Our Story
Let me start by introducing myself! My name is Megan King and I am the CEO and founder of Salon Two Zero Nine, inc! Lets start from the beginning... I always knew I wanted to do hair and own my own salon.... wait, that's not entirely true. I was actually CONVINCED to go to beauty school by my mom. It wasn't my first choice. I thought I wanted to be in fashion merchandising (LOL). With my own concerns, and the plan to go to a "real college" after beauty school, I decided to enroll in Adrians Beauty College. I soon discovered that I LOVED doing hair.
After beauty school I had a spot saved for me at my mentor/friends salon. I worked in her salon for about a year but I had ZERO drive at that time to TRY to build my clientele. I didn't want to sit around and wait for clients and I didn't want to take clients at "inconvenient" times for my social life. So my mom and stepdad sat me down one day and told me that I needed something different. They suggested Fantastic Sams... which is a chain salon. At first I was very against it but being that I was broke, wanted to move out on my own and needed a job, I took their advice. That was probably the best decision I ever made in my career.
Since I was an employee, I was forced to sit around at work doing mens cuts all day, OR bring in color clients and services I actually enjoyed doing. I chose to bust my butt and build my color clientele. I remember my first ombre... everyone in the salon was too afraid to do it because ombre was BRAND NEW. I confidently said I would do the color.... draped my client.... THEN proceeded to go to the break room to watch a video on how to do an ombre. It turned out decent, in case you wanted to know.Â
After being at FS for a few years, I decided to go out on my own. I was scared as heckkk but I knew I had a pretty decent following at that point and that my clients would be able to find me. I looked into renting at a few different salons. I had a meeting scheduled with the owner at one particular salon, it was very cute and downtown. But when I walked into the salon, NOT ONE stylists smiled or greeted me. They all looked and stared at me like I was out of place. I immediately knew that was not the environment I wanted to be in,  walked my way out the door, and texted the owner that it wasn't going to work out. After searching for a while, I found a small salon that seemed like a good start. All the girls were nice but I was the youngest one in the salon so my way of doing things was deffinatly judged a little. I didn't feel particularly comfortable at work ever. I felt like I was a little bit out of place. I wanted to do things differently and I was craving a sense of community in my work place.Â
Randomly, the owner of that salon, called me and asked if i wanted to work out a deal to purchase the salon from her. My initial response was HECK YES, because I had so many ideas on how I wanted to change everything, but then I remembered that that costs money... duh. I told my parents about the deal... and they agreed to help me with the initial payment, with the agreement that I would pay them back within that year... basically like a loan with no interest. I agreed and went forward with the purchase!Â
 Within the first month of owning the salon, everyone left. I broke out in hives because I was so stressed. I just made a large purchase, and immediately had to rebuild. This turned out to be another blessing in disguise. If they hadn't left, I would've never been able to build the culture and make the changes necessary. This is something I reflect on still to this day and remind myself that it will all be ok, always. I was also threatened legal action from another salon over the name I had originally chosen. It was my instagram name from the start of my page and I thought nothing of it at first, but this drama was, yet again, another blessing in disguise. Salon Two Zero Nine, wouldn't be Salon Two Zero Nine if this never happened. I was at a Behind The Chair event in Chicago when I decided on our new name after talking to other stylists at the event. It was simple, it was a name one would remember, and it wasn't trendy....SOLD.Â
Within a couple months, I built an amazing little team. Within a couple more months, we filled up that tiny salon so much that it was busting at the seams! We made that tiny 900sq foot salon work for a few years until I started looking for a building to expand. Finally we found one and started the process of making it our dream salon. The process was long and stressful but also very fulfilling. It took 7 months to open our new location.Â
Now we are a team of over 20 stylists/assistants, an esthetician, and two spray tan artists. We have the best hair products available to our clients and a small boutique area. The salon is everything I have ever dreamt of and the culture is unmatched!
It is hard, it is a lot, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I have learned A LOT over the years. I have shed thousands of tears and I have made mistakes.
But at the end of the day, I love this salon with everything in me. Its my first baby and our team is the best out there. We value friendship and family in this salon. We have each others backs at the end of the day, no matter what. We never stop learning. We give back to the community. We are Salon Two Zero Nine and I am soooo proud to be apart of this team.Â
Thank you so much for supporting us, we truly appreciate you.Â
xoxo.
