Betting on Beauty

When the opportunity arose for Martha Lynn Kale ’02 to bet on herself, she made a daring decision to leave corporate America in pursuit of a passion that started merely as a favor to her sorority sisters.

Kale, owner of Mirror Mirror Salon and author of “The Ambitious Stylist: Making the Most of Cosmetology School,” had always loved making women feel beautiful. In her sorority, she was the go-to sister for a hair crisis before a major social or a “soft glam” look for a date party. Yet, she never thought her part-time beauty services could translate to anything beyond that.

“I took a huge risk, stepping away from my career to start over completely. It was humbling. I had to sell my car and work retail again, a job I hadn’t done since college. I had to move back in with my mom. But there’s a sense of pride, looking back 15 years later, saying ‘I did it’ and it was all worth it.”

From boardrooms to blowouts

The plan had been a career in advertising, with Auburn at the forefront of that goal. Kale was born and raised in Huntsville, Ala., surrounded by former and future Auburn alumni. She spent many autumns of her childhood cheering on the Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Growing up, her mother was a sales manager, sparking her interest in business. Following the path laid out for her, she majored in marketing at the Harbert College of Business and sold ads for the Auburn Magazine.

“My favorite part of being a hairstylist is the moment at the end when the cape comes off, and the client is staring at themselves in the mirror. I like to joke that their tail wags and immediately they’re thinking of where they can go to show off their new hairstyle, whether it’s a date night or lunch with the girls,” said Kale.

After graduation, Kale moved to Austin, Texas, to work for ad agency GSD&M, collaborating on noteworthy campaigns with brands including Dial Soap, Lennox Air Conditioning and AARP. She later thrived in a sales position at Texas Monthly Magazine. But something was missing. Every day began to feel the same, and she missed having a creative outlet.

At 27, Kale enrolled in cosmetology school, searching for the artistic freedom she had never had in her previous corporate positions. After three years behind the chair, logging 1,600 technical hours, she brought her vision to life. Because she wasn’t finding the atmosphere she longed for in other salons, she built her own.

“I wanted to create what wasn’t out there, hence the name of my salon. I didn’t want my name on the door—there was no ego involved. Our motto is to ‘love what you see in the mirror.’ That’s what we aim to achieve with each client. My favorite part of being a hairstylist is the moment at the end when the cape comes off, and the client is staring at themselves in the mirror. I like to joke that their tail wags and immediately they’re thinking of where they can go to show off their new hairstyle, whether it’s a date night or lunch with the girls,” said Kale.

A newly married Kale opened the salon a week after her honeymoon in 2011. She jumped headfirst into getting the business off the ground while servicing current clientele and recruiting stylists to join her team. However, embarking on this unforeseen journey—a feat that she had never considered possible for herself until it happened—didn’t come without its hurdles.

“A challenge I had was learning how to lead, figuring out how to motivate my stylists. In this industry, you’re dealing with a lot of different personality types, so you have to get to know each one individually, what makes them excited, what gets them up every day, and what inspires them. Once you learn how to bring out the best in people, it becomes your superpower.”

Scaling up in style

After what felt like a never-ending search for the right place, Kale bought the building next to the current site and, in just two years, transformed it into the 19-chair powerhouse it is today.

“I want anyone who comes into Mirror Mirror to feel welcomed, right at home—I suppose that’s just the southern hospitality in me—but that has always been the inspiration. When designing the new space, I wanted an elevated experience of that, a luxury touch but without the stuffiness,” said Kale.

Mirror Mirror has earned several accolades since its founding, including Salon of the Year in Salon Today Magazine, Best Places to Work in Austin Business Journal and Best Salon in Austin Monthly Magazine. The salon has also been recognized three times on the Inc. 5,000 list of fastest-growing private companies and Salon Today’s “Top 200 Salons” list for eight consecutive years.

Beyond the chair

“‘The Ambitious Stylist’ is the book I needed when I was in cosmetology school, preparing to transition into the next step of my career. I was forging my own path and didn’t know what that would look like,” said Kale.

She had done the research—there were no books that provided a step-by-step guide helping students navigate the beauty industry after graduation. Her handbook describes in detail how to select a workplace that’s right for you, not just picking a salon based on its Instagram aesthetic, how to interview for the position and how to market themselves and start building a clientele right away.

Kale’s toolkit includes checklists, templates and real-life stories from her time in the program along with tips and advice from other successful stylists and colleagues she interviewed to gain a broader perspective on how to thrive in every aspect of the hairdressing profession. It’s a culmination of all the things she had to learn the hard way navigating life after cosmetology school—venturing into a new career without a roadmap.

“You plan as much as you can, think through all the variables, but, at some point, you just have to leap. The net will appear. You have to be confident and know you have all the tools you need. Anything else, you’ll figure out along the way. But don’t be afraid to ask for help, to take advice from people who have already forged a path in what you’re aiming to do. They are out there to be resources for you, as I aim to be now,” said Kale.

By Kaitlin Stabler