The only female founder of The Soloist Hair Salon, our official hair partner, Eewen Yap injects that feminine aspect to the business of hair, bringing a breath of fresh air and unique perspective to how hair styling should be interpreted. Always eager and ready to try new things, she impresses her customers and is adored by media friends with her creative hair work for photo shoots. Eewen believes, "you are greater than you know yourself to be, so just be great!" that is her motto in life.
We had a chance to speak to her recently and picked her brain on one thing which is close to her heart now, the matters of the hair.
Tell us a little bit about how you got into the hair industry?
Never thought that I would go into hair industry, actually. A small town girl from Seremban, I went with friends, to join a hair salon for 2 months back in hometown, but then went over to Johor after that. Like they say, the rest is history. I have always wanted to learn something more than just washing hair back then when I first joined. At the Johor salon, I was told they would provide training, so it was promising to me to move over. Slowly, I learnt the knowledge of hair cutting and the basics of it. During weekends I would go to the academy to learn more skills and techniques. That was how I gradually picked up the trade.
Honestly, my passion for hair was further cemented this year onwards when I started building the salon business with my other two parters, Nicholas and Marcus. The recent MODA show which I had the chance to participate allowed me to showcase my personal skills in hair design and creativity even further. The idea that caught me, was that we could be as creative as we want to be. It was exciting to be a part of a creative group, everyone came together to achieve something great, collectively. It is that sense of accomplishment that I was really impressed with. Especially when the hair concept and design came from myself, my own inspiration, and to make it work within the young designer's fashion work and creations, to compliment each other, that was such a good feeling I got. It was a very memorable and inspiring experience for me.
What do you like most about hair?
Cut and colouring. I feel these two areas are the ones that most transform a person. I personally feel to get a good hair cut or colour out of a person, we need to firstly understand the person's interest, the preferences and then we can give some suggestions or ideas and make it work for the client, especially to fulfil his or her needs. These days, I am also getting very keen on hair styling itself as I feel there are so much more room to learn and play around with.
What sort of a hairstylist are you?
I think I am a more commercial one, if I were to compare myself with my other two partners. I won't go too artistic or bombastic in terms of creations, but those which are more commonly acceptable by clients.
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| Visual courtesy of The Soloist Hair Salon. From left, Marcus Chin, Nicholas Chua and Eewen Yap. |
What is your most precious learning experience in the hair industry?
The fact that I got to know my two partners, actually. They give me a lot of support, advice and in fact, strength to carry on, at times when I felt like giving up, or lost in my sense of purpose in life. I grew as a person as well as a hairstylist in teaming with partners like Nicholas and Marcus. Nicholas is very passionate about his work and he takes the lead in taking care of us, as team members, almost like a big brother role to me. Marcus is good with his PR skills. We are good as a team, we feel.
Of course, we are still very young, as a salon. We hope to achieve the level that one of the local salons here, one fine day.
In your opinion, what do you think is important for a salon then to be known?
Marketing these days is crucial, that is what we can see from the salon which we aspire to be. So, the three of us each has different roles to play when it comes to running the salon. Nicholas is in-charged of the marketing side, myself focus more on the business end like accountings and Marcus would be handling in-salon matters.
How do you unwind if you are not working?
Singing. I love to go karaoke, or shopping. I used to be an athletic and a sportswoman in school. Nowadays, I go gym or do Muay Thai whenever I have the time.
Speaking to Eewen that afternoon felt like talking to a quiet soul who is always ready to show the world what she could do in life, even though she may seemed soft spoken, yet her passion for her work speaks otherwise. She radiates a sense of curiosity, yet reserved in her own way, but never too shy to reveal a little more if she feels the need to do so. We shall await for our next opportunity to get a hair colour done by this petite beautiful founder of The Soloist Hair Salon and see how she would transform our hair look *_^ Till then, if you are curious, you could always check out our previous FACES chat with the other founding partner, Nicholas Chua here.
This salon looks like a really nice and quaint salon. From you description, Eewen sounds like a very talented person and she's definitely doing a great job by going commercial. It's the best way to get a customer to have confidence in her. Not everyone can accept a runway show type of hair to start with. Great job in interviewing her Jeann =) Now we know another talented lady.
ReplyDeleteShe is talented indeed and I am glad to have had the chance to talk to her. Thanks thanks babe for the encouragement!
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