Who would ever imagine something as simple as hair blowouts could turn anyone into a millionaire? If you’ve taken the act of drying your hair after a wash to be simple and probably inconsequential, this will help you see things differently. It serves to remind us that a shiny business idea can arise from anything, including dull moments and unrelated or unlikely activities.

This story is one of hair blowouts and a Florida mum who worked her passion for this into a successful business in a really grand style. Spoiler alert! She ends up as the owner of a $255 million dollar hair business; a well-deserved feat if you ask us.  

Alli Webb’s History and Background 

Our spotlight for this article is on no other person than Alli Webb, a Florida native who possesses a fascinating personal story and a fashionable entrepreneurial career. 

Alli started out as a hustler. As a young girl, her parents were entrepreneurs who owned several fashion stores under the brand name Flip. You would think the lad would bask in these achievements, but she wasn’t going to let it spoil her. Instead, she used the opportunity to build a sturdy work ethic while picking up a thing or two about running a business. 

Alli worked at her parent's retail store. She was energetic, enthusiastic, and always kept her eyes peeled on her mother who attended to customers, and her father who helped out with other aspects of the business. The skills she acquired here paved the way for the next phase - a receptionist role at a local hair salon. 

According to Alli, working in this role sort of “planted the seed” for her very own business. However, it was going to be many years later before that seed eventually bears fruit.

High school graduation came rolling by and along with the excitement, the new graduate felt eager to go someplace else. This dream took her hundreds of kilometers away from her familiar Florida neighborhood. It kick-started a quest to find something she loved doing. 

Alli’s journey led her to the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps; New York City. This is where she would meet Cameron Webb, the man she fell in love with and eventually married. 

Her brother, Michael Landau, also made the trip to New York City. Both siblings kept close contact, brainstormed about starting a business, and even worked together on a retail gig for Nicole Miller. 

The next phase of Alli’s life involved returning to Florida, attending a fashion school, and most importantly, taking a shot at entrepreneurship - one that would birth the highly sought-after brand, Drybar. 

Building a Super Successful Business - The Drybar Story

The Market Condition

Two things influenced Alli’s decision to start Drybar. The first was that hair salons, at the time in Florida, were notorious for throwing different prices at customers. Attendants simply weighed you by your looks and charged what they assumed you were financially capable of paying, ripping off many customers in the process. 

Secondly, Alli noticed that businesses didn’t specialize in hair blowouts. What they all did was provide general hair styling services. She told E! about “realizing there was this pretty massive hole in the marketplace, and nobody was doing affordable blowouts in a cool space.” This capped off her decision to begin Drybar. 

Alli took a bold leap towards Drybar. She began the business with lots of help from her brother Michael and her ex-husband Cameron Webb. The two served as co-founders. However, Alli specifically recalls that Cameron was the “creative mastermind” and a key player in the success of Drybar. 

The Winning Business Decision

Her initial model involved offering home services to customers. She had no employees and no office space so this would be the only option. On the technical side, she approached the market with a penetration pricing strategy. This meant charging a meager $40 for the same service that costs $100 and above. 

Analysis of Alli’s Business Decision

Analysing Alli’s business decisions, we will say that they were thoughtful and well-suited for the long term, especially given the lack of resources and manpower. 

‍

This is evident in the fact that she slashed her capital costs by choosing to attend to customers in their homes and not having to rent a salon space. Moreover, we see that she sacrificed high revenue to build herself a customer base by taking the low-price entry approach.  

Alli’s Renewed Mindset: Something to Learn From

Every entrepreneur has their downtime. For Alli Webb, it was a few months before the covid-19 pandemic broke out. She had just had a divorce with her now ex-husband and was reeling from the pain of it. 

Alli’s divorce caused her to pull back and pay less attention to her business. As if that was not enough, the pandemic came to put a complete halt to whatever level of activity was ongoing. 

These two situations were devastating for the multimillionaire mum. However, rather than give in to the pressure, Alli did something really brave. She took some time to think about all that was going on, accepted that these things were happening and worked up a resolution that would help her scale through. 

The strategy worked like magic and her resolutions drew dramatic changes including staying home on some days avoiding the urge to always be at the office, and being at home whenever her kids were at home. 

Alli reveals that another key change she experienced was moving from becoming a highly controlling boss to a calmer and happier one.  

Alli Webb’s Other Business Exploits 

Changing her mindset was more or less a stepping stone. From it, Alli became better towards herself and others. The down-to-earth boss has not only succeeded at running Drybar for the past thirteen years, but has also established the business in multiple locations and, in 2021, built a line of hair care products to complement her impeccable service. 

Alli Webb also went further to diversify by co-founding a massage business called Squeeze. The solution provides users with the option of deep tissue, heat therapy, percussion therapy, and aromatherapy treatments at no additional costs after an initial massage payment. 

Routing back to her fashion passion, the multimillionaire mum co-founded another company, Becket + Quill. The luxury accessory company was originally owned by Meredith Quill and is known for using precious metals and alternative materials to fashion stunning necklaces, rings, and bracelets. 

Advice To Fellow Entrepreneurs

In Alli’s words, starting Drybar “is easy in retrospect”. Many founders also share the same perspective. They agree that building a business is challenging while you’re at it but much easier when you’re looking back. The business guru shared a number of tips for entrepreneurs to follow. Hopefully, this will help you craft an easy path to success. 

Follow Your Passion:

Sometimes, having a successful business is about following your passion and not necessarily reinventing the wheel. Alli’s story is a good proof. The entrepreneur could have easily fallen towards starting a hair salon business, but instead, saw the value in her hair blowouts passion and decided to follow through with it.  

Work Hard But Let Others Help

Founders are easily tempted to assume control of their business - more than is really necessary. Being the visionaries, they may want to be involved in every single decision and participate in all major activities. In addition, their desire to see the business thrive could push them to work overtime. This enthusiasm and high-spiritedness are beneficial. However, when not checked, it could lead to stress, fatigue, and complete breakdown. 

The quick fix to this problem is learning to accept help. Have people who are trustworthy and well-trained to handle tasks or supervise work processes - and more importantly, accept the assistance they offer.  

Don’t React Emotionally:

The short and long-term emotions surrounding your business matter a lot. Long-term emotions depend heavily on the organizational culture and values. They impact both employees and customers alike, with direct results on job satisfaction, retention rate, quality of the business service, and problem reporting and resolution.

Short-term emotions are also a thing to watch out for. There’s no need to say that conflicts will arise. When they do, it is the responsibility of a founder to ensure the situation remains under control. A tip here is that outbursts and impulsive reactions always do more harm than good.

Take time to lean back, analyze the situation, and find an amicable way to address both sides. 

Working with a Business Coach is Beneficial:

Alli suggested that founders find a business coach with whom they can bounce their ideas. A reliable coach will help to guide your business decisions, offer meaningful suggestions, and even encourage personal and professional skills development. Having this help is crucial in the case of starting a first-time business or venturing into a field that has been untapped.  

Conclusion

Alli Webb is a trailblazer mum who succeeded at building a niche-focused business, Drybar. The Florida native also co-founded two diversified businesses Squeeze and Becket Quill. She is a multimillion-dollar entrepreneur who hasn’t run out of steam for more than a decade now and we must say that we dearly admire her resilience and ingenuity.

Her story will always remind us of the possibility of turning a passion into something much bigger and helpful. We hope you feel the same way, and that you’re inspired and motivated enough to take a bold step towards your own dream. 

‍ALSO READ: Types Of Market Research