Meet Ashley Christman | Owner of Blonden Salon

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Christman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
After being a hairstylist for almost 20
years and working in 6 San Diego salons I wanted to create the perfect space in my own community, Serra Mesa.
Something that was all mine that I could create the ideal, professional vibe, an amazing team, and specialize in blonding which is such a popular hair service in California!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a wife and a mother to two young kiddos, We have a group of fabulous friends in San Diego and really have gotten to know everyone in the Serra Mesa community.
Adding my business into our neighborhood was an absolute dream.
I always wanted to have a salon at home that I could really create and make my own.
When I found the retail space in SM, right above the new Snapdragon stadium , I knew I was onto something special.
Our community is super central, right above Mission Valley without the traffic and craziness of that area.
We have tons of young families and people want their hair done locally.
We have parking , an attached coffee shop called Java Garden, and I have designed every sq ft of the salon to be welcoming and fresh. Clients really love coming in:)
We have more business then we can cater to some weeks.
Balancing home life and a busy salon can absolutely be a lot. Making sure we have towels fresh at all times, keeping the salon clean after a busy day of clients, wear and tare on equipment and client needs in general are just a few of the things that can sometimes take your breathe away.
But overall I would say key factors to my success are having the right team. Women that support eachother and have the same goals. Stylists that are willing to help out when needed and keep my vision alive.
Consistency is key, having practices in place and expectations everyone is aware of is something I value and has worked.
I think some salon owners make to many exceptions and don’t keep things fair and that can really cause resentment or a lack of financial success in a business like ours.
I love what I do behind the chair, and the salon is a bonus getting to watch it thrive each day!!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love living in San Diego and being a business owner here.
All of our family lives out of state so when they come we love to show them a good time.
Many times we end up at Mission Bay and paddleboard over to Paradise Point for a Mai Tai.

A walk on the boardwalk at Mission beach is always fun and we will have lunch at Draft, sit on the patio and the kids play on the sand by our table.

Dinners with family are usually spent at home or at the Bali Hai. They have thee best Mai Tai’s.

If we leave town we head to Palm Dessert La Quinta hotel to play pickle ball and swim in one of the 42 pools they have on property.

San diego is the best, a couple hours from Palm Springs and three hours from Big bear!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My story started with the apprenticeship program in Orange County. My hair stylist through highschool, Rio Wattiers specialized in blondes and did a bunch of my friends hair too.
We somehow always saved enough money to go see her for the perfect blonde hilites .
Once I started college and wasn’t loving school, Rio suggested I do the apprenticeship and learn to do hair under her and some other OC stylists.
I did that for a year and then moved to San Diego to start my own clientele and never looked back.

I now mentor other stylists through the same apprenticeship program and just finished a two year stint with Kimmy Fenton, one of the girls thriving now on her own within the Blonden team!

Website: https://blondensalon.biz

Instagram: blonden_salon

Other: https://www.elliemd.com/ashleyann