Today we’d like to introduce you to Carla Oliva.
Carla, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in South Florida. My parents were immigrants who, like many others, came to the United States in search of a better life for themselves and their children. Although they struggled financially, my siblings and I never experienced real poverty – we were always fed and clothed living in a humble and clean home filled with love. I remember my mother tirelessly working to make sure that we had a better life than she had. She was a true example for me of a loving mother, balancing the demands of work and home. Unfortunately, she passed away from cancer when I was just 21 years old and I was devastated. Her unexpected passing at a young age had a profound impact on me and I vowed to follow in her footsteps and work hard to protect and provide for my own young daughter. As a result of a lot of hard work and effort, I was able to open my very first business shortly thereafter.
Over the years, I became a serial entrepreneur launching several different ventures — even one in the trucking industry! Despite all of those experiences which were both good and bad, I knew that the time had come for me to pursue something I was genuinely passionate about. I spent years coming up with different ideas, but nothing that really stood out for me. It wasn’t until one night after a long and exhausting day going from one salon to another that my husband planted the seed and the idea for DashBar was born. Over time I became more and more excited about creating an amazing beauty solution for women, like myself, who have active lifestyles. The more I shared my thoughts with my girlfriends, the more it strengthened my resolve to make my dream a reality.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Although the journey of conceptualizing, designing and building DashBar has been nothing short of amazing, we have had to overcome some challenges and setbacks along the way. Of course, that was to be expected when we were creating a first-of-its-kind salon! But as it turned out, many of these obstacles became blessings in disguise. Our original launch was scheduled for December, but due to unforeseen design and construction delays, our opening was delayed when Covid-19 arrived and brought everything to a sudden halt. However, as the pandemic wore on, we realized that we had a unique opportunity to refine the design of the salon, incorporating the latest technologies and systems to create one of the first post-pandemic salons, which provides a uniquely safe environment for our staff and guests.
Our original salon design, with larger, but fewer stations anchored by our patent-pending PollyDash Chair, already provided social distancing between our customers. Not satisfied with just providing social distancing and face masks for everyone, we decided to take it further by installing and deploying state-of-the-art hospital-grade systems that efficiently kill and remove viruses, bacteria and mold from the air and surfaces, implementing sanitation processes that far exceed state, federal and industry standards. Best of all, none of these changes are the tacked on, half baked, ill-conceived fixes that other salons have sadly been forced to add. The DashBar remains an uncompromising, luxurious salon that will provide the best, fastest and safest beauty treatments in Miami.
Please tell us about DashBar™.
Before coming up with the idea for DashBar, I spent the last 19 years owning and operating businesses in quite a few industries. You can say that over the years, I developed a knack for business operations. It’s not exactly a sexy talent, but it’s really helped me succeed in deciphering internal company structures so I can implement processes to optimize success. It’s this experience and knowledge that has really helped me create a very unique concept. After I made the decision to launch DashBar, I spent more than a year studying the beauty industry and consulted with many industry veterans and experts. The DashBar difference is that we are introducing a truly innovative salon-spa that gives women back the one precious commodity they can’t buy–time.
Created for the modern woman, DashBar specializes in providing a collective beauty bar experience that is quick and efficient without compromising the quality of services or products. At the forefront is our revolutionary, patent-pending PollyDash™ chair, which I believe is a game-changer. Our chair allows beauty technicians to seamlessly provide multiple beauty services simultaneously in 60 minutes or less! DashBar guests can choose one of three main salon-spa services, such as a blowout, lash extension, or facial, to be performed along with a manicure and pedicure. In addition to an indulging beauty experience, we felt it was equally important that we do what’s best for not only our customers but also for the animals we love, our planet and the environment. We made a commitment to use only vegan, non-toxic, and cruelty-free products. It was as a result of this commitment that we decided to launch our very own vegan skincare line called Dash Beauty. Dash Beauty will be launching alongside DashBar! We are beyond thrilled to unveil all of our incredible services and products!
Contact Info:
- Address: 25 SW 9th Street Mezzanine 101, Miami
- Website: https://www.thedashbar.com
- Phone: + 1 (877) 425-811
- Instagram: @thedashbar
- Facebook: /TheDashBar
- Twitter: @TheDashBar
- Yelp: /Dashbar-Miami
Image Credit:
Image headshots of Carla Oliva courtesy of Nick Garcia Photography.
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