Beauty – September 2007
Urban Hair and Beauty Celebrated at dk hair
A conversation with Ken Bradshaw
by Sydney Murray
…Envisioning a culture at the forefront of hairdressing by developing synergistic relationships, and providing an urban lifestyle resource. - dk hair’s Mission Statement
Let me tell you–what a difference a haircut makes. It literally takes years off of your appearance. I had been going to the same hairdresser for nine years and although not a real fashionista, I do clean up nicely. That being said, I have had to depend on the expertise of my hairdresser. My old hairdresser was fine, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that he wasn’t up on the latest trends. Hence my hair was mostly the same for…well, let’s just say it–for far too long.
Enter dk hair, a wonderful salon in Hillcrest. I had the combined expertise of Andres Medina and Ken Bradshaw (Bradshaw is a co-owner of dk hair). Medina colored and Bradshaw styled my hair respectively. I told them to do whatever they thought would work. Then I exclaimed, “Cut the mop off!” I now have hair that fits me and my personality. Most importantly, it has entered the realm of fashionable. Paired with their great products, I am reborn.
In the first few weeks with my new “do,” I had a couple of friends who commented almost every time they saw me. One, “I love those highlights,” and the other, “That is such a great cut.” Both of them have great taste so I took their compliments to heart.
Now that we know dk hair does a great job styling and coloring hair, there is the other important fact. It is that they are a great company with a wonderful atmosphere. They are a close-knit staff and the salon itself has a chic ambience. This is partly because owners Ken Bradshaw and David Valencia pay salaries as opposed to hiring out chairs.
Recently I chatted with Bradshaw who said, “We pay better than anybody else in the community. We’re commission-based, not booth rental [oriented] because we want to create a culture. The whole reason we opened the business was to create an environment that was cool for both clients and staff.”
I can attest to this firsthand. Their commitment to excellence translates into a really diverse clientele. I watched a hip young ‘tween’ with his Mom, both getting their hair done––and done well. I commented, “I’m surprised by the fact you have a number of teenage boys. How did you get them to come in?”
Bradshaw smiled and said, “Their moms. We have a lot of women who come in from Rancho Santa Fe and La Jolla and Mom will pay for their haircut. Our clientele is diverse, from a 70-year-old upper-class woman to your basic16-year-old. Sometimes we’ll work with the whole family.”
dk hair opened its doors on September 5th, 2003. Since then, they have tripled in size and have garnered tremendous support form the community. Bradshaw attributed this success to a carefully selected staff.
He comments, “In November and December, we were fully booked and we couldn’t take more people. The last year was full of growing pains. We doubled in revenue, we doubled in size and we wondered––what could we do?”
To celebrate their growth after only four years in business, they are moving down the street to a really urban chic space and are in the process of transforming this former garage into their new home. dk hair is going beyond mere beauty and focusing on well-being by adding an array of holistic treatments designed for the busy professional who needs to fit hair and body treatments into their full life.
“It’s an urban spa with urban professional woman saying, ‘I want to come in and get a facial and not worry about the kids,’ says Bradshaw. ‘So we’ve designed the menu around the women and men that need results and who need them within a time frame. We have a facial called the ‘Urban Professional,’ which is an hour facial. We also have a 15-minute eye lift. You’re having a haircut and your makeup done, you’ve been working all day, you’ve got a party to go to. Add a face or hand treatment and boom you’re ready for your party.”
“We [also] want to hold an element of a lifestyle resource center,” he continues. “We want to be able to create resources and services for people who don’t have the time to go look for them. It’s one of the reasons why we never want to be a big spa. The great thing is to get people in because we have the resources for them, saying, ‘Look, this [person] is great with facials and waxing; this person is great with massage. If you prefer something gentle, this person is better for you.’ You fit the clients with the right people and service. It’s all about connecting with that person.”
Bradshaw and dk hair co-owner David Valencia have worked together for the last six years and have known each other for a decade. Their sense of a common vision was what allowed them to combine resources and talents to create dk hair.
“Since we weren’t getting our needs met elsewhere, we thought we would do this ourselves,” Bradshaw explains. “So we got together, put our ideas down on paper and everything came back to being urban, with great work and a prominence in the community. Whenever we have a challenge, we go back to our original notes.”
“If you don’t have unity within the management, it shows,” he adds. “We’re focused on going on the same journey together. We’ve already got testimonials with 10-star ratings on our services. People say, ‘It’s a great place! It’s like a little community within the community.’ It’s nice to hear that from your clients. It’s a great confirmation––and I love that.”
If you want to be transformed, please don’t hesitate a moment longer. Life is too short not to have a great haircut. And I promise you that dk hair will deliver.
dk hair is at 3739 6th Ave. in San Diego, 619.546.4550 or visit their website at www.dkhair.net.