NILES, Ohio \u2013 Karsyn Berk is preparing to follow in the entrepreneurial footsteps of her father and sisters \u2013 with a bit of her grandmother thrown in for good measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Berk was preparing for a planned ceremonial ribbon cutting Thursday ahead of Saturday\u2019s opening of Hello Blow Blowdry & Beauty Bar, 754 Youngstown-Warren Road. She has worked in the beauty industry for the past six years, after earning her certification in cosmetology from Casal Aveda Institute in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had a passion for the beauty industry,\u201d she remarked. \u201cI just never thought that this could actually be a career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berk is the daughter of Robert Berk, former president and CEO of Berk Enterprises in Warren and founder of Past Times Arcade in Girard. Her sisters include Reilly Berk, who succeeded her father in both roles at Berk Enterprises, and Savannah Berk, operator of Sav\u2019s Macs in Youngstown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so blessed that I grew up with such an entrepreneurial family. Their support, their guidance, their patience has been amazing. Truly, I wouldn\u2019t be able to do this without them,\u201d Berk said. \u201cWith any new business, you either have the support or you don\u2019t, and I feel like having their support has made me work even harder and push myself even more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Berk had attended Youngstown State University for a time, \u201creally unsure of what I wanted to do,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was one semester in and she was just not liking it,\u201d Reilly Berk affirmed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Berk credited her maternal grandmother, Karen Rubin, who had worked as a beautician, with sparking her interest in the field and encouraging her to follow her passion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018You\u2019re so good with people. You love beauty, all things beauty,\u2019\u201d she recalled her grandmother saying. Following her grandmother\u2019s advice, she looked into beauty school and \u201cabsolutely loved it,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reilly Berk also recalled their grandmother encouraging her sister to follow her dreams, as opposed to following the \u201cdefault path\u201d that many people follow of going to college and getting a degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes some guts to be able to realize in that moment, \u2018I don\u2019t know if I love this. I think I\u2019m going to try something else,\u2019\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Berk graduated from Casal Aveda in March 2020 \u2013 just before the shutdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a three-month delay before she could go to Columbus to get her license. During that time she couldn\u2019t work in a salon, so she used the time to practice her skills and take online courses, \u201cdoing anything I could just to keep perfecting my craft,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She worked at Casal\u2019s salon in Howland for about 10 months before moving onto another salon in Boardman and doing bridal makeup on the weekends \u2013 about 20 to 30 annually \u2013 always with the intention of opening her own shop, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew I just wanted a special place that I could welcome people in and make them feel beautiful because I am a people person,\u201d she said. She also loves being pampered herself and wants to pamper others as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hello Blow isn\u2019t a full-service salon and offers what Berk described as \u201cfinishing services\u201d such as blow dry\/blow outs, styling, makeup and spray tanning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like there are full-service salons on every corner, but this specifically is different because we aren\u2019t a full-service salon,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re coming in to get your hair washed and styled, but we aren\u2019t coloring your hair. We aren\u2019t cutting your hair.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since it\u2019s not offering the services of a full-service salon, patrons can book an appointment and be out within an hour, she said. Often when she has called full-service salons to schedule a blowout, getting a booking has been difficult because the schedule is too full.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The salon offers six styling stations, plus a spray tan room and two shampoo rooms, with curtains to provide a \u201cquiet experience,\u201d Berk said. She designed the space with her friend, Kelsey Lammers, a costumer in the Canadian film and television industry who she met online six years ago during the pandemic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a hobby and a passion,\u201d Lammers said. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s been quite fun to be able to lend that to her.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lammers has undergraduate degrees in business and fashion design, as well as a postgraduate degree in public relations. She has shared her knowledge with her friend and used her design skills for Hello Blow\u2019s space.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe designed this space to make you feel like you were stepping into a little bit of luxury. At the same time \u2013 because it\u2019s calm and it\u2019s classic \u2013 it feels very warm and welcoming and not too fussy,\u201d she said. The goal was an aesthetic that would feel \u201ccalm and elevated\u201d for patrons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHer services would be considered little luxuries,\u201d she continued. \u201cThey\u2019re not as expensive as a designer purse, but they\u2019re also not 100% necessary to continue through life. You could do your blowout at home, but to have to spoil yourself in little ways, I think, is like a new way of thinking that has really popped up, I would say, since probably Covid times.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, the curtains on the shampoo lounges help ensure that customers with air coverings feel like they can let their hair down in a safe environment, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have the ability to dim light, reduce noise and help with people who might struggle with overstimulation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Berk praised her family members for their support. Family members don\u2019t have to work in the family business and are encouraged to do what makes them happy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reilly Berk said she advised her sister that operating a business would be a lot of work, but that as long as she is passionate and her heart is in what she is doing \u2013 \u201cwhich it is\u201d \u2013 she was confident she would be successful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe cares a lot about what she does, and she cares about making people feel their best,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not always going to be easy, but it\u2019ll be worth it just to keep moving forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing is just go after what you love, work hard, don\u2019t give up. Like that\u2019s the biggest thing, like don\u2019t give up on your dreams,\u201d Berk said. \u201cNot every day is going to be perfect. You know you have the bumps in the road, but you\u2019re still going to persevere. You\u2019re going to push through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hello Blow will open with four hairstylists, including Berk, plus an aesthetician, a makeup\/spray tan artist and someone who provides spray tan services exclusively. Scheduled hours will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, though Berk acknowledged she already has a booking at 8:20 a.m. that day. It will be open Wednesday through Sunday, with the possibility of adding days in response to demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re opening at the perfect time because homecoming is in October, so we\u2019ll get a big homecoming rush, and then the holiday season,\u201d she said. \u201cWeddings will be huge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She also expressed her enthusiasm for launching her business and the effect the services she offers have on patrons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the most rewarding profession,\u201d she said. \u201cJust to see someone come in and sit in your chair, and maybe [after] they stand a little taller or have a bigger smile on their face, and they just light up,\u201d Berk said.<\/p>\n
Pictured at top: Karsyn Berk, owner of Hello Blow Blowdry & Beauty Bar.<\/p>\n
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