Leaving everything behind to start THIS

Excuse me. Hi, Angel. Hi, how are you? Angel, I wanted to ask you a question. Are you a business owner?

Yeah, of course, you know that.

Yeah, I know, I manage his social media. I wanted to actually do a founder story for you, and I wanted to see if you were down for it.

I'm totally down for that.

So tell us a little bit about where we are right now.

We're at Acolab Salon in Winter Park, Florida, located right off Orange Avenue. And, uh, let me show you around. When you walk in, you see the products that we carry on either side. We got a variety of different things from Sebastian Professional, Wella Professional, or Bay. What does Acolab ACollab stands for Artist Collaborative. Basically, I've always been the type of person that really enjoys to do collaboration. I do a lot of photo shoots, fashion shows, so I'm used to working with photographers, models, makeup artists.

Okay, if you ever need a model, here I am. Alright, show us a little more.

So we have 14 different stations all throughout the salon, but as soon as you come make your way back, we have a little bit of an overflow area, some more space to work on some hair. We have like a merchandise wall back here. We have more of like a coffee bar. We got some snacks.

Uh, what are these little machines for?

Oh yeah, these are processing machines. So basically anytime you're getting your color done, um, to speed up the process, we'll put you in the processing machines and just helps to kind of bring out the best color. You have the washroom area.

I love this area. So actually we were recording, uh, we were here earlier and we were recording the videos for you for your ads, for your social media, and I love this greenery. So what does it mean for people that don't understand? What is like the, the meaning of the thematic of a collab?

Yeah, so we definitely have a lot of moss in, in the salon, and moss has always kind of been just very resilient property as far as when it comes to plants. They kind of grow anywhere. So I love the idea of incorporating moss into a business that I feel like could thrive anywhere, and, and we could always kind of make our way out of little cracks in the ground or, you know, wherever our struggles are, we just make our way through. And then over here we have more of a content creation room. So we just have an area with a backdrop. We have several different backdrops, different lighting. So especially when the light— when the sun goes down, we have an area to kind of keep filming, keep shooting, keep creating content.

That's amazing.

A lot of times I'll do Instagram Lives in here. Um, so just, yeah. Little fun room.

And where are you from so people get to know you a little more?

Yeah, I've been in Florida for the last 20-something years, and I am originally from New Jersey, and I was born in Puerto Rico.

Wow, amazing. Is there anything that you would like to tell the camera before we record your founder story?

Great question.

He's like, actually, no.

No, I just, you know, hope you get a good tour of the salon and come check us out.

Yeah, absolutely. So Angel, we met each other when was like a month ago.

Yeah.

So we've been trying to make a strategy for him to get more people in it here in Winter Park. So I've been trying to work in this strategy and making some ads and videos for them that you're going to see it on these social media. So you can also see your tag. What are your tags? A Collab Salon.

That's right.

Yes. So we're going to put the link below as well so you guys can follow him. And can you tell us a little bit more that we didn't mention your experience?

Yeah, I work for 4 different brands. Uh, one is Sebastian Professional, Katori Hanzo Shears, Wella Professional, and Bello Haven. So between those 4 brands, they keep me really busy. I've only had 4 weeks off this whole year so far. And pretty much every weekend I'm somewhere else. I was just in Boston.

You were at Ulta as well, right?

Yeah, the Ulta World Show.

So I got the Ulta next week, the corporate show coming up.

I think he's the only one in Orlando that actually got to go to Ulta because none of us were able to. He got the pass. Yeah, yeah.

So between all those brands, they keep me really busy and allow me to still be creative and just share my passion.

Amazing. So yeah, so I decided to do a founder story for him because I think it's very important that every single business owner has their story out there. So I'm really excited. So are you ready for that?

Absolutely.

All right, let's go.

My name is Angel Cardona.

I am the owner of A CoLab Salon, and this is my founder story.

The reason I wanted to start a salon is really to create that team culture that environment where we all come together, collaborate, and just elevate each and every year. We continue to grow and just challenge ourselves. For the majority of my career, I've worked for other people building up their teams and their salons and their businesses, helping it grow, and I knew I needed to do that for myself. And even if I cannot see a path out, I know I will find a way. 6 years ago, I invested everything I had into this business because I knew I had the passion and the desire to help and see this thing through. For years, I've worked with other people building their dreams, and now I finally get to do the same for myself. I wake up every day giving everything I got, putting all my effort towards making sure that I could make each and every one of my guests happy and more and more confident. Whether it's your kid's graduation, your wedding day, your kid's first birthday, I am here for you to transform your hair and make you look your best self. We cannot wait to serve you.