Kristen Balhoff decided to bring her son Patrick to Raleigh’s Premiere Hair Salon for his first haircut ever. Kristen has been a valued guest of Blo from the beginning so it was quite a privilege for Bryan to be chosen by the Balhoff family for this momentous occasion.
Blo takes top honors in the 2011 Salon Of The Year competition according to respected industry icons and Salon Today Magazine. Blo is first and only North Carolina salon to win this prestigious award.
Judges comments:
“The warehouse ceiling gives Blo extra character and is a nice juxtaposition to the warm artwork and light fixtures.” — Nelson
“Fantastic natural lighting makes this a great space for hair color services! The recessed design of the styling stations keeps the circulation area clean and open—a must for a salon with a high number of chairs.” — Terry
“This salon captures your attention from the outside as well as inside. It has a clean, art gallery style.” — Sansevero and Cronk
Congrats to the Blo Design Team! We were published again in Modern Salon. This time for our Gun Metal Collection that we shot recently.
Blo team doing a “Gangster” pose as we present the 2011 Blo Cut-a-Thon check to Carole from the SPCA of Wake County.
Blo is proud to donate over $13,000.00 to the SPCA of Wake County on behalf of all our loving guests and supporters. Thanks to all who participated. We’ll see you next year!
Here’s a teaser image from a recent photo shoot by The Blo Design Team. Hair by Lindsay.
It’s Friday evening November 12th 2010. I would guess most people are getting ready to go out for the evening to their favorite hot spots or possibly to have dinner at their favorite area restaurant.
Five years ago, the then very young team at Blo would probably have been among those people. My guess is that this evening, most of the exceptional people I have the pleasure of working next to everyday are at home enjoying some quiet time, resting their tired feet, tired shoulders, tired minds, and probably enjoying the feeling that comes with knowing they’ve contributed all they had today to supporting something bigger than themselves.
Whether it was lending a helping hand to a teammate, giving that little extra to a guest who needed it, or polishing up their work place in between guests, I know many of them felt the magic today. As I sit here in the quiet packing my backpack to continue my pilgrimage around the globe stalking U2, I’m reminded of the many blessings I have behind me, around me, and in front of me because of this wonderful industry and the exceptional people who choose to work at Blo.
Blo is a very special place but it’s only bricks and mortar without the people who bring it to life each moment. If I thanked those people everyday, it wouldn’t be enough. I won’t go so far as to say these people would come to work for free but I know how hard they work for themselves, each other, and most importantly, you the guest.
I also know they don’t do it for the money only. I’ve seen each of them carry the emotion of disappointing a guest or two. I’ve seen them come in on their day off just to take care of a guest in need. I’ve seen them rescue hair color gone wrong, make countless wedding days memorable for countless brides, and introduce many a man to a “real” haircut. Using hair gel is also a personal preference, if you are someone who is new to it, you can always have a look at this article here and get the necessary tips.
I’ve seen them be the highlight of someone’s day and low point of someone’s life all in the same hour. I’ve seen them fail so miserably that it drove many of them to tears and thoughts of giving up or quitting. I’ve seen them go from the immature rawness of hair school to blossoming editorial stylists, mentors, educators, artists, philanthropists, and so on.
I’ve seen them go from in debt to debt free; from no savings and no insurance to independent, responsible, empowered, compassionate, supportive young professionals. I’ve seen each one of them succeed to levels that have helped redefine their own belief systems and expectations of themselves as well as those they surround themselves with.
Being in a position to watch the growth of these exceptional people has been one of my greatest blessings and I would bet many of them would say the same about each other. Hairdressing has contributed more to my life than I could ever dream of giving back. So, on behalf of my teammates, (in the spirit of ‘giving thanks’) I would like to thank our valued guests. By supporting our business each day, you give each of us the opportunity to enjoy so many blessings. May you and your loved one’s have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
Bryan
The world’s largest fashion magazine has selected Blo out of thousands nationwide as one of the United States’ “Top 100 Salons.” The directory appears in the August issue of ELLE Magazine., the go-to guide for women’s fashion, beauty and entertainment.
In recent years, Blo has been recognized by the hair and style industry with multiple awards, including a Global Salon Business Award in 2008. This is the first time Blo has been honored by a national consumer publication.
“We are amazed and honored to be recognized by a trusted media source at the height of fashion and style. Elle is the magazine that women look to for advice,” said Blo owner Bryan Nunes.
Blo was one of only two North Carolina salons selected by ELLE’s independent regional researchers. The directory of top salons accompanies an article called, “America’s top salons divulge their most requested Hollywood ‘dos.”
Nunes said the news came completely unexpected, because he was not aware of the award and did not submit an application.
“Many consumer magazines solicit us to pay to be on their ‘Best of’ lists,” he said. “Which is why our design team is so excited to be recognized by ELLE, because of its global reach and respect.”
Melanie and her family are leaving us to move to Salt Lake City, Utah so that her husband Dan can pursue his career. Melanie is a class act and will be missed fondly. Although she will always remain a valued member of the Blo family.
Blo’s editorial work has been chosen to be featured in the July Edition of Modern Salon, the industries most widely read publication.
Modern Salon Article And Images
Megan flew in from Jacksonville, Florida to create a portfolio for her budding modeling career and invited us to do the hair. Meagan was so inspired by this shoot that she ultimately went to hair school. She is now a successful hairdresser in Jacksonville, Florida. We’re proud of you Meagan! Welcome to the club.
Thanks to many people we have come a long way from March 8, 2005 when we opened with two owners and two team members. Many of you may remember our front desk being a temporary piece of plywood and our computer system consisting of my laptop only. The bar stools we took from our old studio were our front desk chairs and we had no waiting area furniture.
As many of you know, today Blo is a globally recognized salon for its success and business practices — ranging from creative employee benefits programs to marketing and client philosophy. As I reflect on the first five years of this journey the thing I am most proud of are the heartbeats that I’ve had the fortune of connecting with. My team, my guests, my distributors, my manufacturers.
The relationships I’ve been fortunate enough to foster through this organization is mind-blowing. Many of you have taken the time to congratulate us on our growth.
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Business Leader Magazine and Triangle Business Journal have recently honored Blo co-founder Bryan Nunes with a Mover & Shaker Award and 40 under 40 recognition.
We recently presented an $8,100 check toInterAct for this year’s Snip Snip Give event. InterAct provides safety and support to survivors of domestic violence and rape/sexual assault. Thanks to everyone who attended this year’s event.
Blo walks away with hardware for the second straight Redken Symposium by winning the Rising Star Award. One of the coveted Redken Elite Salon Of The Year Awards.
Blo received the Salon of Distinction award from Salon Today Magazine for 2006. Twenty salons across North America are chosen annually for this unique design distinction.
Lindsay and Alysia were both elected by their peers as the most improved and committed designers for 2009. For their accomplishment both ladies were flown all expenses paid to Dallas, TX to see U2 in the front row at the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. Not bad.
At Blo, our entire team of professionals is committed to your satisfaction. No one here sets out to make a guest unhappy intentionally. If you are not satisfied with your service, whether it be anything ranging from the tone of the color or highlights t,o the amount of texture in your hair cut or the length of your bangs, we want you to feel comfortable calling us and giving us the opportunity to adjust it to your liking.
If you notice the problem right away, please speak up to your Designer. If they have time to adjust it right then, they will. If what needs to be adjusted requires additional time that they don’t have available to them at the moment, they will escort you to Guest Services and get you in as quickly as possible based on your schedule and the designer’s availability.
If when you get home you notice after playing with your hair yourself it needs to be tweaked or it’s just not what you had in mind, just pick up the phone and call us. Guest Services will leave a message for your Designer to call you back and schedule you based on your needs.
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Blo was awarded the coveted Global Salon Business Award for 2008 by industry leaders and the Anderson School of Business graduate program on the campus of UCLA. Only two salons in the country receive this recognition every two years.
This past fall I had the extraordinary opportunity to follow the band U2 around the United States for 15 of their 20 North American tour dates.
Being a long time fan, I felt extremely fortunate to witness the world’s biggest band and the world’s biggest tour ever. I had the opportunity to reconnect with many relatives and old friends along the way as well as enjoy exposing some of the team at Blo to magic of U2’s live performances.
There were many unexpected serendipitous things that happened along the way — ranging from seeing the President in NYC to nightmare travel stories I won’t bore you with. However, the most gratifying part of the entire pilgrimage, like so many I’ve taken in my life, was what I found when I returned home. It was a Tuesday morning when I first walked back into the salon after being gone almost five weeks.
I walked in the door near my station and things were kind of quiet in the styling gallery. The music was playing as usual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Elle (our Guest Services manager) greeted me at the front desk as I walked around the corner of the dividing wall.
“Good morning stranger! Did you have a nice trip?”
I dropped my briefcase and answered yes. I expected at this point I would be bombarded with issues regarding the business but it wasn’t the case at all. I looked up to the color table to see it was completely full. Tuesday’s are training days at Blo and so the entire table was filled with Associates applying their vision to the guests they were training on while our Director of Education Theresa was overseeing the entire event. (more…)
Blo and it’s guests raised $13,200.00 for the Arc over the 24 hour period. The Arc of Wake County supports families living with Autism. This was a record year for us. Thanks to everyone who participated. Can’t wait until next year!
Blo was awarded the Redken Elite Salon of The Year Award for the highest percentage of growth from the previous year.
