MOB Hair Bondi is something of a working contradiction – a warm and homely yet somehow industrial space, a Bondi salon with unlimited parking (the biggest rarity of all) and a salon travelled to by Sydney-siders from all over, and frequented by influencers and celebrities, spearheaded by a down to earth husband and wife duo. It’s a considered enigma that has earned every ounce of its success in 3 years of business, and we set upon finding out just how it’s reached those heights.
The salon is renowned for its colour work, particularly blondes and balayage, but salon owner Tarryn Cherniayeff assures us that their skills and services run the gamut, catering to an affluent Eastern Suburbs clientele. That clientele has proved exceedingly loyal, largely following Tarryn from her previous Bondi location when she opened her own salon, and keeping her bookings fairly stocked. As the salon has become more prolific through social media and a stellar reputation, new clients have started travelling from far and wide, but it’s the consistent, local and long-term clients that make up the bulk of the salon. The salon has three seniors, including Tarryn, and freelance help on a Thursday night. “We have just downsized staff so we keep it tight and keep it quality over quantity,” Tarryn explained.
Still, even with this family style operation, the salon has taken off on the internet and in the real world.
“We started our Instagram two weeks before we started the shop, we really put a lot of time and effort into make sure our Instagram feed is second to none. We had a pre-launch campaign that had a lot of people talking in the area, so we were getting great feedback before we even opened,” explained Tarryn’s life and business partner Dan. “When we opened we did an emergence of who we are, what we’re about and our whole business ethos. Since then, over the last 3 years we have amassed 12,000 real, organic followers, with exciting stats and high demographics in our key ages, with the highest being 25 to 35 and then 18 to 25, and 75 per cent female. We’re really in that nice, young millennial landscape. We engaged with The Audience Agency two and a half years ago, and we’ve had unlimited exposure through their channels as well, so we average probably three influencers posting about our salon a week.”
A huge part of the appeal for celebrities, reality stars and regular clients alike is a trendy, New York-style space that offers unique features and a welcoming yet very chic vibe. A key detail is a projector that plays aesthetically pleasing movies in front of the basin, with no sound clients are treated to the images of aesthetically pleasing classics such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and that sums up MOB to a tee – ultra cool while also a relaxing escape.
“We were over in New York before we opened the salon and we got ideas from there, we wanted the vibe of feeling at home but also have it be semi-industrial, we have the warm lighting so you feel comfortable when you come in here, with the couch in front area, but also it’s open and comfortable at the same time,” Tarryn said. “The artwork also gives that vibe, it’s not very stark and it’s not too industrial where it’s cold.”
One major detail of the space location is that it’s one of the rare Eastern Suburbs areas with free, all day parking, a fact that is indescribably important to all Bondi-dwellers, and something Tarryn knew was essential when starting her own space.
“The location is great – one of the reasons I chose this space because one of the biggest things on my list is that clients shouldn’t have to pay for parking, so it’s super rare around here,” she said. “At the last salon I worked at, clients would be running late or have to leave a colour service in the middle to go top up their parking, you don’t have that here because it’s all day parking, people find that really important. I’ve had people leave salons and come here because the parking got too hard, so that’s huge.”
The salon is stocked with Redken, Oribe and Mr. Smith, each chosen for their quality and how good they look on the retail shelf. Mr. Smith’s Australian origins and organics, PETA-approved angle also proved an important aspect to offer clients. Their new-found partnership with Redken has become especially vial.
“We’ve signed with Redken as a Redken Premium Partner, and we’re the first salon in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs to be given this opportunity,” Dan said. “We came on board with Redken colour about eight months ago and we were so impressed with the products and the company support that we decided to go full Redken and stock their retail as well. As a Premium Partner we now have access to all these brand new concepts, PR campaigns and marketing ideas, even digital apps that are first in Australia. Given our client demographic, we’re sort of being used as a bit of a test for various concepts that Redken are coming up with.”
Tarryn’s 14 year career in hair led from her home on the Central Coast, to London and then to take on and conquer one of Sydney’s most hard-to-please areas. For every carefully considered detail that earns MOB its stripes, so much comes down to Tarryn’s own dreams and passion, which has seen her and MOB steadily and deservedly climb the ladder.
“I started hairdressing when I was 14, my mum was a hairdresser so I always knew I wanted to do hairdressing, the day that I left school I walked out and started hairdressing full time the next day and I have been a hairdresser ever since.”
We love a feel good story and Tarryn’s journey has us hooked – we’ll be keeping an eye out to see just what MOB does next.
For more information visit www.mobhair.com.au
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