Meet Marlo Surovsky | Enlightened Hire Referral Partner and Independent Hair Stylist

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

Hi Marlo, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
The one thing outsiders are mostly unaware of is the struggle to retain employees and booth renters and keeping chairs and stations full. The salon, barber and beauty industry was hit so hard during Covid shutdowns and most owners are still recovering. While the industry is constantly changing and getting more sophisticated using online booking options, multi-link bios and social media platforms for digital portfolios and marketing purposes the one story we continue to hear from owners is their struggles with finding pro’s that fit into their salon culture they have worked so hard at curating. We’ve heard it all from the stylist who showed up for their interview wearing pajamas to the stylist who misrepresented themself during an interview only to turn out to be not who they appeared to be. Helping owners find pro’s that fit into their salons personality and work ethic and helping pro’s find employment that is exactly their dream job is where Enlightened Hire comes into play. Our program is industry specific and this is something the salon industry has never experienced before. We are here to help make the hiring process and job search experience more sophisticated and less time consuming with solid results.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve always loved the beauty industry and I’ve gotten accustomed to making my own hours and having the flexibility of working on my schedule and no one else’s. I took a break and stayed home and raised my three children. It wasn’t really a break. Stay at home parents do not get enough credit. It is the hardest job in the world.
I maintained a small clientele over the course of those years.
In 2017 I began educating for Deva Curl. I discovered my love of working with curly hair (having curly hair myself might have had something to do with it) and connecting with other people and their hair stories. I decided to further my training in dry curl cutting and opened my business in January 2020 specializing in curly hair. Well you can see where this story is headed. When the pandemic hit and my college age children returned home, my high schooler was attending classes in his bedroom on Zoom and my husband was working from home I knew where I was needed. Plus building a clientele from the ground up during all the salon shutdowns did not sound like the smartest idea. I was also terrified of the unknowns with Covid. So for a solid year I resumed my title of stay at home parent.
I went on quite a journey and did much soul searching trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life as the world began to open up again. Not certain I wanted to return to the salon I began to look at other opportunities.
That is when I found Susan’s ad on LinkedIn and it definitely peaked my curiosity. I was very interested in working from home and making my own hours.
As I immersed myself back into the salon world I also realized I missed working with people and their hair. So I have also returned back to the salon part-time still specializing in curly hair. I feel I have great balance doing what I love in so many aspects. It was not an easy time getting here. I had become quite a homebody during the pandemic and home felt the safest. Covid isn’t going anywhere and it took me a while to realize that doesn’t have to stop me from doing what I love.

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?
First off I would tell my friend to pack their walking shoes. I love to walk and explore.

On day one we’d start off going to the Mission Bay Beach Club and get some coffee and a small breakfast at Superbloom. I love the setting there. We’d take a walk around the bay and then rent some paddle boards or kayaks at Mission Bay Aquatic Center and enjoy some time out on the water. Of course we would be hungry after and since I’m a huge City Taco fan we would head to Pacific Beach to grab some tacos for lunch. We would then drive north to Bird Rock and grab some wine at LJ Crafted Wines.

Since we are too tired to explore La Jolla from kayaking and wine we would return to La Jolla on day two and go to the village, visit the sea lions and grab brunch at Sugar and Scribe. We would explore the shopping in La Jolla and make our way to the shores after. An early dinner at Piatti’s would be a great way to end the day.
On day three we would take a drive out to Fallbrook where there is a little winery I love called Estate Diacobelli. There is a sweet Italian man named Michael who runs the tasting room and he is so kind and accommodating. The winery has a beautiful sitting area. It’s shaded and quiet and very picturesque. On the way home we would head west to Carlsbad and have dinner at Campfire. The craft cocktails, wine list, menu and service never disappoint and of course you have to have the s’mores for dessert.

You can’t visit San Diego and not see Coronado. Day four we would drive downtown and pick up the ferry to Coronado. I hope you wore your walking shoes! We would explore Coronado and make our way to the hotel, perhaps hop on the bus if you’re too tired. We would grab lunch at Garage Buona Forchetta. Perhaps we’ll rent bikes. We’ll let the day take us where it wants. Once we make our way back downtown by the ferry we would head uptown to Hillcrest and visit the Spruce Street Bridge. It’s been one of my favorite spots for as long as I can remember. We would then walk around Hillcrest and make our way to Balboa Park. We see a show we’re interested in at The Old Globe but it’s sold out. They have tickets for tomorrow so that’s the plan for day five!

Day five. We’re sleeping in, I’m exhausted and my dogs miss me. We’ll have an early dinner in Little Italy at Isola and then make our way to the theater. I hope you had an amazing time and come back soon.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I can’t even continue without giving a huge shoutout to the Founder and CEO of Enlightened Hire, Susan Wos. Susan is a single mother, hair stylist and salon consultant who literally doesn’t let anything stand in her way. As Susan networked in her community consulting with salon owners she heard the same sob stories, how hard it was to hire and retain pros. Susan didn’t even know what a hashtag was three years ago and had no idea how to post on Instagram but she had this idea she wanted to see become a reality. This is how Enlightened Hire was born. Not knowing anything about building a program Susan got to work in finding the right people who could help her. She is self taught and incredibly resilient and determined to make Enlightened Hire a recognized name nationally and internationally in the salon, spa and barber industry. I am grateful to have connected with Susan and been given this opportunity to represent her company along with my two other California Referral Partners Holly Schaefer and Tracey Lubben.

Website: enlightenedhire.com curlconcepts.net

Instagram: @salon2stylistliaison