OUR (HER)STORY

The Journey and Vision to Do Something Beautiful.

Our (Her)story

The Journey and Vision to Do Something Beautiful.

Welcome to this magical moment

Welcome to this magical moment

We are so happy that you are taking the time to find your perfect salon. The world is changing quickly and we are here for it. We are excited to create a safe, sustainable space where everyone is welcome. We believe in humans over hair. XOXO is an environmentally friendly boutique salon on a mission to leave the world and humans better than we found them. 

Our philosophy is simple and starts with the love of our team. We are dedicated to finding, training, educating, supporting and growing the best beauty professionals in Omaha. We are 100% employee based which means that everyone at XO has access to the benefits of being an employee, including the best wages, affordable health care, supplemental insurance, unlimited flexibility in scheduling, and paid maternity/paternity leave. We also offer personal business coaching, full access to superior professional products without a fee, an extensive recycling and zero-waste effort, the best education in the industry, 24 hour online scheduling, a support team that goes above and beyond to care for guests and an amazing salon team to collaborate with. Wow, that’s a lot of Love.  We are obsessed with our team and are constantly evolving. 

We believe that a well-loved team is the secret to an authentic guest experience. What could be more beautiful? Our culture and systems allow our team to focus on you and your hair. We want everyone who enters our doors to feel like they belong because beauty starts from within!

the women behind xoxo salon

the women behind xoxo salon

The women behind XOXO Salon are a mother-daughter duo. Somer is an Omaha Native and licensed cosmetologist who has six children with her husband and still homeschools the three youngest. Ryan was five years old when Somer changed career paths to join the beauty industry. She watched her mother struggle as a young, single mom, grow a business behind the chair, take the risk to become an entrepreneur and eventually open Trios Salon in 2005. Somer and Ryan have worked side by side for the last six years growing Trios Salon into an award winning, successful 52 chair luxury brand. 

Leaving the world better

Leaving the world better

Making the decision to become an entrepreneur was a family effort (and sacrifice) to create opportunities for others. It was not about being a #bossbabe or #girlboss. These labels and what they imply make me cringe. 

My children have witnessed every moment of this journey. They know the reward and the struggle of being a small business owner, mentor and leader. They have celebrated milestones and watched the tears flow. Including them in the dreaming and innovating along with the serving, cleaning and repairs gave them more education than they could find in a textbook.

Somer and Ryan designed XOXO to create new opportunities for stylists in a small boutique salon. This reimagined concept will expand our love across the metro.  Small Teams, Strong Systems, Local Ownership, Stylists growing Stylists, a Career Path with Full Benefits and a commitment to leaving the world better than the way we found it. 

what we stand for

what we stand for

World-wide corporations have swallowed up distribution and hair product manufacturers. They have replaced local sales relationships with spreadsheets, live education with online videos and dehumanized small business. Prices continue to escalate and the financial impact is devastating to local salons.

Hourly corporate franchises are everywhere but do not provide a living wage for their licensed employees forcing cosmetologists to default on student loans and find other employment to make ends meet. 

Salons with antiquated ideas, poor business practices and no financial integrity are poaching stylists from other salons, hiding behind the chair without a leadership/legacy plan and creating a generation of desperate stylists looking for a community they can trust.

Real estate developers are capitalizing on frustrated stylists and overdeveloping single use suite spaces that are under-used and overpriced. Stylists are struggling alone to learn all the rules of owning a business, understand taxes, laws, budgets, and inventory plus maintain enough hours behind the chair. Their guest communication, marketing and new business potential suffers while they try to maintain a work-life balance.  The suite model has elevated real estate franchise empires and has driven the professionals further away from the community they crave.  

We knew we had to do something after watching our beauty community struggle to redefine itself.  At the heart of XOXO is love. Love is the magic that unites, grows, heals and cures.  We are committed to putting our differences aside, advocating for each other’s basic human rights, and becoming better allies. We value listening, hearing and seeing people for their diversity and uniqueness. 

Thank you for attending our Ted Talk. We hope that you learned something about our salon, our industry and our mission. We are up to big things and are grateful to have the privilege of loving others through hair! 

xoxo forever

xoxo forever