to be good to our clients AND employees. There is no amount of money I could make that would top the feeling I get when my team succeeds.
Obviously, this is a VERY short version of “my story,” but it was important to me that I shared how I got here! With time I want to share both the not so pretty, AND the really beautiful parts of this ride with you all.
This year I am really working on being transparent. It’s tough when you’ve been hurt some through the process, but holding the ability to help others makes it all worth it. I share that because I know this may resonate with some of you. My best advice? Stay true to YOUR HEART even when people let you down. The journey is the reward. The destination? That part seems boring.
Xo
Terra Harvell
