Ashlee Alvillar is a hair stylist/barber at BYU Barbershop and Salon, originally from Orem, she has done hair for two and a half years, and started working at the salon in August.
What has been your experience at BYU salon?
The thing that I love about working here is the atmosphere. I love working with people that share the same faith and the same morals that I do. I love that this was a barbershop and now we're converting over to a salon. We're trying to get more people in — and more women in — to do more colors and stuff which is what I love to do. I don't think there's anything I dislike about working here, honestly.
What services do you offer? What services are underutilized by BYU students?
The services we offer now are any cut and any color for men, women, kids, whoever. The best thing I think we offer that other places don't have is that we give a really good-quality haircut. We're more of an old-school barbershop feel, so we all have really good skills of blending and tapering, and we have really cool vacuums that suck all the extra hair off of men's heads. I feel like for the money we give the best quality haircut around campus.
You said men bring in the most business? Do you do shaves, like an actual barbershop?
No. I wish we did shaves, but we don't. Men definitely use this the most. I would say, though, every day I maybe do one woman, sometimes even none, and I think that's the most case with salons. I think men are the majority, because women only come in every couple months, if they're consistent. Or six months or once a year.
What is your favorite service to do at work?
I think there are pros and cons of both. I really enjoy doing a good men's haircut, but then again I love to change it up and do a color. I think the thing that I love doing the most is just making people happy when they leave, and knowing that if I had to staple my business card to their neck I know that I would be proud if they walked out the door. I think it's kind of creating something out of nothing.
What's going on with the construction?
This will no longer exist any more; we're just going to move. They're building a brand new shop for us. It's going to be called Studio 1030, which is actually this room number, but they're putting the name over there. It's going to be more like a full-service salon, we're going to try to appeal more to women, but we'll still, of course, do men, because they're the ones that bring in the most business. So, everything will be brand-new. We're excited, it's going to be really nice and high-end.