Sean Stafford’s dual job responsibilities still come as a bit of a shock to him.
He co-founded Louisville-based El Toro in 2012 to make a name in the tech sector, specifically in targeted digital advertising.
He never had any intention of delving into the world of haircutting and salons.
“It’s very odd, as a tech guy, running a hair salon, but that’s what happened,” Stafford told me. “I mean, we’re entrepreneurs first, right? You train in business, and sometimes that’s tech — what we do over here at El Toro — and sometimes it’s hair salons.”
These days, Stafford has nearly a 50/50 split between El Toro and overseeing the overall operation as the CEO/co-founder of TRIM NuLu, the hair salon that has been at its 4,350-square-foot location at 600 E. Main St. since November.
I recently spoke with Stafford to talk about where things stand with the salon, which to use his term can be summed up with one word: “Gangbusters.”
When the business moved from its original 1,800-square-foot location at 552 E. Market St. (in the same building where El Toro’s headquarters are located), it had nine employees. Now, it has 16 full-time employees, Stafford said.
The team is led by Brianne Windell, who is the lead colorist and also a co-owner and Chris Edwards, who serves as both the lead hair stylist and a co-founder.
Stafford added that they are nearing the capacity for full-time workers, but were still looking into adding people on a part-time basis.
How TRIM Nulu came together
As a collective investment of the El Toro leadership team, the overall bootstrapped startup costs for the business was under $1 million when it was founded in August 2020 with four employees.
The Main Street location required $300,000 of investment to move to and renovate, as we reported back in December.
The business cleared the $1 million revenue mark in 2023, Stafford said, and the company is projected to be close to $1.3 million when 2024 concludes.
Stafford said that within an approximate 16-month period, the salon had cut and styled approximately 14,000 heads of hair. The salon serviced more than 2,000 clients last month.
Every month sets a record, Stafford said, adding that he company's revenue has grown at a cumulative rate of 140% from 2021-24.
The salon has picked up some national recognition along the way. Square, the nationally used point of sale (POS) system, decided to write up a case study to see how from its unorthodox origins the salon has become one of the most popular salons in the metro area.
Stafford said that El Toro has always been focused on setting up automated processes. He saw Square as the last way to do that inside the salon.
“We can automate everything, and it’s fun being able to see your marketing and your business start and kind of take off on a life of its own,” he said.
In addition, TRIM NuLu was named to the Salon Today 200 list under the category of being one of the fastest growing salons. Note: It was joined by fellow Kentucky-based nominees Pure Salon Spa out of Louisville, All Things New Salon in Shelbyville and Salon Muse in Prospect.
A second location on the horizon?
The salon’s success has led to discussion of opening up a second location. Stafford and his team are in the process of looking at spots in the East End.
“We need a position far enough to where you’re hitting that clientele that you’re not already getting in terms of distance,” he said. “We’ve actually had a number of people reach out to us, offering different spots, because they see our growth and they want us to become part of their community, so that’s been really neat. … We’ve started to kind of just peek our head out and see what’s out there.”
The whole idea started out with TRIM.co, in which similar hair-cutting centers would be set up in the corporate headquarters of companies based in Louisville. The company had 12 locations embedded inside of the offices such as Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), ISCO Industries Inc. and Texas Roadhouse Inc. (Nasdaq: TXRH). It was named one of our 2022 KY Inno Startups to Watch.
TRIM.co originated from an idea inside El Toro’s office that had taken off like wildfire internally — albeit in pre-Covid times.
But Stafford and the rest of his team realized that in a post-Covid world with people working from home half the week (or more) that a traditional salon made better business sense.
“People really liked that service, but there’s something about actually going to the salon where people feel very relaxed. They get out of work … To them, that’s part of the experience,” Stafford said. “If you’re getting your hair cut at work, it’s more [for] utility. It’s more 'I have to get this done.' … A lot of times people like going to the salon just to be in the salon, because they’re not at home with their kids, right? And they’re not at work trying to get things done, so we shifted focus.”
