Sharmeen spent her career working in leadership positions with some of the top brands in the world and most recently worked as a Market Leader with Apple. In that role, she oversaw the operations of 8 locations in Maryland & DC and provided guidance to a team of 600+ employees. She opened her first Blo location in Annapolis, MD in April and will open a second location in Maryland in 2019.
Q: Looking back what made you want to explore franchises?
A: After spending my career helping to build other people’s brands, I knew that while I wanted to build my own, I also needed to consider how important brand recognition is. So rather than start something from scratch, I thought why not look at an a established brand I could tap into and make my own, in my market.
Q: What made you choose Blo Blow Dry Bar?
A: I saw this business model as a huge opportunity to develop and mentor women, since there is a real need for that in the stylist community and it’s a community which tends to be predominantly female. I worked with a franchise consultant and did my due diligence exploring all types of salon concepts. At the end of the day Blo was the only system where the CEO was on every single call with me and that really mattered to me. I love that Vanessa (Yakobson, Blo Partner and CEO) is a working mom and that she took such an active interest in nurturing the relationship with me. It was inspirational.
Q: What do you like best about being a Blo Franchise Partner?
A: I have been very hands on and spend a lot of time in my bar. I love that I am able to meet and connect with so many amazing people in my community.
Q: What is the biggest lesson you have learned having gone through the process of successfully opening a Blo location?
A: You need to be fearless. You aren’t going to know exactly what’s going to happen day in and day out, but you have to roll with the punches. And when it comes to staffing, always over-hire.
Q: Why did you decide to be multi-unit partner, right from the start?
A: I was used to leading multiple locations from my time at Apple, so I was comfortable with that. Having multiple locations will help me to make a bigger impact on my community by providing more jobs and that is really important to me.
Interested in owning a Blo Franchise?
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