Let’s talk about hair! Interview with Silje from Floke hair salon in Molde

Let’s talk about hair.

I’m not a hair person, you might say.

Styling my hair has to be easy and quick and shouldn’t take much time. There’re other things I want to do 🙂 .

Therefore my hair cut has to be convenient in two ways. First, I don’t need to do anything with it in the morning and often leave the house without even combing it. Second, I always choose a cut, that can outgrow and still looks okay, so I can just make a ponytail. For that reason I only go about once a year to the hairdresser.

Further I’ve been going to the same hairdresser for more than 10 years in my hometown in Germany. A long way to go to a hairdresser.

Now it was time for change!

I tried the new green hairdresser in Molde, Floke hair salon.

It was a great experience. I really like my new hair cut 🙂 and I met Silje who is running the green hairdresser “Floke” here in Molde and we started talking.

Curious about why she started a green hair salon in Molde and what she believes are the benefits of it, I started asking. She had to endure lots of questions from my side and patiently gave me answers.

Now I want to share her story with you.

Silje Strande Kaldsvansvik worked for 13 years for a “normal” hair salon when she received a phone call last June that would change her life.

The founder of the Floke green hair salon chain called her up with a tempting proposal to start her own franchise hair salon here in Molde.

The Floke hair salon chain started in 2008 in Voss and has now 11 locations in Norway. The philosophy of Floke is, more health for the customer, hairdresser and being environmental friendly. It’s the first one of it’s kind in Norway. The Floke hair salon chain was certified by Green Salon in June 2017. It is the most serious and acknowledged allergy and environmental friendly hair salon chain in Scandinavia.

The idea to start her own salon was exciting and scary at the same time.

She had a safe and secure job would she be willing to give it up?

At the same time it felt like an opportunity she couldn’t miss out on. The moment she said yes, in August 2017 everything moved forward  so fast,  and she opened her hair salon on the 16^th of November last year.

She couldn’t have done it without the help and support of her husband.

Silje believes it’s a crucial factor to start on your own and venture into unknown terrain to have the support and help from family and friends.

The green hair salon being something new in Molde, attracted curious customer and Silje had a great start into her business before Christmas 2017.

After Christmas things slowed down a bit until Easter and since then there is a consistent flow of customers.

Customers enjoy the calm and soothing atmosphere of the salon and are happy to get treated with environmental friendly products and a hairdresser who listen and cares. The customer base is growing faster than expected and Silje is more than satisfied with how things are going.

Customers are coming back!

One of the first things I noticed entering the salon is, that there is no strong hair salon smell. All products are environmental friendly and gentle to skin and hair.

Silje believes the green hair salon is the future for hair salons, both for the health of the hairdresser and the customers.

Did Silje see any changes in her health since she started the green hair salon?

Yes, not at first tough,  since she was one of the lucky ones who didn’t have any health issues, which are common with hairdressers. That said she had often migraines. She never linked these migraines to her occupation, but once she started her business they started to disappear and now they are gone. Only after they disappeared did she saw the link between the products she used and her migraines.

Further she feels overall better and her sense of smell is starting to come back.What for a pleasure for Silje to smell flowers and the rain again. Her hair feels cleaner, healthier and softer.

But not only she feels overall better, also her customer talk about:

• Softer and stronger hair
• that the milder products smell better and are soothing
• Less hair and skin damage during the process of coloring
• Customers with allergies have now finally a chance to try out haircolors

But what does her family think and say about her business?

Her family was first skeptic when she came home with the idea of starting her own business. After a talk with the Floke founder who really took the time to meet Silje and her family, her husband went on board and supported Silje in her journey.

Further Silje is feeling like she has more time with her family now than before.

Although looking at her schedule she is working more than ever. But running your business brings flexibility. She decides when she is working, to be there for her family when needed. While she is flexible to meet customers’ demands, customers also understand how important it is to have time with your family. There is a trust and understanding between SIlje and her customers that didn’t exist before.

Since the business did grow faster than expected, an apprentice started working with her this year. Silje feels great about shaping the next generation of hairdressers. She is really proud of her achievements and her family support along the way.

What do her children think?

Her children are very curious in her business. Particular her 7 year old son is asking many questions, like how much money she made that day, and how her apprentice is doing. He is very proud that his mom is a real chef now 🙂 .  Silje thinks it’s a great learning opportunity for her kids to see her start her own business. They see and learn how to stand on your own feet, learn independence and making the right choices for yourself. While her 7 year old son is really proud of his mom, her 5 year old daughter had a bit of an adjustment phase in the beginning. Now she is warming up.

She believes it’s important that more hair salons go “green” and is happy she made that change.

But not only her business is growing, also Silje is growing with her business.

First she was scared working on her own and alone. She was used to be surrounded by colleagues. Now she enjoys the quiet times. More so she is gaining more confidence to trust her own decisions and instincts and learns more about the business side of her hair salon.

Silje is very grateful for the opportunity she got with the Floke hair salon chain and looks forward to a greener and environmental friendly future.

Have you tried the Floke hair salon? If yes, what was your experience? If you haven’t tried I can recommend finding out the experience of a Floke hair salon treatment.

Thank you Silje for your time and bringing a “green” hairdresser to Molde!

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