Beginnings are never exactly a cakewalk and when you want to build a business or your own brand in uncharted waters, this is doubly true. Jana Šafářová started writing the story of Red Salon after her maternity leave, when she didn’t want to return to her original job in the technical field and was thinking about a change. She wanted to work with nice products in the field of fashion or cosmetics, which she would like, understand and meet personally with the end customer. And she did. “I did a retraining course in hairdressing, but found that cutting and styling hair alone was not the way for me. I took advice from the top hairdressers in the industry, but when you open a salon, no one tells you that instead of a regular washer and dryer, you need professional machines that can handle continuous use, or that it’s a good idea to wire the electrics so that the first time you run all the blow dryers, the fuses don’t blow. After taking my towels home every night in the early days to wash and dry them overnight, I’m now an expert in such situations,” laughs the salon owner, who unfortunately went through a lot of inconveniences while realizing her dream.

Constant stress accompanied her not only before the opening of the Red Salon in January 2013, but also during the first year. “When we finally opened, I didn’t feel relieved at all, quite the opposite. Something wasn’t working all the time, and because I had all the responsibility for the salon’s operation, I got to the point of burnout, which I had only read about and even taken lightly on more than one occasion. And then, through a series of events, I burst into tears and without my husband and subsequent therapy, I would not have gotten out of that state of being unable to do anything. Fortunately, today I know how to handle these situations. In the years to come, I want to focus on building the reputation of the salon, not building the salon on the sound names of ace hairdressers. That’s a huge change from how we used to operate.”

For Jana Šafářová, after her first decade at the Red Salon, it is important that it remains unique in its services and space, and that its visit is accompanied by a wow effect – just like the one she experienced when she was gathering inspiration in London. It could be due to the vast, varied, yet incredibly cosy interior, the professionalism of the service or even the homemade cake that Jana regularly bakes for her clients. At first glance, though, there’s little to suggest you’ve come to a hair salon. But when you leave, as soon as you walk out the door and back into everyday reality, you have a huge urge to immediately call your friend and describe what you just experienced. Because it was something unforgettable. But it’s not that easy to describe. Because a visit to the Red Salon is so non-transferable that it has to be experienced in person.