about us

This wasn’t exactly the plan.

sometimes the best things aren't planned.

The Shirley was born out of a season of change — and a desire to create something a little smaller, a little more intentional, and a whole lot more personal.

After years of owning and operating a traditional salon as a family, we were ready to rethink what a beauty space could look like.

Not another big salon.

Not a row of closed-off suites.

Something in between.

A place where independent beauty professionals could build businesses that actually fit their lives, while still getting to enjoy the energy, connection, and really good parts of sharing a space with other people.

A place guests would genuinely look forward to coming to.

And a place that still felt like us.

So, we made one.

A woman with short blonde hair wearing a sleeveless rust-colored top and beige wide-leg pants, sitting on a bench and writing in a notebook. A large green plant and framed artwork are in the background.

MEET KRISTAL

Founder, hairstylist, and the person behind The Shirley.

My career has been a little unconventional. I started doing hair at one salon — and never left. Two years later, my parents and I bought it with zero business experience and, as impeccable timing would have it, just two months before COVID.

We learned as we went, and we grew quickly. Our little 1,500-square-foot salon became a 12-chair, 3,000-square-foot salon, eventually reaching $1 million in annual revenue.

For almost seven years, that salon was the only professional home I'd ever known. And somewhere along the way, it became much more than where I worked. I owned it with my parents. Four years ago, my husband came to work alongside us. Our family, our work and our life became completely intertwined.

I grew up there — as a stylist, a business owner and a person.

And then, last year, I became a mom.

Suddenly, the life I was building outside of work mattered differently, too. My definition of success started to change.

I realized I didn't want to build something bigger this time. I wanted to build something that felt better — more personal, flexible and intentional. A business that could grow alongside my life instead of requiring my life to grow around it.

So this isn't really just a change of address or a new business.

It's a life shift.

For the first time in my career, I'm leaving the only professional home I've ever known and building something entirely my own.

The Shirley wasn't exactly the plan. Maybe that's the best part.

It's my first completely new beginning.

And appropriately, I'm bringing my mom.

A man with gray hair, wearing a blue sweater and khaki pants, sitting on a bench with his hands resting on it, looking away to the left against a plain light-colored wall.

meet Cheryl

Cheryl is our House Manager, hospitality queen, and the heart of The Shirley.

Mom takes care of everything that happens before you sit in the chair and after you get back up.

She's at the front desk welcoming you in, making your coffee and helping you find exactly what you need before you leave. She handles our retail, keeps the house running, and happens to be a killer salesperson — so don't be surprised if you leave with the shampoo you didn't know you needed.

But what she's really good at is people.

She remembers how you take your coffee. She knows when your birthday is. She'll ask about the vacation you mentioned three months ago, celebrate your good news, and remember when your dog died.

She's the warmth. She's the heart.

And if you've been coming to us for years, there's a good chance you already know exactly what we mean.

There's something especially fitting about having her here, because The Shirley is named after her mom — my Granny, Shirley Ann Mize.

So while The Shirley is a new chapter and a business of my own, it still has generations of women woven into it.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

so who the heck is Shirley?

A woman with glasses and short hair, wearing a gray shirt, is sitting at a dining table with a child with long hair sitting across from her. They are playing a game involving a circular board with pieces and tokens on it. The room has wooden cabinets and a tiled floor.
Black and white photograph of a woman smiling outdoors, wearing a strapless dress with a ribbon, in June 1957, surrounded by trees and a house.
A young woman with curly blonde hair leaning over an elderly woman with short blue and purple hair seated in a salon chair. The elderly woman has a nasal oxygen tube and is wearing a black salon robe with a logo. The salon background shows shelves with hair products, a mirror, a vase with dried pampas grass, and hair extensions hanging in the background.
Close-up of a woman with short, curly, multi-colored hair (blue and purple), wearing black sunglasses, pearl earrings, and a blue patterned shirt. She is outside in front of a white wall.
An elderly woman holding a young girl. The woman is wearing glasses and a patterned dress, while the young girl is dressed in a white dress with ruffled sleeves and a scalloped hem.
An elderly woman with short blue hair dancing with her eyes closed, raising her right hand, wearing a black and beige floral dress, in a warmly lit indoor setting with brick walls.

We're glad you asked.

The Shirley is named for Shirley Ann Mize

— more commonly known as Granny.

And if you're picturing a delicate little grandmother quietly sipping tea, you've got the wrong Shirley.

She lived on coffee and cigarettes.

She lived in jeans and T-shirts.

She was a professional bowler.

She did trapeze in the circus.

She loved tennis, Ritz crackers, slots, puzzles, bingo, heavily buttered toast, and her blue hair.

Most of all she loved her family.

She was unmistakably herself.

And that's really the spirit we wanted this place to have.

Not perfect.

Not precious.

Not trying to be something it's not.

Warm. Interesting. Fun. Welcoming. Full of personality.

The kind of place where you can get really beautiful work done without feeling like you have to whisper while you're there. Because I promise you NONE of the women in my family know how to whisper.

We think Granny would've really liked it.

Actually, she probably would've had some notes. But she probably would have said “very good” and then asked someone to get her a cup of coffee.

Black and white photo of four women in lace dresses standing together, with a man in a circus clown or mime costume standing behind them, wearing a painted face and a checked shirt with a bow tie.
A group of women and a baby sitting inside a living room, engaging in a conversation and smiling. The woman holding the baby is smiling and looking at the baby, while the woman standing is leaning over and smiling at them. A woman in the foreground is using her phone.

A NEW CHAPTER.

This is not Salon Skanda 2.0

It's something new.

It's the result of years of experience — and giving ourselves permission to keep the parts we loved and leave behind the ones we didn't.

Today, The Shirley is home to independent beauty professionals, each running their own business and bringing their own talent, personality, clients and way of doing things into the space.

We're not interested in everyone being the same.

Quite the opposite.

We just want really good people doing really good work, taking care of their clients, respecting each other, and contributing to a place that feels good to walk into.

Because beauty can be taken seriously without taking ourselves too seriously.

And work can be independent without being lonely.

Welcome to The Shirley.

Hair • Skin • Good Company