Today we’d like to introduce you to Aria Diana.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started my career in the beauty industry over 12 years ago, first as a receptionist at a salon where I grew up. I was inspired by the stylists there, everyone seemed to love their job and it was rewarding to see clients happy and feel good about themselves as I would check them out. I had always had an interest in hair & makeup and this got my wheels turning to start looking into a career in the beauty industry. I decided to enroll at Penrose academy in Scottsdale,AZ and begin my cosmetology journey. I immediately fell in love with coloring and styling hair, and knew I wanted to specialize right away. I was obsessed with learning how hair color worked, and wanted to experiment with everything. After graduating, I then completed a one year assisting job at a busy salon in Scottsdale. This is where I got my first introduction to extensions. I assisted 5 days a week for a very busy stylist, and learned a ton about extensions and hair color. I started to figure out what the right fit was for me salon wise. Did I want to be in a big salon? small salon? I think in the back of my mind I always wanted to create a salon atmosphere of my own, but that seemed like such a reach at the time. I worked at a few different salons through my career, constantly improving my skills and learning from so many stylists. After building a successful clientele for the last 10 years it was time to find the right space to call my own. I was so driven to create a space for stylists that was as much motivating as enjoyable to work at. I took notes of some things my coworkers and I loved from previous salons we worked at, and also creating what I felt was missing in salon culture.
I opened Compose & Co Salon doors in November of 2023. (This was an insane journey all on its own!) I couldn’t have done it without the help and support from my husband and family. I was newly pregnant and we did a renovation in about 8 weeks. I’m so happy and grateful to be where we are now and look forward to growing as a new salon owner and building the best salon culture for stylists and clients!
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?
Oh so many bumps along the road, both big and small. I think a big challenge I faced early in my career was growing a clientele in a very saturated and at times competitive industry. Scottsdale specifically has a LOT of talented hairstylists in a condensed area, so staying consistent and providing an amazing experience for my clients had to remain a priority. Also as a lot of stylists know, chair rental and the cost of supplies is expensive (and only continues to increase) I always had another job starting out, working 7 days a week. Saying yes to every client/service I could. I had to keep reminding myself this would set me up to make my own schedule and hours one day. I said yes to any service I could, even though I mainly wanted to focus on color and extensions. As far as building out the salon. I was newly pregnant (felt terrible) and my husband did most of the demo work himself while still maintaining a full-time job. It was intense but we knew it would be worth it. We ran into numerous problems and MANY learning curves. Three days before opening we had to completely redesign our shampoo area including the plumbing. My salon chairs got delivered missing half the parts two days before opening. The list went on…It was complete chaos for a bit. I will forever be thankful for my friends, family and fellow stylists for the hours they spent helping us get the salon up and running when they didn’t need to.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in blonding, lived in color, and extensions behind the chair. I love making people feel good about themselves and hope to always provide an elevated, but laid back atmosphere where they can relax and fully enjoy themselves. Looking back I am glad I said yes to every service I could because it taught me so much on handling anything that comes my way. And now I get to specialize and focus on the services I want to.
As far as a salon I provide a space for all; new stylists and seasoned stylists. Anyone who is eager to continue to learn and grow in this industry. We love to collaborate and help each other through anything from tackling a color correction, or trying a new technique. I think you learn and grow so much from working with other stylists, there is no competition at Compose &Co. I will always offer my help and support to them to be the best versions of themselves and set up for success behind the chair, and honestly I am learning just as much from them as well!
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is don’t get too comfortable. You can be on top making the most you ever have and then one day it can all stop. Our industry was completely flipped upside down and obviously nobody saw that coming at the time. I had to adjust pricing and services to be able to make it work. Also be patient and consistently work hard. From growing a clientele to opening the salon it was easy to get impatient and want to give up because things weren’t progressing fast enough for me, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Timing is everything, I never would’ve imagined exactly how it was going to play out but it did. I am proud of myself for not giving up, and as I learn new lessons as a salon owner I need to remember to look back as how far I’ve come. Surround yourself with good people with similar goals. My stylists are some of my closest friends and we all support one another in this ever-changing industry. It’s the best feeling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.composesalon.com
- Instagram: @ariadianaa @composeandcosalon
Image Credits
Chey Franke
