SEEDs of Success: Kerry Gordon
Meet SEED client Kerry Gordon, a hairdresser who has just opened up her own salon, KMG Hair Studio, at Glenruthven Mill in Auchterarder.
“When the chance to take on a salon at the Mill arose, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down”
Getting started
Kerry Gordon started her hairdressing journey nearly 10 years ago, doing her training and qualifications at a well-known salon in Perth. She said of this experience: “I absolutely loved it. My boss was a Cutting Educator, traveling all over the world to provide training and cutting courses and I feel fortunate to have learned from him and his team.”
After moving to another salon for a short time, Kerry realised that what she really wanted was to have her own hairdressing business, and be in charge of what she could offer to clients. So she became self-employed in 2023, initially working within a salon in Auchterarder but envisioning having her own space.
“When the chance to take on a salon at the Mill arose, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” she explained. “The Mill is a beautiful space—my studio has the character of the Mill evident in it, it’s such a lovely bright open space that fits nicely with how I want to provide a quiet, calm place that people can come to relax and switch off.
“It’s a great location for accessible parking on site too, with it being away from the high street. I want my clients to feel like they’ve been re-set after an appointment with me, a clearer mind, relaxed and fresh.”
The enterprise journey
Kerry is enormously proud of opening her own salon, which ranks as her biggest achievement to date.
“When I invited people into my salon on the opening night it was really nice to eventually let people see where I've been hiding in the past three months. I’ve been talking about it, but people’s reactions to actually seeing the studio have been brilliant; I forget that clients are still seeing this for the first time, they come in, sit down and say: ‘Wow, this is amazing!’ It’s a great feeling, very surreal but really good.”
Kerry added: “If I was back as my eight-year-old self, I would be jumping up and down screaming because it's something that I've envisioned for such a long time and I am that excited, but just showing it in a more adult way.”
The salon itself is a relaxing place, and it’s important to Kerry to only have one person in at once, so there’s no buzz of activity going on in the background. “I’ve had so many people comment on how nice it feels to not have the busyness of other people, which can stop your mind from relaxing,” she says.
Of course, there’s always challenges that come with being your own boss, and time management and being able to switch off has been trick for Kerry. “I’ve started changing the way I manage bookings and admin so I can switch off properly on my days off,” she said. “It is really important to have a good work and home balance so I’m trying to get into good habits.”
Support along the way
“Everybody!” Kerry said, when asked who has helped her on the way. She lists hairdressing colleagues, friend and family, especially her dad: “He’s been self employed for 15 years, and whilst our businesses are really different, it set the idea in my head about just doing it.
“We’re in a world now where it is ok to try things and if things go wrong on the way you learn from this and move on. It’s a scary thought to start up your own business, and people have been there for me while I went through the back and forth of whether I would actually do it, I’m really grateful to them all.”
Kerry is also very grateful for the help from GrowBiz’s SEED programme, seeing programme coordinator, Angela, as someone she could confide in. “I went through so long of nobody else knowing, so it was good to be able to discuss things with you—you were my sounding board. I like that you're there all the time as well, whether it’s an email across or a chat through Zoom. You put my mind to ease a lot a lot of the time and made me feel that I could do this.
“The support that you have given has been incredible. I couldn't fault it.”
Looking to the future
Last year Kerry won a national award, being named as one of the top 5 balayage artists in the UK. Once she’s settled into her new studio she plans to apply for future awards as well as continuing with training and keeping up to date with trends.
Although she doesn’t plan to recruit in future, she is looking to have someone use the other room in the salon for something like beauty therapy, aesthetics, or nails. “I’m going to put out the feelers to explore what people would want from renting the space and see how things could work well together,” she explained.
“Being your own boss has its ups and its downs but it’s mine—I like being able to make all the decisions. I don't have to run things past anybody; it is me that it comes down to. It’s hard, it’s perhaps not as easy as one would imagine, but it’s so worth it. I would do it over and over again.”
Finally, Kerry shared what advice would she give another young person thinking about self-employment: “Just do it! It's a feeling like nothing else. It is a horrendously scary thought, and you constantly go over and over it in your head, Am I doing the right thing… I have these bills to pay… I will need money for this and that…, but put this to the back of your mind, go for it, do it and then you will figure it out.”