Jaala Wanless
Bent Beauty Industries Inc.
2005 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Personal Services
Graduate of Toward Excellence Self-Employment Program
 Jaala Wanless is a true hair diva! She is also a natural born business woman. After finding herself in a repeating pattern where she would begin working for someone and end up running the show, she finally decided to take her natural born talents and open her own studio; somewhere that men and women could come and receive not just hair styling but also a whole range of beauty services and treatments.
Being relatively new to Vancouver and having a baby to take care of, she initially opened a small studio in her basement, taking her existing clients with her. One of those clients then mentioned the self-equity program. Jaala did some research, applied to and was accepted by Toward Excellence.
Upon graduation it took Jaala a long time to secure financing for her venture, eventually she approached WESBC and with a very tight budget, in May 2004, ‘Bent Beauty Industries’ was launched; a studio in the heart of Yaletown dedicated to Urban men and women looking for cutting edge products and styling.
So far Jaala has stuck to her marketing plan and as a result: is offering seminars in the salon; has been featured on an episode of Crash Test Mummies; held a cut-a-thon for the Canadian Cancer Society; has been profiled in an editorial feature in the ‘Yaletown View’; worked with local designers for fashion shows; and sponsors a club night and a local soccer team. This combined with her promotional strategy of strategic advertising, employing staff with an existing clientele, providing an excellent product and exceptional customer care, has ensured steady growth for Bent Beauty Industries, and Jaala is seeing the number of referrals grow.
Her success was recognized professionally when at “Inspiration 2004”, the entrepreneur of the year awards, Jaala received the award for best business in the personal services category. It is only a matter of time until her dream of becoming one of the best salons offering cutting edge fashion on the west coast becomes a reality. Long term goals for Bent include expanding her team of beauty experts, launching a beauty care line, and becoming more involved within the community by supporting local businesses and charities.
Website: www.bentbeauty.com |
