January 20, 2017

Meet Allison McTigue of Allison McTigue Salon in Buckhead

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison McTigue.

A master stylist, Allison McTigue has over 16 years of experience. She was trained in the French technique of cutting and coloring under one of the country’s most renowned stylists and educators. She began her career at Jamison Shaw Hairdressers and worked in a few other salons in Atlanta before opening her own salon in 2012. Allison is a well-known expert in color correction and restoring hair back to health. She has a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee, with a 5-star reputation. She continues to stay up to date on new trends but Allison says one thing remains constant in her mind throughout all of her years as a master hairdresser: Beautiful never goes out of style.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would definitely say that it hasn’t always been a smooth road. This is a very competitive industry to be a part of. Being artists, hairdressers are very creative and passionate people. I think it’s really difficult for a lot of us to figure out how to separate our personal lives from our professions. We have to learn that no matter what we’re going through in our personal lives, we have to always maintain a positive attitude and remain positive and happy while at work, or we lose our ability to maintain clientele. I think you can be the most talented hairdresser in the world, but if you don’t have that positivity around your clients, it’s not possible to be successful in this industry. I had to learn that while I was going through a divorce.

Deciding to go out on my own and leave a commission salon was a very scary thing for me. When I made that decision about nine years ago, it was pretty much unheard of. Commission stylists don’t typically go independent. I did it because the owner of the salon that I was a part of at the time sold their business and was about to close down, which forced me out on my own. Making that transition from being a commission based stylist in a big salon to going out and eventually owning my own business was not something I initially intended on doing. I never planned on being a business owner, but through the loss of a good friend I was working with, I was kind of pushed into it. It’s not something I would have chosen for myself.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Allison McTigue Salon – what should we know?
I think we’re almost like a triage for hair. People come to us with extremely damaged, over processed hair and we are able to restore that hair back to life. We get down and dirty, and we get results fast. The health of the hair is fixed through our extensive knowledge of hair restoration and distinct product usage. We give our clients prescriptions, certain products for a certain amount of time. We are like a whole healthy environment for your hair and your scalp. Without a healthy scalp, you can’t grow healthy hair!

We’re a very private salon. No one can just walk in. We are by appointment only, and we keep the door to our salon locked. We’re a completely custom salon. We are very accommodating to the individual clients’ needs. We will bend over backward for our clients. We don’t just see people as a number at our salon. We use multiple color lines, and we are able to go out and use whatever we need because we are custom and have no rules or guidelines preventing us from learning about other color lines and product lines.

I’m most proud of the relationships I have with my clients. A lot of my clients today have been coming to see me since I was an assistant 16 years ago. We’re all a family, and we’re going through life together. The most rewarding experience for me is when a client walks into the salon feeling stressed out, then leaves checking themselves out in the mirror and skipping to their car.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think the most important quality or characteristic that has contributed to my success is that I really do love my clients. I build and nurture my relationships with each and every one of my clients. They have become part of my family. I don’t have a single client that I don’t enjoy seeing on a regular basis. Building those life-long relationships and having the privilege of going through life with people I love has been one of the most rewarding experiences throughout my career.

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