Meet Leslie “LJ” Sharman, Alex ” Benny” Bennetts | Hairstylists

We had the good fortune of connecting with Leslie “LJ” Sharman, Alex ” Benny” Bennetts and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leslie “LJ” Sharman, Alex ” Benny” Bennetts, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
In order to achieve something great your life can’t be balanced all the time. It takes sacrifice to achieve greatness. The balance comes in seasons. We are still a young company with a small team so we need to stay motivated. We like to think about accomplished athletes who achieve greatness. They are obsessed with the work, not just getting to the final destination. We like to put ourselves in that mindset. We had to change how we perceive balance. It’s a long game and right now it’s time to work. We do still find time to take vacations and hang out with friends but those are not our top priorities.

What should our readers know about your business?
The thing that really sets us apart is our clients. We supply what our clients demand which is high end beautiful hair and a luxurious experience. We love beautiful hair ourselves and have worked very hard to perfect our craft. We want to solve our clients problems and find solutions to give them the hair they wish they had naturally. Getting to where we are wasn’t necessarily easy, it took time to get here. We focused on getting better at one thing at a time and not getting overwhelmed with the larger picture. It can be intimidating and is probably why a lot of people will feel overwhelmed into putting in the effort. We had to just focus on one step at a time and not the whole marathon. By no means are we were we want to be. We are still running this damn thing but focusing on the small goals to get there. Focusing on education and taking the time to be a student plays a big part in that. We believe we are where we are because we give our clients a great experience and they love how they feel when they leave. Something we have learned along the way is that things are always changing so stay present and embrace whats current. What we would want people to know about us is that we are positive caring people much like the people we surround ourselves with. It’s funny because this can seem like a vain or judgmental industry but the thing we love more than anything is to make others feel better about themselves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We really love the area we are local to which is coastal N. San Diego County. This is really where we spend most of our time. It has a small beach town feel to it. We love the little boutiques and gorgeous cliffy beaches of La Jolla. The Torrey Pines hiking trail. We love to head down to Little Italy for food and drinks. Hanging out at the beach campgrounds in Cardiff. A little thing called Church of Music that pops up on Sundays. Most of the time we are at a local beach in Solana Beach, Cardiff, or Encinitas. We love where we live and feel like most people in this area are very approachable and engaging.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We could not have put this all together without our behind the scenes man and LJ’s husband Marc Sharman who basically put a stop to his freelance career as a graphic designer, photographer, videographer so he could put all that energy into our business. On top of that he had to learn how to be a business man coming from a purely creative background.

Our assistant Amanda Buffington who decided to leave the commission salon and take a chance with us. We work the poor girl to death as an assistant and on top of that she takes her own clients as well.

Headlines the Salon where we all got our start. It was an amazing place to learn both the craft and the business behind it. We also made amazing connections with big name hairstylists and brands.

Website: https://set25salon.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/set25salon https://www.instagram.com/lightenedbylj https://www.instagram.com/blondedbybenny