Urban Betty Salon, an award-winning salon with two locations in Austin, Texas, has created a clean and sustainable line of haircare products which includes an unscented option ideal for scent sensitivities.
Urban Betty’s new line is a result of founder Chelle Neff’s personal struggle with migraines, which began when she was just seventeen. After learning that scents trigger a hormone response that can result in migraines, she was surprised to find that almost everything we keep in our homes has some sort of scent: essential oils, laundry detergent, candles, flowers and, of course, hair products. As a leader in the salon industry for more than 20 years, she had trouble sourcing unscented haircare products that met her high standards of quality, and quickly realized she would need to create a clean, sustainable and unscented product for herself and her clients.
FWM: You are a leader, innovator, and advocate in the U.S. salon industry. Share your background.
I began my journey as an entrepreneur by first being an employee in the salon industry. I knew from a young age that I wanted to do hair. At the age of sixteen, I enrolled in Cosmetology school at my high school. During my junior and senior years of high school (1993-1995), I attended half days of regular classes and half days of Cosmetology school.
When I received my license in 1995, I started working behind the chair at Supercuts. I slowly worked my way up the ladder to higher-end salons. I got a small suite at the Gallery of Salons and was an independent contractor five years later. That was my initial stepping stone to running my own business.
I was all by myself for the first week when I opened Urban Betty Salon and had only one hairstylist/contractor for the first three months. I didn’t hire my first employee until six months after opening. At that point, everything that I did behind the chair paid for the entire salon and my household. It was a very stressful situation. I figured out after having one employee that it was much more profitable to have employees rather than booth rental/contracted hairstylists. After about six years, I slowly phased out all of my hairstylists that were contractors and transitioned to a 100% commission-based salon.
FWM: Tell us about your award-winning salons.
Our guests will notice that we consistently follow up with them about their experience in the salon. We care about what happens before, during, and after visiting Urban Betty. After their appointment, we send out an email that provides the guest the opportunity to rate their experience, leave a Google review, and provide personal feedback regarding their consultation and service experience.
Our management team continuously monitors Yelp & Google reviews. We always write back to anyone within 24 hours, who has left a review of our salon. We love to thank them for their feedback and offer a solution if it’s a negative experience. We also thank them for their positive review. This practice has often helped save a guest from leaving us, and we gain respect and loyalty in that process. This tactic also produces new business for the salon, as it shows people that we are paying attention and will always rectify or resolve conflict.
I recently had a guest tell me that the one reason they picked our salon was not because of all the GOOD reviews but how we had responded to the negative ones. Because we care and come across as professional, she felt safe coming to our business.
FWM: What makes you love Austin so much?
I moved to Austin from the smaller city of Abilene in 1995. I am forever grateful that I made that brave leap at the early age of 18. I love Austin because every kind of person with every type of background lives here. People always complain about all the people moving here, and I never will! When you own a small service-based business, the more people, the better! I feel fortunate to be in the hair industry, where I used to see 8-10 guests per day. I talked with every type of person and made an effort to get to know others and learn about their lives.
I feel everyone drawn to Austin loves it for the food, the outdoor experiences, and how most people aren’t from here. I’ve lived in smaller towns where everyone grew up there, and while that is okay for some, I felt a desire to get out and know more about the rest of the world. You still get the Texas “niceness” with the significant city edge. That’s why I love Austin.
FWM: You launched your new line Urban Betty with your personal struggle with migraines. Share your experience.
After seven years of trying to get pregnant and struggling with migraines since I was seventeen, I hired a nutrition coach to focus on what I needed to change in my diet. She recommended that I cut out everything scented. Essential oils, laundry detergent, candles, (and sadly) flowers- all trigger a hormonal response that can cause migraines and infertility. You don’t realize how many scented products are in your home until you go through and start to eliminate them. Products as simple as hand soap and flushable wipes all have scents! During this process, I started ordering and trying every unscented shampoo and conditioner on the market, and I could only find ONE that I liked. We didn’t carry anything like that inside our salon company, so I made the bold decision to create my own. I was already in the process of creating a clean beauty line, so I thought, why not make an unscented version? If making the switch to clean beauty makes a positive difference in your health, it’s 100% worth it!
FWM: What products can we find in Urban Betty?
We have four products, one eyeshadow palette, and two candles. Our four products are a Lavender Blossom shampoo and conditioner and an Unscented shampoo and conditioner. Free of sulfates, silicones, phthalates, parabens, dyes, pore-clogging oils, formaldehyde/ formaldehyde releasers, or formaldehyde releasers.
We also launched a collaboration with a local candle maker and created scents to compliment the shampoo and conditioner. One is a lavender scent, and one is a sea salt fragrance.
FWM: Can you share a few personal favorites?
My personal favorite is the Unscented shampoo and conditioner. I shampoo my hair a couple of times a week, and this is all that I need to use!
FWM: As an entrepreneur, what challenges have you faced?
My biggest challenge was overcoming the pandemic. In 2020, the pandemic affected the salon industry significantly. Urban Betty had to close for two months, while many salons had to close permanently.
We learned and thrived by cutting our budget and upping our productivity by creating split shifts and opening up seven days a week, 13 hours a day. In 2021 we continued to break records and have come back better than ever. I gained strength because this adversity gave me the sight of running a more efficient salon company. I had to quickly adjust and find our fixed costs and (luckily) barely had enough money in savings to keep everything going. I now know what it costs to keep my salon running, and I believe that we can survive anything.
FWM: What is the key to success for running a successful salon and branching out into hair care products?
The biggest secret to my success is getting out from behind the chair. I did hair for 21 years and retired in 2017. I was doing hair and running my salon for the first 12 years of its existence. Owners should work on the business, not IN the business. Once I stopped doing hair, I focused on our hiring, marketing, and culture. It made a significant difference. That also gave me the time and energy to start focusing on the company’s growth and pivot into having a product line.
In 2017 I met someone that developed products at the Inc 5000 conference, and that set me on the path to start researching and creating the Urban Betty line. It took almost four years before it finally became a physical product and was well worth the wait. I learned so many things during the process I could write a book. My biggest takeaway was to trust my gut and not settle for something lesser because it might come quicker.
I also wanted to create a product line that gives back. Philanthropy is essential to me. I started the Urban Betty products to support and empower womankind. We are donating 1% of our profit from our hair care line to support female entrepreneurs. We chose Big Austin because they are a leader in powering self-sustainable small business development by providing financing to women entrepreneurs in Texas. They were the non-profit that gave me my first loan to start my salon company.
FWM: Tell us about the Austin Weird Homes Tour.
In 2013 my husband and I were walking around our Crestview neighborhood when we saw a home that looked a lot like the Alamo (hoarders edition). As home-tour addicts, the house prompted us to look for a tour of weird homes in Austin. When we found absolutely nothing, we couldn’t believe it! Then the next week, David suggested we do it ourselves. Yikes! So in 2014, we bought a house, got married, and produced the first Weird Homes Tour. After eight years, we hosted tours annually in 6 cities, had a home featured in a Netflix show, and even wrote a book together, Weird Homes: The People and Places That Keep Austin Strangely Wonderful. Since 2021, as a result of the pandemic we have temporarily paused the Weird Homes Tour.
FWM: You are a regular guest on nationally syndicated Beauty Podcasts. What are the trends today? Where can we hear from you in 2022?
The trends today seem to be leaning more towards sustainability and cleaner products. People care more and more every year about what they put on their bodies, in their bodies, and the impact it can have on our planet. Most folks no longer grab a bottle; they look at the back and see what’s in it and if it’s recyclable. And this is a trend that will never go out of style!
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