March 20, 2017

Meet Christian Pillat of Cherry Blow Dry Bar Buckhead in Buckhead

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Pillat.

Christian, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a young entrepreneur who got started in college. My first company was called Vacation Food Source. We shipped food to people’s vacations homes and it was delivered the day they arrived.

From there, I went to work at an internet marketing agency where we built Ad Campaigns for Franchise Brands. I then went on to start Adfinitely which is a marketing software platform for Franchise Brands.

Through Adfinitely, we began working with Cherry Blow Dry Bar and I was able to get a good feel and understanding of the brand. The corporate team was great and I thought the Buckhead area would be a great market for Cherry! We’ve been working on this since January of 2016 and opened in January 2017. We have a fantastic staff and our location is beautiful.

Additional Notes
I’ve been featured on the Eric Holtzclaw “Build a Better Business” radio show and was named one of Atlanta 30 under 30 by the Apex Society.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have been tons of struggles along the way. My first business was a complete failure.

With Cherry, it is the first retail store I’ve been involved in. The construction of a salon was definitely challenging with delays, construction hiccups, and trying to decorate. I’m so thankful for the team we had throughout the process. They’ve taken on every hurdle/challenge and made the best out of it. A friend came in and did all of the decorations for the salon and I was just amazed at how a brand new team could come together and pull off the opening we had so quickly and perfectly!

Other struggles:
– First business was a failure
– Was completely broke and working at On the Border as a server for a while.

Cherry Blow Dry Bar Buckhead – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Cherry Blow Dry Bar specializes in blowouts and styling services. Our team of highly trained, talented stylists work with all types of hair to give you the best blowout & glam services at affordable prices! We provide hair blowouts, hair extensions, make-up services, and treatments.

Our most popular style is Wonderous Waves!

I’m most proud of the team we have. Our Stylists, Front Desk Staff, and Management work so well together and they’ve really taken ownership of the business. Every single person contributes and we work together as a team. It is really refreshing to have such a great group of people.

Our memberships really set us apart. Not too many women would say “I want to get my hair done less often”. Our memberships roll-over and allow customers the flexibility to come in more often at affordable prices!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
My personal definition of success is creating an opportunity for the people who work with me to achieve their goals. I absolutely love helping people out and believe that by creating jobs through entrepreneurship you can positively affect peoples’ lives. Also, creating a better working environment can get people out of bad situations.

Pricing: