Great hair with kindness
Celebrating 25 years in business, the owner of award-winning salon Surreal, Michelle Marsh, says the secret to its success is thanks to its strong community.
According to Michelle Marsh, at Surreal, clients are treated like special guests from the moment they walk in – “it is all about them from the time they walk in the door until they leave.”
“Quite often, they’ve had a rough day, or it’s a mum who’s just having a break for a little bit. It’s a chance for someone to make them a coffee, bring them a magazine, massage their scalp, and give them amazing hair.”
Michelle mentions that though Surreal is a luxury salon, clients don’t need to feel pressured to be a certain way when they arrive at their appointment.
“We want people to feel comfortable coming in here after yoga when they have just dropped the kids at school, no makeup, or if they’ve had a bad day.”
Michelle and salon manager Pip mention that this care for their customers starts with a deep respect for each other among the staff.
“I feel like my main job is making sure that my team is happy and supported.”
“I make sure they’re at the best they can be so the customer gets the best result.”
The team consists of skilled master stylists as well as those who are just starting out.
“Everyone has their speciality, and I make sure those who want to learn are supported. We’re always upskilling and training, as well as doing fun things.”
They are committed to training, including opportunities to host international artists in the salon.
“We’ve been with L’Oreal since the beginning of Surreal. They’re a world and market leader in research and development. Recently, we did 172 hours of training between the 20 of us. We spend a lot of time training on new techniques, new ways of doing things, and product knowledge.”
Over the 25 years, Michelle has consistently made sure there are new apprentices.
“We are a learning and training salon. Not everywhere takes on apprentices. That’s a shame. To me, we’re all always learning. Bringing new people in keeps the rest of us fresh and breathes in new ideas.”
“That’s why we achieve excellent outcomes for our clients – we’re constantly training and using the best products.”
Surreal is also an environmentally conscious salon. It is part of the Sustainable Salons group, a programme across Australia and New Zealand that works to divert waste from landfills; whether salon foils, papers and plastics, leftover colour or even the hair clippings from the salon floor, it can all be transformed.
“We recycle 95 per cent of our waste. For example, our waste hair has been used to make booms to respond to oil spills,” Pip says.
The team also engages in charitable outreach, such as buying fruit for the food bank and working with the SPCA and Full Bellies. It’s because of these efforts that Surreal is recognised as a ‘Gold’ salon by Hair and Barber New Zealand for ‘Quality + Care’ – one of nine in the country.
The past 25 years haven’t been without challenges, though. Not long after setting up her “dream salon,” just a short walk down Victoria Street from the current Surreal, the 2011 earthquakes destroyed it. She was forced to set up shop in a former house on Westminster Street, where Surreal remained for ten years.
“It was the best decision we’ve made to move back to Victoria Street. It has been reinvigorated as a beauty hub – we love being a part of the community.”