Over the last few years, salon owner, Jack Mead has built a brand legacy that echoes his expertise, artistry & passion for hairdressing. Jack’s story is one of creativity, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of excellence through entrepreneurship. We caught up with Jack on how he carved his career path, established his distinctive brand, Jack & the Wolfe, and leveraged social media to make his mark on the UK hair industry.
From Humble Beginnings…
I spent my early teens in Cyprus with my mum and my stepdad, which was quite unique for a kid that was born & raised in the UK. When I was just 14 years old, I left school and started working at a Turkish hair salon in my local neighbourhood because I needed a job. At the time, I was still young and didn’t know what industry I wanted to work in, but became really fascinated with hairdressing as I spent more time working in the salon. Looking back, I remember that I really enjoyed experiencing the creative atmosphere and vibe in the salon, as well as meeting new people. We moved back to England when I had just turned 16 and, at this point, I knew that hairdressing was a career that I wanted to pursue. Throughout my early career, the teams that I worked with really made me feel valued, needed and seen, which was a big deal to me. Since then, hairdressing has given me a strong sense of purpose in life which I am super grateful for, and I haven’t looked back.
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Becoming a Salon Owner and Opening Jack & the Wolfe
Although there are many ways that you can be successful in the hairdressing industry, the idea of becoming a salon owner and having my own creative space was a big dream of mine from day one. I set myself a goal of turning this dream into a reality by the time I turned 26, which would have meant that I had ten years of experience under my belt at this point. Some may say I manifested the birth of Jack & the Wolfe because, by the time my 26th birthday came around, I was officially a salon owner. The first step to opening Jack & the Wolfe was writing up my business plan. Next, I had to find the perfect location and space for the salon. My wife, Lydia Wolfe, who is also my business partner, scoured the whole of the South Coast of England to find the right salon space. At the time, we were more concerned about finding the right space rather than where the location was going to be. It just had to feel like the right fit for us, and of course be within our budget of 10k. We eventually stumbled across this incredible three-story building that was about 350 years old in a stunning seaside town called Lymington, but it needed a lot of work. We took a chance and then Lydia and I renovated the entire space on our own. We sourced antique furniture from across the South Coast and even made our own workstations from tables that we chopped up, which ended up looking luxurious and expensive. Plus, the best part about opening a salon in Lymington is that there was a massive gap in the market for trendy, creative colour and cuts that many people were travelling up to London for. So, we were able to take full advantage of this opportunity.
Creative Muses & Staying Inspired
When it comes to being creative, I am inspired by many different things. Like most hairdressers, I use social media as a resource for inspiration and follow a wide range of people from my peers to photographers and other creatives. Nick Knight is a fashion photographer of whom I am a huge fan. I love how he uses storytelling to bring his creative work to life. I am, of course, also inspired by the latest trends in fashion, as well as nature and art, but most importantly I am inspired by the creativity of my colleagues. As a hairdresser, it is super important for me to continuously challenge and educate myself so I can keep progressing, which is why I am keen on doing things that are outside of my comfort zone. For example, I really want to do more work at London Fashion Week or create red carpet looks for film festivals, and I also just signed up to a photography course to be inspired—quite literally—through a different lens. I would always encourage other creatives to try new things and expand their horizons, as it will only help you grow.
Education and Nurturing the Next Generation
In my opinion, education as a hairdresser isn’t something that ever ends. There is always something new to learn, whether it’s a new technique, trend or simply improving your personal style. While traditional hairdressing courses are a great starting point, it is important that seasoned stylists pay it forward by training and sharing expert tips with the next generation of talent. Unfortunately, we live in a time now where many newly qualified hairdressers are going down the self-employed route because they struggle to find work in a salon. It’s quite competitive and doesn’t always pay well enough. That’s why I am dedicated to taking apprentices on at Jack & the Wolfe and paying my team fairly. In the long run, I believe that training the next generation of talent will only help raise the profile of our industry as a whole and help showcase just how credible hairdressing is as a career path, while amplifying our contribution to society. It makes me proud to help educate the next generation of hairdressers in my salon so that they can build the tools required, self-belief and confidence to progress in the industry—whether they choose to stay with us or move on to another opportunity. Education is the most incredible gift you can give someone, and giving back also makes me feel like I’m doing my part for an industry that I love. So, it’s a win-win.
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Building a Brand Legacy
When Lydia and I started working on the concept for Jack & the Wolfe, we knew that we wanted to add our own twist to it and create something cool and a bit different from traditional salons. We wanted to create a salon that was trendy and playful, that didn’t necessarily look like a hair salon. Since Lydia and I co-own the salon, we decided to merge my first name with Lydia’s last name, Wolfe, to create a name that sounded more like a global brand rather than the name of a salon. The cool thing about creating a brand name in this way is that it allows everyone who works with us to feel like a part of our company too, like it is theirs too. And on the client side, we want customers to feel like they are experiencing a brand when they come to our salon, so that no matter who does their hair, they feel like they have had a high-level Jack & the Wolfe service. That’s why training our team to be the best they can possibly be is so important to us as salon owners. We want our brand and level of service to be consistent with every single customer that sits in our chairs. We want the Jack & the Wolfe brand legacy to be as much about the team, our creativity & atmosphere, as it is about us, the founders. Setting up our business like this also allows me to do more creative work outside of the salon at events to build brand awareness and continue to put Jack & the Wolfe on the map.
As far as our visual identity goes, Lydia is very particular about how we package our brand through the smallest of details, such as our brand colours, fonts & imagery. Lydia spends a lot of time working on ensuring that our brand identity is consistent on our website, all digital platforms, and in the salon. I also think that having a strong digital presence is an important part of our brand legacy, as it has really helped us to stand out from the crowd. We grew our social media account during the pandemic and now we have a waitlist of over 500 clients that goes up every single day. Being active on social media has given us a platform to educate and share knowledge with people who may not have access to our salon but can engage with our content to learn lots of useful tips & tricks. We want our brand legacy to ultimately be creating work that people recognise on a global scale. I would love nothing more for Jack & the Wolfe to become a brand that is known for being at the top of its game, recognised by its peers, and to generally be known as a brand that makes people feel good. I want our brand to be aspirational but approachable, and something that is easily accessible to all. It would also be a dream to possibly pass down our business to our daughter, Unity, if she is interested in hairdressing, as it would be a great opportunity for her—and what an amazing legacy that would be for us.
Technology to Automate Jack & the Wolfe
As part of our brand strategy, we have always been open to using technology to streamline our business in order to give us more time to do the creative work that we love. Choosing Vagaro as our salon software has done just that for us. We use Vagaro to bookcustomers in, manage our staff schedule, process payments, send out marketing campaigns, and more. What I love the most about Vagaro is that it is an all-in-one salon software solution that can be easily accessed by myself and the team, on any device, at any time. We also wanted customers who book with us online through the Vagaro Marketplace or Instagram to have a seamless experience that positively reflects on our brand. It is important to choose the right salon software for your business because, a lot of the time, it’s the first interaction a customer has with your brand, so it must look good, be easy to use and be reliable. As a business owner, it’s also important that I can access business reports and analytics all in one place so that I can regularly review what is working well and what needs to be improved. That is essentially what helps us stay ahead of the game as we are constantly changing and adapting based on this data.
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People-driven Leadership & Employee Equality
At Jack & the Wolfe, we view our staff as creative individuals who make up quite the amazing team, if we do say so ourselves. We are very lucky to have such a great team, so we make sure that we always respect each person’s individual goals and what motivates them. Our team give a lot of themselves to our business, so we are always looking for ways to show appreciation and give back to them. We have an equal team culture in our salon to ensure everyone is valued at Jack & the Wolfe— whether you are an apprentice or the highest-earning stylist, we treat everyone the same. I have always had the mindset that instead of being in a big house by myself, I would much rather be in a smaller house, surrounded by people I’ve worked with, celebrating our major milestones as a team. One of the things that I admire the most about our team is that not only are they all so talented, but they are genuinely nice & kind people. They are so supportive and cheer me on when I work on things for the brand outside of the salon. I really don’t believe you can succeed in life without amazing people around you, so Lydia and I are incredibly fortunate.
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Jack’s Top Tips
- Define Your Brand
Really get granular on who you are, your brand values, vision and overall long-term purpose. When you’ve figured this out, write it down in a short brand blurb and always refer to this to speak clearly on your brand and its mission.
- Education
Sign up to courses to help you bring your brand to life. From marketing to business management or even photography, the more skills you can pick up as a creative, the easier it will become to build a strong brand legacy.
- Create Your Visual Identity
Take time to think about your visual identity as a brand and if it matches your overall brand vision. I would also recommend choosing colour, fonts and other branding elements to use consistently in your marketing or in your creative space for a signature look & aesthetic.
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