Meet Sylvester Bailey of All Dolled Up Salons and Stores in Pembroke Pines, Sunrise and Orlando

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sylvester Bailey.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My journey into entrepreneurship started young, like most entrepreneurs, with lemonade stands while on summer break in a small town like Macon, GA to a carpet cleaning business in Tallahassee, FL while in college. After college, I had an opportunity to help out with my mothers thriving salon enterprise and basically never looked back. I was hooked by the freedom of setting my own hours, controlling my work load and the power of creativity during that experience.

I was at a cross roads between utilizing my EXPENSIVE degree and toughing it out in the beauty industry. Ultimately, I returned for masters degree at Nova Southeastern to strengthen my knowledge in business and entrepreneurship. I returned into the salon experience with dreams of expansion and wild growth. It didn’t happen. I soon found out that it was going to take more than degrees to help me realize my dreams. I remember finally taking the art of becoming a hair stylist seriously. I was able to build an amazing personal clientele as well as inspire my team around me by really diving deeper into the craft and business of the beauty industry. I was then able to truly reflect on my past experiences and apply them to my goals and aspirations as a continuous body of work.

The next level of fun began as I opened up my first full fledged salon with the help of my mother who then became partner. I was able to blend traditional education with real time entrepreneurship to start the momentum we are seeing today in our business. We have now revamped our core operations and added real depth into how we view our position in the beauty industry. I’ve added an additional location in Pembroke Pines with the help of our newest partners to position us as one of the largest minority salons businesses in Florida. We have plans to expand into more innovated stores as we grow our salon network to create more jobs and even more amazing experiences.

I’m truly humbled to be in the position to positively affect the lives of the people we work with and host in our salon family. I’m thankful for all of the opportunities that have been given to me and my family as we continue this journey of faith, legacy and entrepreneurship.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I point to a quote by Fredrick Douglass that states, ” Without struggle there can be no progress.” I was able to see the business in its early stages as it succeeded and then failed and then repeated the cycle. I’ve came to accept that as the stepping stones of success. My early failures in life and in college have taught be valuable lessons about pressing forward in the midst of challenges.

I remember the financial crisis of 2008 crushing our business, clients,households and investments. The same year my father passes and our world is turned upside down. He was a key figure and support in helping my mother manage the demands of an expanding enterprise. He held the key to my mothers cinderella story ending. Worst yet the market totally wiped out the business credit, real estate investments and optimism for the future. We had to close our salon in Deerfield Beach to regroup. Entrepreneurship looked like hell at that time! I felt like my role was to replace my fathers position and restore what was left for our legacy.

Faith, creativity and superhuman work ethic was the only thing left of All Dolled Up Salons at that time from a healthy 15 year business with 3 strong locations and a school. To see that we survived what took out some of the most notable businesses of our time like Kmart, Washington Mutual and 170, 000 other businesses prepared me to fight for our vision and to keep fighting.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about All Dolled Up Salons and Stores – what should we know?
I’m over our core operations which are marketing, training and staffing. I specialize in the marketing space with digital marketing being my favorite channel for us to operate in. I’m proud that our salon has been featured in our industries top publications, developed hundreds of beauty professionals and continues to promote some of the most passionate people in our business.

What sets All Dolled Up Salons apart is our commitment to listening to our client and communicating that message to our team. We know that the secret to any successful organization is communication! We meet a lot to discuss the positioning of our brand and what our client is looking for.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I’ve been around amazing people my whole life from my Mother and Father to my fraternity brothers of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, INC. I’ve learned a lot from each. I would definitely have to say that my mother imparted the spirit of follow your dreams. My father imparted the spirit of hard work is the only way to your dreams. I’ve been chasing the balance ever since. My friends in Omega Psi Phi have taught me the importance of friends. Those relationships are such a critical role in why I have been given so many great opportunities. I have friends that truly do believe in me and are spreading the word about what we do in our business and for the community.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3453 North University Drive
  Sunrise, FL 33351
• Website: www.aduluxe.com
• Phone: 954-572-3336
• Email: info@adutalent.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/alldolledupsalons
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adusalon
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/adusalon
• Other: www.aducareer.com

Image Credit:
All Dolled Up Salons and Stores

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