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Life & Work with Sarah Trammell

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Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Sarah Rae Trammell. At the age of 15, I became an emancipated minor due to family drug abuse, parental job loss, and a nasty divorce. A lot of people tell me that teens who go through that have two paths they tend to walk down. Fortunately, I had a step Father who worked harder than anyone I had ever met to model my behavior after and that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t know my biological Father in the way most do, but my step Father started raising me from three months old and treated me like a 20-year-old most of the time. “If you ever put me through what your sisters put me through, I’ll put you in the ground myself,” he would always say with a smile and a laugh. He wanted me to know about the dark side of life, but he was always the first person to remind me about the kindness of life. He would take his shirt off for a stranger. He held a sign on Barrett Parkway for money during the 2008 economic recession after losing his job of 34 years to support his family. He pushed on through a brutal divorce, the passing of his Father-in-Law, and children who consistently broke his heart with drug abuse and partying. He never stopped smiling.

Fast forward to 17, and I decided that I wanted to put that love into the world also. After two years of supporting myself with a $500 junker and a night job at a Mom and Pop pizza place, I wanted to take my musical background and love of culture and literature to inspire teens to also keep smiling. I attended KSU, and I received a Bachelor’s in Education of Literature & Music Theory, but I had a pit in my stomach about the political nature of the American education system. I did a lot of research my senior year and decided that wasn’t a productive channel to help others and build the confidence of my community – at least for me. So, I kept working my night job, and when I graduated, I needed a day job to figure out what my path looked like! Music? Maybe. I was a practiced singer and pianist from the age of 8, but what would I do to help others? This was a mandatory requirement I was looking for. Non-profit? That’s a good idea. I work with the homeless often, but how do I get started?

One day, a friend of mine called me to tell me her Aunt who owned a salon in Roswell, had an assistant position open. I dabbled in pinup modeling, and she knew I needed a day job, so why not see what I could do with my minor hair & makeup experience? I thought on it for a week and decided… why not? I applied in person, and I was hired the same day. By this time, I was about to turn 20. About a month into working there I had an experience with one of my hairdressers’ clients. She walked in for a cut and style but was having what just felt like an unending day. Puffy eyed and sniffling, she sat down for her shampoo and divulged a bit to me. She went on to get her hair cut, and I came back around to do her finishing style so my hairdresser could go on to start her next client.

When I finished and turned her back to the mirror, she had this moment where her face lifted, brightened, and she just smiled. Her confidence was higher, her day was brighter, and she just felt this immediate sense of elation. A light bulb went off that day for me. Artistic? Check. Scientific? Check. Helpful to my community? Ding-ding-ding. I went through an interesting journey of several salons, vibes, and thought-processes until I finally landed at Siggers Hairdressers. There, I completed my Master Cosmetologist license, and one day a client said to me, “you’re so beautiful, passionate, and amazing at what you do. Don’t you think there’s the next step for you?” As someone who came from building for myself, of course, I wanted the “next step,” but what did that look like? Savings? Business overhead? Commercial mortgages? Employees? I’d never even thought about those things, but she got my cogs turning. I’d become complacent, making my clients happy… but what if I could amplify that?

One day at dinner with a loved one, it came out like word vomit! “What would you name it? All great businesses have to have a name!!” Tea Time Beauty Salon In my, at the time, 6 1/2 years of hairdressing, I knew one thing – my mission was to never allow judgment pass through my doors. I wanted to cultivate and start a brand that stood for safety, love, and fun. I wanted whatever four walls I built to feel like a barbershop. A 1950’s beauty shop. Not getting your hair done? Come hang out anyway! After all, the Mad Hatter always said that Tea Time was where anyone could let their freak flag fly. I still didn’t have the gumption, but the fire was lit. I branded my social media, spread the word, and told every client I could about it, but my salon wasn’t so supportive. About a year and a half later, I had an interaction in a hostile work environment that sent me over the cliff. That’s it. I’m ready.

I offered a two-week notice, but in the artistic world of hair, that’s not really a thing. I was told to finish my clients for the day and not to worry about it but I don’t think you’re getting your client list. Don’t get me wrong, however. I spent the most amount of years there. I learned about money management. I learned how to treat employees and how not to. How to consult with guests, and how not to. Patience. Hard work. Thick skin. I’m extremely grateful for the years I spent there, but it was my time to find better. After all, Lemony Snickett and the law of attraction teaches us that no series of unfortunate events is damning, final, or determines your outcome. So with just the few client numbers I had saved, a small amount of money, and the hope my other loyal clients would find me, I signed a suite lease to avoid jumping straight into a commercial mortgage, and within three days time, I had fully painted, and set up a basic enough suite to open the first, official door of Tea Time Beauty Salon in November of 2019.

Those four months were scary, but within weeks of trusting marketing plans and companies like Groupon, I started exploding. 5-star ratings, client referrals, and long days. I still am shocked and still have a healthy sense of fear, but Forbes says all great ventures start with the hardest year of your life, and if I can get through that, and a global pandemic… I can do anything, right? Now, I have plans to expand into an official brick and mortar by the end of 2021, once some of the pandemic dust settles. I expanded into what I call a rabbit hole by starting a COVID-safe online vintage boutique that I eventually plan to have a second brick & mortar next to the salon brick & mortar, and the ideas just keep flowing. One of my biggest plans with the salon brick & mortar is to set up one day a month to my altruistic venture “Share A Haircut,” where the entire day is dedicated to free shampoos, washes, and blowouts for all needy and homeless.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh boy, not even! I say that lightly. I believe in the law of attraction, and when things start falling into place, that means you’re on the right track, but never was it “easy”. Once I lit the fire, it was an arduous road of night business classes, learning inventory strategies, and becoming a business-woman out of an artist. I believe it will always be a continuous learning process, but I believe the hardest part of the road was beating the internal self-deprecation. “Do I have enough money?” “What if I fail?” “What if I’m not good enough?” “What if I can’t make everyone happy?” That was the hardest part and is every single day, but someone once told me, “if you don’t have a healthy fear for what you love, I would have fear for you.” I also fell into a lot of complacency traps. “I make enough people happy.” “I’m complacent working here.” “This is fine.”

I spent almost five years of one salon in a complacency trap and drank one too many whiskey diets with musicians after work to not really think about it, and one day I’d just had enough with “just okay” and “safe”. The hardest part, in my opinion, is coming to terms with “just okay” isn’t okay, and there’s never an opportune time to do something better. This year, however, I found it imperative to be a vocal part of my community. #notinmychair is my promise to never to tolerate hate speech or racism. It is my belief that artists in a community should be the most vocal – especially trade work artists. Folx, listen to us. They trust us. So, we must absolutely be on the right side of history. I have fired five clients this year for hate speech, had a 1-star rating that was removed in my favor over racism, and a lot of push back, and I will always push right back.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an artistic salon owner, I specialize in creative coloring, French highlighting (balayage), and French layering! I’m most proud of my ability to take what I hear in consultation and put it on to the hair canvas. To me, this is a trade work that requires communication, vision, and zero judgment to truly translate a guests’ vision of their happiness into a beautiful hair-style. I abhor the “people mill” feeling, which is one of the goals of Tea Time Beauty as a brand. I’m not a salesperson, I am an artist. I’m not a money grabber, I’m a salon owner, and I want each soul that walks through my doors to feel at home and not like a number.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Gosh, it has to be playing music in homeless shelters. My school choir offered a lot of opportunities for each student to outreach in some way. I adored singing in homeless shelters and playing piano with talented folx who had all of this beautiful culture in their history. An ex-jazz professor was one of the first people to teach me about the importance of dissonance in harmonies! He’d fallen down on his luck and lost his wife of many years who helped him with his Autism, so he became more of a vagrant with not many people to lean on, but managed to at least hold jobs to keep his belly full, and buy books.

Pricing:

  • For all new clients, I offer a free cut & style with any color services!
  • Creative coloring (root colors, and beyond) starts at $61!
  • Cuts start at $58!

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Image Credits
For the group image – LeeLee Hawkins as the photographer of Hands Across Atlanta

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