When Tracy Featherling realized she was coming up on her eighth anniversary owning The Station Salon, she and the other stylists decided to figure out how long they’d all been cutting hair.
“Between the six of us we have 105 years of experience! It’s amazing, but it was also weird to add it all up. I don’t feel like I’ve been cutting hair for that long.”
Some of Featherling’s clients have been with her for nearly three decades, which she credits to the comfortable atmosphere she creates in the chair, and her commitment to affordable pricing.
“It’s great to build those longterm relationships. We want people to feel at home. It turns the salon into a giant hang-out session!”
From a tiny salon in a laundromat to a vibrant stylist collective
In Spring of 2013, Featherling was working at a corporate salon and teaching hairstyling at the College of the Rockies, when a lease came available at Rocky Mountain Resort. Featherling put together a proposal, and on May 1 she opened her doors.
“I’d owned my own salon before, but it was just an eight-by-eight room inside a laundromat in Kaslo! The Station Salon was the first time I’d started from scratch, and my first time working with other stylists.”
Finding a strong group with a similar hair philosophy has taken time, but Featherling is extremely happy with the team she has now.
“We’re a great team and we work so well together. It’s a collective,” she says.
In just eight years Featherling has already had to renovate twice, removing and reinserting stations, but she’s happy to ride the changes just like she adapts to changing hair trends.
“We went from being just colour and cut specialists, to now doing a lot of perm and texture services. Every year I seem to double the number of hair extensions I’m asked to do, as the technology improves and more people hear about new style options.”
One of Featherling’s first stylists recently returned to The Station, and brought a number of new skills with her.
“Tori is a nail tech and does facial waxing as well as hair. She does it all!”
8 years in, Featherling has no plans to change her core values: friendly, casual, professional service at an affordable price. Her talent is always improving, but her prices haven’t gone up much in her three decades in the industry.
To celebrate the anniversary, The Station Salon will be offering sales and promotions through May! Visit The Station Salon Facebook page for details. Call 778-517-0949 to book an appointment with one of The Station Salon’s six talented stylists.
