Community Highlights: Meet Dallas Sloan of Colair Beauty Lounge & Med Spa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dallas Sloan.

Hi Dallas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. Please tell us about the journey that led you to your current career.
I started my career as a hairstylist fresh out of high school. While I enjoyed the hairstyling aspect and especially building relationships with clients, I was always drawn to business because I grew up watching my parents run a business. That pushed me to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management while living in Canada. Life brought me to Arizona, where I quickly fell in love with the unique charm of Gilbert and its people. I grew up in a smaller Canadian community, and Gilbert, despite its larger size, still had that welcoming small-town feel with all the conveniences and luxuries of a big city. Everyone is amiable, and it is easy to build connections and community here, which I love. My experience back home was that salons and spas operated as cohesive teams. When I came to Arizona, I saw many more independent stylists and salons and missed the community-oriented salon and spa experiences from home. Those types of environments helped me grow and succeed not only as a stylist but as an individual as well. I wanted to create a similar environment here in Arizona and, at the same time, noticed a gap in the market for a “one-stop-shop” for all things beauty that also fostered a supportive team environment for staff. We always saw Colair Beauty Lounge & Med Spa as a salon and medical spa that provided convenience for clients and fostered a family-like team atmosphere. My business partner Rich (Ganley) shared my vision and passion for people and building teams. His successful business background and specialization in the medical industry were strengths paired with my experience in the beauty industry, and we’ve made a great team ever since. This was back in early 2017 when Arizona’s medical aesthetic industry took off. We saw additional opportunities to tie in Wellness, which we both advocate for. These modalities tied in perfectly with our passion for taking great care of people, and we were fortunate to hop into the industry at that time — it just soared from there.

Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way? Every business encounters challenges. Can you share a hurdle you faced as an entrepreneur?
As a young entrepreneur (Colair started when I was just 24), I have experienced some “growing pains” and, at times, admittedly felt a little in over my head and had to learn quickly. One of the first challenging moments that came to mind was realizing we needed to shift our service offerings. Initially, we provided nail and massage services alongside our facial and medical treatments. After about a year and a half of trying to turn a profit in those departments, we realized the space would be more productive if we expanded it for our skin care and med spa services. It was challenging to downsize and refocus because that meant we were cutting back on our services and even letting people go — people who had stuck with us through our first few years and had great relationships with us.

I struggled with the idea of failure. I had this vision of offering everything beauty from literal head-to-toe, but the reality was we needed to make a change. The challenge for me was because it was not just business-related but also emotional, considering the impact on our team. I remember feeling like I let them down and failed as a business owner. When we finally had that conversation with the team, they were incredibly understanding and supportive. One of these team members went on to achieve great success doing nails independently because we inspired her to “go for it”; another leaped to change career paths and has been very successful. It taught me that what might seem like a setback can open doors for others. Our decision to pivot freed us up to focus on expanding our core business services and meeting the growing demand from our clients to add more medical spa services. Ultimately, what I saw as a failure was a valuable learning experience for everyone involved and brought a lot of success.

Thanks for sharing that. Please tell us more about your business. Can you share more about your business? What sets you apart, and what are you known for?
Colair Beauty Lounge and Med Spa is your one-stop personal care and wellness destination for the whole family. We offer extensive beauty and wellness services like hair and facial, advanced laser treatments, anti-aging procedures, vitamin infusions, Botox, Fillers, and more.

As for what makes us different? Our philosophy revolves around enhancing natural beauty while ensuring every visit is unforgettable. We are obsessed with service, but one of our biggest differentiators is how we use technology to improve results and tailor treatment plans to specific needs that are only sometimes visible. Our Image 4D Face Scanner is an excellent example of how tech can be used to see the most detailed aspects of your skin and make accurate recommendations for superior results. It even uncovers future problem areas so we can recommend treatments to avoid problems before they become visible.

Colair Beauty Lounge and Med Spa was inspired by the Italian word “to pamper” and is about elevating the beauty experience. We’re big on high-quality service for our clients and the environment we create for our staff. We’ve earned high ratings and recognition by blending state-of-the-art beauty treatments, a highly skilled team with a passion for what they do, and a commitment to delivering exceptional experiences for clients and staff. Our team consists of extensively trained, award-winning, nationally recognized providers. In short, they’re beauty & medical all-stars who leverage advanced technology and extensive experience to meet all your beauty and anti-aging needs.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any essential lessons or epiphanies you can share?
For obvious reasons, the COVID-19 pandemic was also a huge learning experience for us and our team. Colair was fortunate enough to be Voted Best Midsize Business 2020 by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce amid the pandemic. This was incredibly humbling as we were in such a troubling economic state and concerned about our business’s future, especially our employees’ futures. We learned how working together as one team helped us survive the crisis, evolve, and ultimately thrive. Our commitment to focusing on people — not just the bottom line — ultimately pulled us through. I’m fortunate to have a business partner and mentor (Rich) with many years of business experience to help guide me. One of the things he has taught me is how to approach obstacles with an “adversity to victory” mindset. Everyone will always have obstacles and challenges — whether in life or business. If we face those adversities with a positive, generous attitude and believe that everything is a learning experience, we will overcome, grow, and thrive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://colairbeautylounge.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colairbeauty
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colairbeauty/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/colair-beauty-lounge-and-medspa-gilbert