Today we’d like to introduce you to Dilenia Perez.
Dilenia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I became a hairdresser while I was living in my native land, Dominican Republic. My mom was a hairdresser and I grew up seeing beauty. She taught me about beauty from the time I was a little girl. I was about eight years old at that time and was doing nails then I started doing her hair.
After I mastered doing her hair, I started working in a hair salon at about 15 years old. I worked there for two years while attending beauty school to develop more skills and learn new techniques. However, it was a short course and I mostly knew everything they were teaching because of my already background in beauty.
Less than a year later, I moved to NYC and started working in a salon in The Bronx for a short period and quickly moved to another salon in Washington Heights. I must of worked there my first complete year in the US before I ended up in sunny Florida. While I was in Florida, I decided that I needed to do something more advance in the beauty industry and I went back to Cosmetology schools and got my first US hair license. My life was consumed in beauty. Once I had that license, I think I worked everyday all day at a salon in Pembroke Pines.
As I was beginning to grow in the salon world, I was introduced to Las Olas Fort Lauderdale. And it was there in that moment where finally I was able to build my very own clientele. The salon I had started now working at didn’t have clients so I had to do a huge marketing campaign. To be honest, I was trying to learn about business while I was working and it wasn’t easy. At times I worked for free just so that I could build a clientele. And let me say this. The salon actually catered to men. They were not known for a woman based clientele. If there was a walk in at to the salon most likely it was a man. So I had my work cut out. But I didn’t give up. I worked so hard to have a Clientele big enough where I could work grow and pay the bills. I became the only hairstylist in that salon while everyone else were barbers. But be careful what you wish for. My clientele was growing fast consisting of locals and tourists. It ended up getting to a point I couldn’t keep up with the workload. Between a full book and everyone referring friends and family and acquaintances and being the only stylist now two years later, I just couldn’t keep up. The owner of the salon started hiring other people and I was really happy because I was going to finally have another teammate fellow hairstylist working with me. Or so I thought.
In the two years, I had worked so hard to build something that didn’t exist what I hadn’t noticed was that the owner didn’t appreciate the hard work I had been doing. And noticed it the moment he took clients from my already established schedule and would give them to other stylist who hadn’t worked hard to build a clientele. You could just imagine how disheartening this was. Here I was a girl who had to always struggle from when I was a little girl in my country to coming to NYC moving to Florida and bouncing from salon to salon working for peanuts at times to finally seeing that light at the end of the túnel and now all of it the work I had put all my efforts were being taken away. It was right there I decided I was going to invest in my own dreams. I was going to open my very own salon. I’ve always thought everyone should be given the opportunity to rectify a situation so I had a talk with the owner of the salon about the situation but nothing changed. Even though my dream of starting a salon was important, I knew I would be starting over the second I left that salon. I decided to rent a chair in different salon. This would allow me to offer my clients the best experience I could. Offering a full service. Hair and Nails.
For five years, I was satisfied making my clients happy. As usual, I felt I could give more. I needed now a big salon one with a front space a great location & street view. But still close enough to what my clientele was use to. In my search of the perfect space I found space that is now Dilenia’s Salon. When I saw it, I immediately fell in love with it. It was everything I expected for me and the convenience of my guest. It has brought peace and serenity and excitement for both my clients and I. And that has been our ultimate goal, to have a place where people can feel happy and satisfied knowing we create healthy vibes for them and their hair. A space that is comfortable and relaxing and have great conversation while drinking a cup of tea, coffee or a glass of champagne.
Now I am a happy salon owner. An educator for one of the leading hair color brands in the world formed in Italy. Oh and I have also been able to join the most sought out Global Curl/Texture Platform “CURLPOP® “ as a PopSquad stylist where I get to create healthy innovative BlowDrying techniques for natural hair and in helping create color trends.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Some things are smooth and others well not so smooth. Every time I had to move, it was a transition with its ups and downs, when you have or open a business, it’s hard because is like you are starting from 0. When I moved to my current location although I was excited and had found the perfect location, I was petrified. Because every transition was is a tough one. Most likely you will make mistakes. Some mistakes hurt more than others. One of the biggest mistakes is allowing others to dictate what you should do. In some moments, I lost confidence in myself. Which in turn can affect your work and personal life. In one of those moments there was a period I lost faith in people because the ones that I surrounded myself with were people who would abuse my kindness. And when I realized it sometimes it was too late. I’ll tell you what though, this experience pushed me to grow and learn to choose wisely the people who I let to surround me. Also pushed me to help others who were going through similar situations. Now I can tell people, there were times when I thought I couldn’t make it but then I realized I am where I am because I had worked hard for it and I won’t let anyone one take that from me. I own it. I have learned to look at the brighter and positive side of every situation. No longer allowing toxic people to distract me and take me off my course. I have replaced it by surrounding myself with positive, goal-oriented happy exciting professional people who are great leaders and support me in my career.
Today I have no regrets, good or bad, all situations have brought me growth.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I own Dilenia Salon. We offer a healthy good & relaxing experience for all of our guests. We are believers of client care, I only choose the best and highest quality treatments and products (most of which I test myself before passing them on to my clients). 100% free of Formaldehyde & Ammonia. I specialize in all hair textures and services from treatments, colors to hair cuts and designs along with formal hair. The earth is beautiful so we do what we can to protect it from harmful hair products and services. Men and women are all welcomed at the salon.
I don’t believe that I make people beautiful. I believe we are all beautiful as we are. But I also know that a new style, haircut or image accentuating service can significantly influence our self-image and confidence. My creativity drives my work and eagerness to find a way to complement and enhance already beautiful features of each client.
What were you like growing up?
I was really shy growing up. I have changed a little bit but I am still shy in some aspects… I would say I am energetic, I love music, life, dancing, singing even though I don’t do it very well, painting, and love to write poems or my feeling in a poems, like to meet people, but sometimes is difficult force to be the one who start the conversation. I can be love at times and sometimes in my own world. If you make me laugh we will be friends forever but if we make it to Beach we will be one besties, enjoy nature and everything that the outside has to offer.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1684 se 10th Ave Fort Lauderdale Florida 33316
- Website: Dilenia.com and Dileniasalon.com
- Phone: 1-954-859-7322
- Email: hairbydilenia@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/dileniahairsalon?igshid=1sa0853ypricw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dileniasalon/
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/qTKq/Ou5IwAXwy2
- Other: https://g.page/Dileniasalon?share
Image Credit:
Dilenia Salon
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