Connect Hair Studio is aptly named. Every member of the team at the 11-year-old Barrie salon believes in building relationships and making their clients feel welcome.
“We like people to feel like they’re coming home. It’s friendly, it’s welcoming, it’s not pretentious at all. We love the hugs and the camaraderie,” says owner Sharon Smith.
Connect Hair Studio has just won a BarrieToday Reader Favourite award in the Hair and Beauty Salons category, and Sharon says it came as a pleasant surprise. “When it comes from the public, I feel so humbled.”
Almost all of the staff at Connect have been working at the salon for 4-8 years. In addition to Sharon, there are three master stylists, two senior stylists, and one new talent on the team. Sharon has endless praise for her employees, saying that their consistency, creativity, and friendliness are why the studio is so beloved in town. “I hire kind and teach skill,” she says.
Sharon herself has been working with hair for over 40 years, and says she still wakes up every day excited to go to work. This is mainly due to the people and relationships that she’s developed through Connect. The salon offers complimentary consultations, and to Sharon, the consultation is extremely important. She wants to get to know her clients and make them feel comfortable.
“We only do nice clients,” Sharon jokes. But likely the reason they attract kind clients is their customer service approach. One happy customer raves, “What a positive experience created by everyone there. Love the knowledge, the attentiveness and the vibe of this salon. Really love my new hair.”
Sharon and the Connect Hair Studio team put in the effort to support their neighbours in the Barrie area. 12 or 13 years ago, Sharon asked Hospice Simcoe if she could use her haircutting skills to support them in any way. They asked if she could give haircuts to people who were in palliative care, providing them with a moment to relax and enjoy themselves.
Sharon also gives complimentary haircuts to clients of Busby Centre, an initiative that she started five years ago and has developed into a Facebook group of 20+ hairstylists, all looking to give back to their community. “I believe that people want to do good things, they just don’t know where their help is needed,” says Sharon.
But Sharon’s biggest community effort by far is the Raw & Reflective fundraising calendar that she launched six years ago in support of Gilda’s Club Simcoe Muskoka, a local affiliate of the Cancer Support Community. The calendar features photos and stories of cancer survivors in the Barrie area. Over the years, the initiative has raised over $125,000 to benefit Gilda’s Club.
Sharon says she believes that when you do good, it comes back to you tenfold. It seems that Connect Hair Studio’s clients see and appreciate the good in the salon— not just the beautiful haircuts, but the kind atmosphere. The salon team says they are grateful to their clients for putting in the time and effort to vote them a BarrieToday Reader Favourite.
“There’s a lot of heart in this community.”
Visit here for more information or to book a complimentary consultation
This article was sponsored by Connect Hair Studio, a 2024 BarrieToday Reader Favourite.