Chumba Concept Salon Showcases Its Evolution

Chumba Concept Salon is in the middle of a renaissance, bringing in a new health and wellness focus and partnering with natural Aussie brand O&M is their creative, eco-friendly endeavours. After fifteen years in business, it’s full steam ahead for the salon that has always proved more a creative community as they fulfil their business goals.

The partnership of Chumba Concept Salon and O&M is an ideal fit, with both brands ever-growing and committed to beauty, luxury and the environment, something Chumba is increasingly championing. With these prioritised values, they’ve brought on O&M as their major supplier of colour, a significant undertaking for a salon so focused on colour services.

“This move coincides with our plans to evolve and refresh the Chumba brand offering as a whole,” said salon director Carl Keeley. “We’ve had the salon now for fifteen years and for a while now we’ve been chewing over just where our salon brand is heading next and what is our brand ‘why’.

“Chumba has for us always been about fostering a creative culture that nurtures the individual talents that we house,” he continued. “Times have changed a little now and, with a new younger team in the Windsor salon, this seems like the right time to update our branding to become more health and wellness focused, that’s who we really are to be honest.”

With a never-ending commitment to luxury, high quality hair, which Carl refers to as the salon’s “heart beat”, and their passion for environmentally friendly haircare, the salon aesthetic will be evolving to a fresher look, a “new naturalness”, which will reveal the salon’s natural leanings as a whole. A fresh palette and the new partnership with O&M prove vital in this progression. It’s the next natural step for a brand that never stops challenging itself and growing.

“Fast forward fifteen years since our inception and our work and personal lives have changed immeasurably,” Carl said. “These days we juggle the running of two successful and very busy salons along with Belinda Keeley’s Colour Education, the Colour Queens shows, our Keeley’s Business Education, Business Coaching to a select few, our Hair Awards photographic clients and of course, most importantly, our family.”

Moving on from simper times as a new salon, the team have had to grow their skill sets and wear a myriad of different hats, performing multiple jobs at once and stepping away from the floor to a degree so it all runs smoothly. This has built up their talents in business and education, so that the team can now offer guidance other salons looking at branching out.

“Once they stick their necks out and invest in a salon their lack of business skill can be evident,” Carl said. “My advice to new salon owners is to invest early in your business education. I don’t mean the fun stuff like marketing, I mean the numbers of your business. Come along to our courses where we teach you this and actually learn about the business side of hairdressing. We always say, ‘take yourself seriously and commit to learning the things that you need to know.’”

This bold new phase for the salon is of course bolstered by the 21^st Century’s marquee tool – social media, which the brand uses to communicate their inimitable salon culture and is looking to build on as part of this new stage. O&M’s strength in the social media sphere is another major drawcard and it’s something the two brands will work on closely together to ensure Chumba uses it to maximum effect.

With these business insights, social media goals, eco-friendly mantras and a partnership with a like-minded brand, you can guess the trajectory for a savvy, motivated business like Chumba. Hair awards entries, updated business education with an extended online offering, a pivot in brand aesthetic and more is on the horizon for the brand. Meanwhile Belinda and Carl manage sporting achievements and commitments – Carl is an acclaimed cross fit competitor and state coach and Belinda will compete for Australia in the World Championships for Underwater Hockey in July – and their three young children in a frenetic and fulfilling lifestyle that looks like it has no chance of slowing down.

It’s onwards and upwards in the enthralling new era for Chumba.

For more information visit www.chumba.com.au and www.originalmineral.com.au

Catch up with INSTYLE and Styleicons!