ESTETICA Magazine USA (3/2022)

Hit “refresh”
Salon Emotion
focuses non-stop on
teamwork, core
values, & customer
service to guarantee
salon success.
Three months of
lockdown during the
Covid pandemic
prompted George
Gonzalez - owner,
director, and stylist
of George the Salon
in Chicago - to shift into survival
mode. “I realized that if we were
to survive, I needed to start
following through with making
decisions for today and not
pushing things off until tomorrow,”
he remembers. And once they did
get back to work, getting through
the day with Covid restrictions
and safety measures in and around
the community, making sound
decisions seemed even more crucial.
George already had the advantage
of partnering with L’Oreal
Professionnel and Kerastase.
So when his sales reps began
pitching Salon Emotion, everything
seemed to fall into place.
GETTING A GRIP
Gonzalez had some pretty steep
ambitions as a hands-on salon
manager and stylist. “From
inception, I’ve had a goal of
creating one the strongest brands
of hair salon and product lines in
the country. I wanted to make it
all about the clients,” he explained.
But he would never be able to do it
all alone, so there was a secondary
goal to work toward. “It takes
tenacity to build a team of
individuals that also put clients
first. It’s a never-ending journey
of building, developing and
maintaining relationships with
my team,” says George.
After all, managing the business
end is already a full-time job, but
George was already determined to
continue giving his clientele
creative, functional and trendy
George Gonzales at George the Salon in
Chicago reflects on the importance of
communication in hairdressing. “My clients
and I value my ability to listen. I make
absolutely certain to hear and understand
exactly their words and what they want.”