This episode of The Charlotte Business Podcast sits down with Khadijah "Kay" Leach, founder of Bella Studios Salons+Suites and Bella Brand by Kay, to talk about what it really takes to go from stylist to salon owner and CEO. Kay joins host Ashley Boti to make the case that authenticity beats copying every time, and how easy it is for beauty entrepreneurs to get stuck imitating everyone else's content instead of building a brand people actually remember.
Kay also opens up about rebuilding her brand after burnout and personal loss. Whether you're a Charlotte service provider thinking about opening your own salon suite, a stylist ready to build a real brand instead of just a client list, or an entrepreneur trying to avoid burnout while scaling, this conversation is full of practical lessons learned firsthand.
"I experienced a small moment of burnout. My younger brother had passed, and I really dove into work to try to get through it — I was just on go. And the quality of my work, and that goal of building a brand, was slowly fading. I had to have a mindset shift. I had to go back to the beginning: what was my goal, and what qualities did I need in order to build this brand as a person."
Watch the full conversation above, or listen on Buzzsprout.
Kay is the founder of Bella Studios Salons+Suites and Bella Brand by Kay, based in Greensboro, NC. After years behind the chair as a stylist, she built her own salon brand from the ground up, and later rebuilt it after burnout and personal loss, with authenticity at the center of everything she does.
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