Samantha Stark | Owner + Stylist, VIBE Hair Co.
As owner and head stylist at VIBE Hair Co. and a mama of two, Samantha wears all of the hats—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Having opened the doors to her West Coast-inspired (but East Coast-located) hair salon in 2019, her first few years of business have been anything but expected. Through hard work, dedication, a commitment to sustainability, and always rolling with the punches, her business continues to grow and thrive in the heart of St. Augustine, FL.
The Basics:
Hometown: I was born in Rhode Island but I moved to St. Augustine when I was 5. It’s my constant.
Current city: St. Augustine, FL
Alma mater: Aveda Institute Jax
Degree: N/A
Very first job: Publix bagger when I was 14!
Hustle: Salon Owner + Stylist, VIBE Hair Co.
The Interests:
Babe you admire and why?
I think anyone that knows me knows that I have an extreme admiration for Jen Atkin. She’s incredible and super smart and savvy. I kind of have always deep down inside known that I wanted to do hair and I remember sitting in computer class in my very Catholic high school googling all about Jen Atkin and her celebrity work when I was supposed to be studying about stocks for some reason. As I’ve grown in my career, it’s still her and even more so in different ways. I love how bold she is and how much she honestly does not give a shit about offending anyone with how she views the world and what needs to change about it.
Is there something in your bag that would surprise us?
I kind of have a mom bag—including a bunch of random flavors of chapstick that my daughters have licked and bitten, confetti from God knows what, and a whole lot of surprises for me every day.
Do you have any must-have apps on your phone?
Definitely all of my Square Apps and to be real, Instagram... both of those kind of go hand-in-hand because I have no idea how people found and trusted stylists prior to seeing their work on the ‘gram.
What’s one thing you need to get through the day?
God. He is number one. I could count on both hands and feet the number of times I’ve tried to not make Him be that one thing I needed, but to me there’s no point in that, because every single thing I am and have is because of His goodness and love for me. I’ve really found myself and what I can accomplish through Him. It’s undeniably the best part of me, and everything I need.
HUSTLE
Tell us about your hustle.
Every single day I wake up, get my kids ready, check my emails and pending appointments in the carpool lane, rush to work, do loads of towels while my personal laundry gets backed up, and since I haven’t hired someone to clean the salon, I make sure it’s ready to go before the day starts and clients start coming in. Not only am I doing the business side of things, but I’m also a stylist, so I’m engaging in conversation with clients and giving them hair goals. I’ll Instagram some photos, check appointments and emails, take some clients, clean up, and pick up my kids just in time to bring them to dance and basketball—and pray we have enough time to shower before bed. My life is constantly filled up like a plate at Thanksgiving, and I like it that way. I’m not very good at complacency, so I always have to move forward in growth. When people say “business never stops,” they’re right.
Have you always had an entrepreneurial spirit? When did you decide to start VIBE, and what did the process look like for you?
Oh absolutely, I’ve learned what I wanted from watching my parents bust their butts their whole life. They gave my sister and I everything, but it took a lot from their own personal lives. I wanted to be able to give my kids everything, but still allow myself to have a life, too. It’s kind of ironic because entrepreneurship is a 24/7 situation—but at your own grace. One day I got this phone call for an opportunity I couldn't pass up—so I took it and ran up a super steep hill with it. I opened up VIBE in July of 2019, starting with 5 stylists including myself, but by October, there were only 3 including myself. I felt so panicked and I easily could’ve just called it quits—and then 2020 happened. Yikes. We shut down for 62 days in my first year of business. It was rough, but we made it! As difficult as some things have been, I’ve grown so much as a person and as a business owner though the obstacles. We now have a team of 5 plus an assistant, and we’re thriving and such a bonded group. There are still hard days, obviously, but the good days outweigh anything.
For those who don’t know, what is a Green Circle salon?
Green Circle Salons are membership salons that recycle salon waste. Every single minute, the beauty industry creates 877 pounds of waste on average. By coming into VIBE, you can help the planet by getting your hair cut or colored, or even by dropping off your old hot tools. We recycle 95% of salon waste. That includes your hair, foils, hair color and color tubes, hair tools, aerosol cans. Check out the Green Circle website to watch videos and learn how the waste is being reused, reduced and recycled.
What motivates you to be environmentally conscious?
It’s always been important to me, but it became even more so when I attended Aveda Institute Jax. With Aveda being so natural, it really put me on this path—but I truly believe living in San Diego and seeing the environmental strides that were made there and all throughout Southern California really influenced that part of me. I noticed a few of my favorite salons in LA were Green Circle, and I knew I wanted to bring that back to Florida. I wanted to be that difference, and as much as I wanted to stand out business wise, I knew I wanted to make the Earth cleaner for current and future generations.
How have your past professional and academic experiences + lessons prepared you for the work you do today? How have they not prepared you?
I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I’ve worked in customer service my whole life—whether in grocery stores, restaurants, selling CutCo knives or cars, everything has prepared me for this. I’ve watched my father at his job for my whole life and seen him interact and sell and absolutely crush it, and when he didn’t he picked himself back up. That was a thing for me. I wanted to always allow myself to pick me back up. The only thing I feel unprepared from is my lack of business degree. I wish I took some classes to figure things out a little easier.
How has being a woman impacted your professional experiences? What can we collectively do to support and empower women in your industry today?
I’ve always worked in a male-dominated industry, and even this one tends to lean toward men in some weird way. Being a woman is powerful, and being a successful woman is even more powerful. We all deserve to walk into a room and know we are the shit. I feel like there’s such unwanted competition in the salon world. Somehow it’s always there because someone can balayage better than you, or blow out hair better than you, etc. We should all look to each other for support and education rather than envy. I’ve had some friendships fall apart because clients have chosen to come to me rather than previous stylists that are my friends, and it really hurts to know that someone who is your friend could lose support in you for that reason. I’ll say this 100 times: Stylists should support stylists—we can all learn something from one another. Also, nothing irks me more than when I walk into Home Depot for something for the salon, and a man thinks I have no idea what I’m doing. Please. Don’t. Do. That.
What’s one thing you’re proud to have accomplished in your career thus far?
Can I say… everything? I never thought I’d be this far this early. I’ve only been doing hair for 7 years. I’ve been a single mom in school for 80+ hours a week, a navy wife, a friend, a woman of God, a business owner. It’s hard for me to think of being this far and proud of myself. I call my best friend at least once a week crying about how much more I could be doing in my life, and she always puts me back in my place and tells me to look around at this life and space I’ve created. It is seriously beautiful.
Are there any misconceptions about your profession that you’d like to debunk?
There are so many misconceptions in the hair world, but I think the biggest one that bothers me is the one where people think that we couldn’t do anything else with our lives so we did this—queue ‘Beauty School Dropout.” Most of us don’t even call ourselves hairdressers anymore, because for so long it was seen as dumb and a rebound career. If you ever come into the salon you’ll hear chemistry and psychology and business + so much more. There is so much glamour within this career, but there’s also hard work, fatigue, dehydration, coffee addictions, continuing education and passion that come with it. It’s so much more than people give us credit for. I hope for a day when people respect our careers more—clients, family and friends included.
We know it hard to name just one, but what’s your absolute favorite thing to do as a hairstylist?
If you look on my personal hair Instagram you’ll see so many different varieties of natural tones. That’s my favorite thing. Natural, but in a bolder way. I am definitely a colorist at heart. The customization around hair and skin tone is such a personal thing, and I like to make sure I use precision and placement to get things looking nice and “new-natural.”
Who are some women in your field that you look to for inspiration?
Every single one of the women I work with. Nina, Kaylee, Harper and Alexis—I learn something new every day. I’ll also throw some other women in here too because I for sure love and look up to them: Ashley Sullivan with GoodGenes and Lauren Burks with Braid Bar STA.
Career and/or life advice for other babes?
Live the life you want for you. Don’t let anyone make your choices for you, and don’t base your choices on other people who aren’t directly affected. Also, it is so okay to feel proud, beautiful and strong. Know that you are good enough.
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