Alex Serros thought about owning his own salon someday while he
was taking cosmetology classes at Gavilan College in Gilroy more
than a decade ago, but he didn’t think it would happen.
Gilroy – Alex Serros thought about owning his own salon someday while he was taking cosmetology classes at Gavilan College in Gilroy more than a decade ago, but he didn’t think it would happen.
“In beauty school, everyone thinks of owning their own shop and being their own boss,” Serros said. “But once you start working, you see how much responsibility it is.”
But after eight years of working at Super Cuts and four years working at Image & Design Salon & Day Spa, Serros was ready to try his hand at owning his own shop.
In 2001, Serros and pal Lisa Shaffer decided to take a risk and remodel a former doctor’s office into their current shop, Strandz Hair Salon.
“It was exciting, but the whole thing of putting it together, I was still painting the walls up to the grand opening,” Serros said. “I was probably in a daze the whole time.”
Owning the shop with his friend is a lot more responsibility.
“When you pay rent [for a space], you don’t have to worry about whether the lights are on or if someone left a curling iron on,” Serros said. “But even now it doesn’t feel like I own this.”
Serros strong following of loyal clients helped him and Shaffer get the business off the ground. His willingness to take on tough challenges such as correcting color jobs gone wrong and straightening curly hair keep customers coming back. But one thing that makes him stand out from other hair dressers is his off-beat sense of humor and style.
He’s been known to pause in the middle of a hair cut, hold a blow dryer up as a mock microphone and sing along to the songs playing over the speaker system. A month ago, Serros’ song of choice for a sing along was Jo Dee Messina’s “My give a damn’s busted.”
Serros’ dark locks go from short to long and are usually spiked up on the top. As he waits for a late afternoon client, a blue patch can be seen at the front of his hair, barely discernible from the natural black color of the rest.
Co-owner Shaffer said the shop has a different atmosphere than other places she has worked.
“We have so much more fun,” she said. “The both of us together, we laugh all the time.”
For Serros, owning his own shop was a distant dream when he started on his path to becoming a hair stylist. He took a job at Super Cuts on Tenth Street where he worked at the front desk, taking people’s names as they arrived to get their hair cut.
“I was the receptionist,” he said, then added with a laugh, “I was an administrative assistant for Super Cuts.”
While working at Super Cuts, a friend decided to enroll at Gavilan College in the cosmetology department. The friend encouraged Serros to sign up, and his boss at Super Cuts agreed.
Popular among his peers, he was elected class president of the cosmetology department. He and other students worked so that graduates of the two-year certification program would also receive an associate’s degree.
After completing the cosmetology program in 1992, Serros moved between four Super Cuts locations in San Jose, Milpitas, Salinas and Gilroy. After eight years at the franchise, he found himself becoming restless.
“I got bored of just cutting hair,” Serros said. “I wanted to get into doing color.”
He decided to leave the safety of a job with an hourly wage and work on commission at Image & Design, where he would be able to try his hand at coloring and highlights.
“It was stressful at the beginning,” Serros said. “I worried if I was going to make enough money.”
After a few months working at the local salon, Serros had enough regular clients to rent a space in the shop. He continued to build up his client base for several years before he and Shaffer decided to take their chance at opening up their own shop.
“I never wanted to own my own salon,” said Shaffer, who knew how much added responsibility it would be. “If we were going to fall, we’d do it together.”
But Serros and Shaffer didn’t stumble in their transition to business owners.
Serros and Shaffer stopped cutting hair and doing highlights for two and a half months while they were preparing the new shop. But most of their clients followed them to the new location after its grand opening.
“We lost a very small amount of clients,” Serros said. “I have a lot of loyal clients and that’s a lot of what made it work.”
After four years, Serros still appreciates his freedom as a business owner. He chooses the music, his clients and his hours. And most importantly, there is no one to tell him what to do.
“I didn’t want to deal with anyone else’s bull.”
