The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
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The Alimond Show
Robin Lee - Structure Meets Creativity: The Art of Hair and Mentorship
What happens when military discipline meets artistic freedom? Robin Lee's remarkable 30-year journey proves it creates something extraordinary. After transitioning from Navy photographer to sought-after hair artist, Robin has built a thriving business by fusing structured technique with boundless creativity.
Walking into Robin Lee Hair and Makeup in Leesburg feels different than your typical salon – many European clients comment it has that distinctive overseas atmosphere. This cultural sensitivity stems from Robin's global perspective and dedication to creating an experience, not just a haircut. Her most valuable lesson for client relationships? "Eye contact 80-20. 80% they talk, 20% you talk." This simple philosophy has generated extraordinary loyalty, with some clients following her across Northern Virginia since 2003.
Beyond her salon work, Robin's creative spirit shines through her editorial projects and photography collaborations. She's worked Fashion Week, styled for former President Obama in a Vibe magazine shoot with famed photographer Terry Richardson, and mentors rising stylists with the same passion that fueled her career. Robin finds particular joy in those "aha moments" when concepts click for her protégés. "I love my young ones," she shares, explaining how she guides assistants beyond basic tasks to truly understand the artistry behind each technique.
The beauty industry isn't all glamour – it demands physical stamina and constant creative output that can be mentally draining. Yet Robin's passion for transformation keeps her energized after three decades. Her inventive marketing, like the adventures of "Leesburg Lizzie" (her traveling mannequin), demonstrates her commitment to standing out in a competitive field. Now, with new team members like extension specialist Sophia joining the salon, Robin continues pushing boundaries while honoring the foundations that built her success. Visit Robin Lee Hair and Makeup on King Street in Leesburg for a beauty experience where structure meets creative vision in perfect harmony.
I'm Robin Lee and the name of my business is Robin Lee Hair and Makeup right on King Street, right next to Black Hoof.
Speaker 2:Amazing. All right, take me back a bit. How did you first find your way into the beauty industry?
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, I was in the military and I was a photographer and I used to photograph my friends and I would do their hair and makeup, and that's when I kind of felt like I think I really like this part of photography, so that's what made me go through hair school. Excuse me, yeah, that's so cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks. What was your path like from those early days to where you are now?
Speaker 1:Oh long. I've been doing hair for about 30 years now. So it's you know, I have four years as an assistant, which is a thankless job in the hair industry. And yeah it, you know. I was in Jacksonville, florida, when I first started and then moved here in about 2003. And I feel like my career has been very successful in the Northern Virginia area. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, I knew about you before you came in here and I saw you on the schedule and I was like Robin Lee I see her sign all the time Like oh cool, so cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I've heard your name multiple times too, so Well, there's more than one of us.
Speaker 1:I met one the other day. She came into the salon, so that was pretty cool. Oh wow, another one. It's a great name.
Speaker 2:It sounds very celebrity. Oh okay, I'll take that it does. You've had a 30-year career in hair and makeup, which is incredible. What's kept you passionate about your?
Speaker 1:craft over the years. Education, yeah, and just staying on top of the you know trends. Also loving to make people feel good about themselves. Honestly, that's one of the best parts.
Speaker 2:Amazing. How do you kind of balance like staying on top of the trends with also staying true to like your style?
Speaker 1:I mean, I, I guess I have a pretty classic style, you know, and a lot of the trends, you know. If my clients are interested in them, I'll guide them in the right direction. If it feels like you know, most of the time my clients know what they want, so I don't like to tell people, no, you can't have that, yeah, but you know you can add a little pop of whatever the trend is for someone, so Awesome.
Speaker 2:You also have a background in photography and served six years in the US Navy. Yes, how did your time in the Navy shape your discipline and creative eye?
Speaker 1:the US Navy. How did your time in the Navy shape your discipline and creative eye? Well, I mean structure for one. When I first got into the beauty industry it was really tough because a lot of hairstyles weren't that structured. It took a little time to get you know. It was a different culture and so once I got into that, it just combined the two structure with chaos sometimes.
Speaker 2:That's great to marry the two. I think some of the most successful people marry structure and kind of that free-flowing, that free-flowing sense. You've worked across salons, spas, freelance gigs, fashion events and more. How do you approach your work differently depending on the setting or project?
Speaker 1:Well, I mean different settings that I've been involved in. I was, you know, a Redken educator for five years, so that I was able to go to Fashion Week in New York and kind of see what that atmosphere was like. It wasn't for me it's a little too stressful. I like a low-key situation as far as like a photo shoot like this. Let's see what else, I don't know. The rest of that question, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think I read that you also did something with former President Obama, correct?
Speaker 1:Yes, that was. I was really involved with Model Mayhem. I was doing a lot of photo shoots with makeup artists or as a makeup artist and other photographers, and someone passed my name off to Vibe magazine and that's how I got into that job. It was pretty cool and the photographer was really cool. It was Terry Richardson. He's a high fashion photographer, so I was really excited about working with him as well.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's very cool. You've trained stylists, educated salon guests and worked behind the scenes at major events. What's your favorite part of mentoring and teaching others?
Speaker 1:When it clicks, when the aha moment happens, when your young stylists grasp the concept of a guideline and a haircut, or when they're so proud of the work that they've done. It makes you proud. Yeah, yeah, I love that. I love my young ones. Yeah, they're fun.
Speaker 2:I used to teach guitar and I definitely got the same satisfaction like seeing different concepts click. It's so fulfilling.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think that's— it really is. I think that's what keeps a lot of people going with education as well and also paying it forward.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm sure you had people that mentored you and yes, it really made that impact and I still think about them. So you know certain cuts that I do, especially the short little cropped cuts. I have a friend in Florida who taught me them and I just still, every time I do them, I think about him when he says detail, detail, detail.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I love that your website talks about being culturally sensitive and internationally traveled.
Speaker 1:How has that global perspective influenced your approach to beauty and just the culture of the Spanish salon was really cool, and whenever I get any client from Europe, it's just they actually say that the salon has a European feel to it and I love that. So even one of the stylists that works at the salon she went over to Europe and when she came back she said the salons over there are so much like ours, and so I thought that was pretty cool that you know, someone coming from overseas just feels at home when they come to our salon.
Speaker 2:So that's beautiful. Yeah, salons are very different overseas I was. I remember when I was, when I was a kid, we lived in Columbia, we lived in Bogota and I would go with my mom to get her hair done there and it was just.
Speaker 1:It was very different than I think we went to like haircuttery here or something like that beforehand, so I've been there not much of a comparison sometimes you'll look out and get a great stylist at hair cuttery and, oh yeah, there's times where they're still learning yeah, but it was like this luxury, like curated, just I don't know, just from intake to like the finished product.
Speaker 2:It was an experience. It was so cool and I have yet to like come across that here, so maybe I'll have to stop.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. We have some great stylists there, yeah, so that's super cool, though I love that.
Speaker 2:that I'm sure sets you guys apart when working with clients. How do you make sure they feel confident, seen and truly cared for during the process?
Speaker 1:Eye contact 80-20. 80% they talk, 20% you talk. That's a huge one in this industry. And just making sure that they understand if there's something that they're not comfortable with, to let us know, because some people are afraid to let their stylist know if they're not happy with something and I don't want anybody to ever feel that they can't tell us if they're not happy with something and I don't want anybody to ever feel that they can't tell us if they're not happy with their hair. We offer, like, within the first two weeks of your new look, if something needs to be adjusted, to let us know we'll do it at no charge, even if it's a color adjustment, anything haircut. We make sure that people are happy. So, yeah, that's awesome. I've been unhappy as a stylist or non-stylist many years ago and I never told the stylist. I just never went back to the salon and I don't want that for us. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think a lot of people end up in that position, even when I talk to friends and family members who are like oh yeah, I went to this place, I tried this new place and I wasn't really happy with what I got, but I didn't feel like saying anything, so I'll just try a new place next time.
Speaker 1:But, it really builds that loyalty when you give people that open pathway for conversation, definitely communication For sure, and I've had even men that I've been since 2003 cutting their hair. They've followed me all over this area. I try to let my young girls understand.
Speaker 2:Just always listen to your client, absolutely. Let's see you've done everything from New York Fashion Week to local photo shoots. What is it about working with photographers and on-camera talent that you enjoy most?
Speaker 1:I feel like whenever I work with other photographers I'm learning from them about photography, trying to get back into my photography at the salon. And things have changed since I was in the military. I learned on film and so I still have my film cameras, even my Pentax K1000. That is ancient. So I love working with other photographers just to pick their brain. So I love working with other photographers just to pick their brain, and also with working with subjects, I prefer to work with the camera and let someone else guide the model or the client who's ever being photographed. Over the years I've had some really easy models that you know, you don't even have to direct, and I love that. That it's so much easier. But I'm uncomfortable in being photographed, so I totally get it. Whenever I have a model that's not feeling totally comfortable, so I'll usually have jokes to make them relax, trying to make something funny yeah so yeah, awesome.
Speaker 2:What do you think people often misunderstand about what it means to be a professional in hair and makeup?
Speaker 1:But then it's work, just like anybody else has a job. But I love what I do. But sometimes it is exhausting when you're on your feet all day long for eight hours and people think it's like this glamorous job and I'm like I used to think that too and it can, can be. But there's times where I'm like, oh my gosh, and had moments in my career where I thought, do I want to keep doing this? At one point I thought I wanted to be a police officer and so. But then I was like, no, stick with us, it makes me happy.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that's a huge misconception. I think about being a professional in any artistic field. Yeah, like for me, I am a musician as well, and so many people are like, oh, just like, come bring your guitar and all your setup and sing for us, and after you know the hundredth time of doing that, it's like, well, I also work a normal job and I also you know work do my own music, and you know I'm not like getting paid to do this.
Speaker 1:it's not easy, it takes a lot of energy yeah, oh, I can't even imagine.
Speaker 2:And people I don't know if they judge, but they're like you should be enjoying doing it. It's something artistic, it's fun and I'm like, yeah, it is, and I do love it, but I think your brain hurts.
Speaker 1:You're trying to be creative all the time and after a while it hurts your brain. Yes, it's draining, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good to see that we're on the same page with that one. For someone just getting started in this industry, what advice would you offer them based on?
Speaker 1:your years of experience being an assistant in a well-established salon where there's stylists there that want to educate you and aren't, you know? Some can be selfish and they just don't have the energy, probably, to teach a young assistant. They use mainly just shampoo my client, clean the towels, but I feel it's very important to have them watch what you're doing. My first mentor I had to stand next to him and just watch how he cut hair. If you're not paying attention, you're the human hair clips and you actually had to hold the hair while he's cutting it or standing next to him when he's rolling perms and you spray each rod, each rod he rolls and that way he knows that you're paying attention.
Speaker 1:Because I feel like a lot of assistants as well as hairstylists, we kind of get stuck in our ways and, you know, want to sit in the break room when you don't have a client. But any moment that you have is downtime, is a moment to market yourself, study your craft. Tiktok has a lot of amazing education. Instead of just, you know, scrolling doom, scrolling into nothing, you know, just focus on being the best that you can at your career. But I feel like assisting you know someone in the industry that's well-known and well-respected is huge for young stylists Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And I totally agree. There are so many amazing resources out there now with TikTok, with YouTube, things like that, that maybe you didn't have.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, yeah, it was all books.
Speaker 2:No, tiktok, no way, it was all books. So when?
Speaker 1:I'd have my book next to me if I'm working on a new client and I'd look at the picture and go to the next section and and it was, I liked it, and the clients usually understood. They're like, okay, she's learning and she's looking right at the directions, like baking a cake.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I, yeah, those days are not. They're not here anymore. It's and I, I learned still. You know, I'm looking at TikTok, at some of the makeup techniques, because I'm a makeup artist as well and I mean some of these techniques are fascinating to me and so it's pretty cool that even at my time in my career that I'm still learning so much more. So I would be bored if I wasn't.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have to keep learning.
Speaker 2:I think that really separates successful people from people that may not be as successful. Is that openness to always be learning and always growing and always pursuing your craft and getting better and keeping up with trends and being able to serve your clients in a more meaningful way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's incredible.
Speaker 2:Let's see when do you feel most creatively fulfilled? What type of work makes you feel most creatively fulfilled? What type of work makes you feel most in your zone?
Speaker 1:I feel like doing photo shoots, like there's when I was again with model mayhem. I felt like I was being my most creative and uh, so many many different makeup techniques and hair techniques that you wouldn't normally do on a client, and that's where I feel like I can be more artistic and that's what I miss and that's why I'm trying to get that into our salon and getting into photography and I've already tasked my two young assistants to find a model look at what's trending for fall hair and makeup and let's kick it up and do something really cool and something really different in this area. I don't want to just do like, oh, pretty hair and pretty makeup. No, I want it to like stand out, not only just for the salon but for them, because it forces them to be a little more creative and think outside of the box. So I feel like that's my passion, is like a whole photo shoot and working all together and coming up with some really cool, fun stuff.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, and those projects I'm sure are so fun to see through, like from the conception all the way to the end, when you get that final set of images.
Speaker 1:And they love it too, like just even you know simple shoots that we've done, and when they see what it looks like, in the end they're yeah, they're, they have fun with it. So, I'm sure and keeping them motivated because assistants can get burned out too because, again, it's a thankless job and you can't thank them enough they're doing so much for a stylist and the salon as a whole. They're the backbone of the salon and you know the heartbeat keeps it going, and so I want to keep them motivated and not get burned out and bored.
Speaker 2:So yeah, good reminder for everyone listening to tip your assistants well, oh yeah, yeah, they work hard, they really do. Yeah, looking ahead, what are your hopes or next steps in your career? Are there any projects besides what you mentioned? Or you can go a little more in depth You're excited about or dreams that you're still chasing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we do have a new stylist, sophia, and she is an extension specialist and she wants the salon in Leesburg area to know that she's there and, you know, kind of bring more attention to extensions that you know women are asking for these days. She's an amazing, talented stylist and so we're really happy to have her on board and she's got a lot of great ideas that you know we're. There's certain changes that are going on in the hair industry and salons that at first I was like I don't know if I like that, but then when I think about it, you know what Change. Change is good, and so we need to kick it up a notch. So that's what we're looking to do with Sophia, so we're happy to have her on board.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sounds like a very exciting thing and we want to like I pulled out my Leesburg Lizzie.
Speaker 1:So when I first opened the salon and to try to get more attention during COVID it was, you know at first I was told the space is cursed, don't do it, parking sucks in Leesburg, don't do it. And so I had to come up with clever ways to try to get attention because it's another hair salon. And so we had Leesburg Lizzie, who's a mannequin head that we would doll up and we would take her to different places and people. I'd post her on Instagram and can you guess where Leesburg Lizzie is? And, if you can, you get a gift from the salon and you get a gift from where she is. Like my friend Paul at Tarbenders, I took her there and so he, you know, gave a gift of food and you know I gave shampoo or conditioner to whoever guessed where she was.
Speaker 2:Such a great idea.
Speaker 1:But she does look like a train wreck.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hold her up for us. Leesburg Lizzie, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Ellie was working on her. I mean, this is really sad, so we won't put her out in public with this, just on the show, yeah. But there are times we had her out in front of the salon on her little stand and people would walk by and freak out and there was actually someone posted I don't know if it was on oh, what was it? One of the Leesburg Facebook pages and they post Wow, you see some strange sites in Leesburg and it was her sitting on the mannequin next to Stanley Great marketing, yeah.
Speaker 2:She's just a little windblown from her adventures, yeah.
Speaker 1:Some people were weirded out by her, but I try to explain. She's how we learn. This is one of our learning tools and we do updos on her and you know, have fun with her. And if you can do a good updo on Leesburg Lizzie, you can handle human hair and heads, because this scalp does not move. Ooh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's tight.
Speaker 1:She needs a little conditioner. That's so interesting. But yeah, in the beginning I was really having her out there a lot and I just talked to the girls about let's mess with Leesburg Lizzie again with fall coming I'll keep an eye out.
Speaker 2:Very cool. Is there anything else about your journey, your philosophy around beauty or your experience in the industry that we didn't get to, but you think we should?
Speaker 1:I feel like you've pretty much covered it.