It’s time to talk hair. Mine has always been boringly straight and, to be honest, I have never really thought much about curly hair. But when my copy of The Curly Hair Crew, ordered through Amazon, landed in my mailbox, I must admit I was riveted. It’s a page-turner.
Essentially a guide for curly-haired kids whose waves and ringlets may have singled them out for bullying – and isn’t it incredible what kids will find to bully other kids about? – the book is written by Bianca Bazante, a hairdresser with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
She’s the owner and creative director of the Westport-based hair salon, The Artist Loft, where for the past five years she has offered exclusive one-on-one appointments. “Exclusive” is the operative word here: With only one chair, she is limited to one customer at a time, for her specialist curly haircuts for adults and kids, but also for blonde highlighting, Brazilian blowouts and a variety of other hair treatments.A love of styling started at a young age for this Connecticut “lock”-smith. As she told Eye on Small Business in a recent exchange, “My mother operated a hair salon in Westport, so as a child I spent hours learning from the stylists – and not only the art of hairdressing but also observing the fascinating connections stylists built with their clients.”
After leaving Westport in her early 20s, Bazante took Wella coloring classes and graduated from Paul Mitchell The School NYC. As well as working at salons, she also styled hair for photo and video shoots before deciding to move back to Connecticut, where, in 2020, she opened The Artist Loft.
Intrigued by the idea of a single-chair salon – what she calls her “chair of care” – we asked Bazante about the logistics as well as the challenges of being a one-woman, one-chair business.
“The most obvious challenge of being a single-chair hair salon is that everything falls on me,” she told us, “but that motivates me to work even harder.” She explained that she and she alone is accountable for generating sufficient turnover to purchase supplies, pay for utilities and the like. She said she has to keep her eye on every aspect of her business.
Honing her business operating skills, Bazante said she had mentors along the way and mentioned that several of her clients were also business advisers who had helped her to grow her business.
Another challenge of the single chair salon, Bazante said, was that from a creative standpoint she didn’t have other stylists to brainstorm new styles and cuts with, so she’s had to use other resources. Also, working more days, although maybe with fewer hours, was something else that she has had to get used to, as well as creating a balance between work and life as a single mother to twin 9-year-old boys. But, she emphasized, “I’m a mother first and then a stylist.”
All that said, Bazante felt the challenges were small compared to the benefits. “I can set my own hours and also work Sundays and Mondays when other salons are usually closed, so that makes me stand out, and I can curate an exclusive client list.” Without anyone else to answer to, she reiterated that she gets to spend quality one-on-one time with her clients. As boss she has also been able to showcase her own creative skills in the large salon windows, where her displays have attracted passersby who have in due course become clients.
Another advantage of being a one-woman band that gets to write all the rules – and just as she herself experienced with her own mother – Bazante said, is that she’ll often bring her boys into the salon so they can see her hard work and dedication, a valuable life lesson. (The boys are dab hands at window decoration, too, apparently.)
An interesting but perhaps not obvious point, Bazante said, that makes the hairdressing industry unique is that stylists get to see their clients at every significant stage of their lives – that’s to say a wedding, a baby shower, a christening, a college graduation, a new job and so forth, as well as maybe at their lowest ebbs, like after a breakup or a death in the family.
“I hold space for each client individually as they grow in their lives and feel honored to make them feel and look beautiful,” she added.
As she writes in “The Curly Hair Crew, “Your hair is your crown. It has its own personality and is so beautiful.” – and never more so than after a visit to The Artist Loft and Bazante’s chair of care, we might add.
