Kasia is honored to be tracked by SW Journal, as we LOVE the new community we service, and that services us! Thank you! Installment 2 of Kasia Organic Salon Entrepreneurs!

A service above 
the economy

There are two distinct forces at play when it comes to business at Kasia Organic Salon.

There’s the obvious, of course, that Kassie Kuehl’s three-month-old venture is located at 50th & Bryant, the corner still recovering from a fire that just knocked out five popular businesses. Neighbors are reeling, customer traffic is down significantly and Kuehl said Kasia’s bottom line definitely has been affected.

“In a frugal consumer market, we’ve now lost even the frugal foot traffic,” she said.

Yet Kasia also is at the brink of growth. The customer base is large enough now that Kuehl wants to hire additional help, probably one or two more employees within the coming months. Perhaps more importantly, Kuehl said, she’s getting phone calls from people around the country asking for advice on what her business strives to do, keep chemicals out of the salon industry.

“What we’re doing is going to be the market in five years,” Kuehl said.

In her view, that second factor trumps the first, if not every other economic factor. She’s not trying to be defiant; she just offers a service that’s both rare and needed, she said. Kasia isn’t about providing a luxury.

“We have a different kind of clientele,” Kuehl said. “People are coming to us with no option because they’re having allergic reactions to everything.”

Her optimism comes from several sources, in particular the phone calls from around the country. But she also has seen an up-tick in page views of her salon and natural products’ websites.

“I know the interest is out there,” she said. “I wish [the business] could be bigger for people.”

To get there, she’s keeping her focus on the grassroots level. That means getting neighbors involved and expanding beyond simply giving a haircut to educating the public. Kasia already has hosted a pair of workshops — most recently on the importance of hormone health — while another is on the schedule. Kuehl consults directly with her clients on at-home remedies. A special make-up event is planned for the end of this month.

“We’re just going to continue to pull in the community,” she said. “We’re excited. I think it’s going to be a good summer.”

— Cristof Traudes