Who owns blow dry bar

I became a hairdresser, and I spent the next 20 years doing hair. I had two kids and became a stay-at-home mom, which I thought would be my last gig.

But after five years of staying home with my kids, I just really got the edge to get back out there. So we started a mobile blow-dry business, because I had spent 20 years in the industry. I felt like just doing blow-outs was an easy way to get back out there, do something for myself, earn a little extra cash. We're happy to expand it and bring on other stylists to help me with all the demand I had.

So that's when I went to my brother and said, 'I think I can turn this mobile business into a brick-and-mortar. I think it was a blessing that I wasn't thinking of it on such a large scale — I was just thinking I wanted a way to accommodate more clients in the business that I was already running.

I partnered with my brother, who'd made some money and worked for Yahoo in its early days. And he was like, you know, maybe there's something here. Then Cam, my then-husband, started working on the Drybar website. I was lucky in having two really great business partners. I didn't know the business as my brother did. I certainly didn't know or understand branding, the way Cam did. I got them behind this idea.

They thought it was a great idea. And so we started building out this concept and really thinking it was going to be my one little shop where I would be able to manage the shop and pick up my kids from school.

At the time we started, my kids were 3 and 5, and now they're 13 and So that was the dream. We just had no idea how it would resonate with women.

People were coming out enjoying coming to the shop. And it was in the middle of the recession. We realized very, very quickly that we were going to need to open more stores in the local region to keep up with the demand. We had been running and operating Drybar with such success, and it was so amazing and humbling. My brother [Michael] — who's an amazing guy but doesn't have any hair and so doesn't have any use for Drybar personally — and I would always get massages.

Michael was getting massages once a week and started to see the similarities. The parallels between Drybar and Squeeze are interesting. Michael was really frustrated, saying, 'It's such a hassle when I want to go get a massage, and I have to call [to book one], and then I go and it's hit or miss. Before you get to the door, you already filled out your information, your massage therapist knows you, the pressure to use, the music you like, the room temperature you like, the oil you like.

You put all of that stuff in before you even walk in the door. You should not be working together. He understood business in a way I didn't.

And Cameron is a creative genius. I could tell we were going to be equals. In , we opened our first location, in the Brentwood section of L. We had a line out the door the first day. My grand plan was to do 30 to 40 blowouts a day. We probably did 70 to For six months, I couldn't hire stylists fast enough. Michael realized that we needed to open up more Drybars fast or people would start knocking us off. We did a little franchising and then decided to raise money.

In , we met with a lot of private equity firms, and honestly I thought, "These guys do not get it. They understood our vision.

In , the business was growing so fast, and Castanea knew we had never run a big operation. They wanted to bring in a professional CEO. Michael was open to being replaced.

I was like, "Wait. We're doing great. I finally said I'd talk to people, but that was it. I was very bratty about it. Then Castanea sent us John Heffner. I remember seeing him down the hallway. He's 6 foot 5, wearing a suit, carrying a briefcase--corporate America. Webb herself oversees a robust training program to ensure each stylist takes the same steps, down to conversational patter with clients and the direction of a brushstroke to achieve a certain look.

Drybar's trajectory hasn't been entirely without a hitch. Growth was slower than expected in , said Webb. Webb's brother Landau remains board chair. Next up, along with planned openings in Canada: conquering Europe.

Webb has her sights set on London as Drybar's first outpost outside North America. So is the company. Now chief creative officer, Webb is regularly approached by women who swear by Drybar for business travel. What these frequent flyers are paying for is a guarantee of good hair whether their meetings are in Phoenix, Chicago or Washington, D.

This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. Jun 15, , am EDT.