QALI's 'The Very Big Social Makeover' Entry
Why do you think you should be selected:
QALI was an idea on an airplane in 2017: leave my film career and open a salon in Vancouver that specializes in premium quality hair extensions with attainable pricing. I have always loved the beauty industry and my desire to make women feel amazing has been a big part of my identity. I styled my mom's hair as a teen, acted as the unofficial hair and makeup artist for all my friends and today, I proudly own a business that’s sole purpose is to positively impact women. Lucky for me, my co-worker-turned-close-friend Alyssa also left film to join me on this journey and we haven’t looked back.
Our goal at QALI has been to carve out a new space in the hair and beauty industry. We are a brand with integrity, self love and inclusiveness at our core - a safe space to make people feel beautiful and valued. We strive to break the cycle of judgmental beauty spaces that have a ‘cool kids only’ elitist vibe, and we pride ourselves on being friendly, welcoming and encouraging both online and in store.
The Vancouver hair industry is competitive - there are countless businesses to choose from and it can be challenging to cut through the noise. We believe in our brand and what we offer to our clients (or as we like to call them, friends). We understand the importance of social media and online marketing, and we’re always looking for ways to fine tune our approach. As a new business that faced a lockdown and pandemic within our first year of operating, our resources have been tight, but we’re proud of the organic growth we’ve achieved despite the challenges of the past year. We’re ready to take things to the next level and plan the long game, looking ahead for ways to grow our operations and e-commerce potential. With professional mentorship and a rock solid social media strategy we’ll be able to turn our passion and enthusiasm into a sustainable business plan that will take us from ‘local biz’ to one of Canada’s favourite beauty brands.
What impact will winning have:
I have two young daughters, so while I oversee the back end of the business, Alyssa manages operations and somewhere in between it all we both juggle social media. We love learning and recognize the value in seeking expert advice. Winning the Social Makeover would help us identify the gaps in our social strategy to ensure we are focusing our efforts in the right places.
Our growth plan for QALI involves further product development, wholesaling hair to salons and an education platform for our proprietary extension method. We are at a critical stage where proper guidance on how to increase our marketing reach could be a key contributing factor to our success. We’ve dreamed of consulting with pros at an agency and the advertising spend would help us reach new audiences. Add on the Hootsuite mentorship, the Hootsuite platform and a new content kit, and our strategy would be elevated to the level necessary for our brand to realize its full potential. We’re confident we could be the poster child for a mentorship success story and will return the favour to our community by using our platform to collaborate with new businesses and empower other entrepreneurs.
QALI’s vision doesn’t stop at celebrating confidence and beauty - we’ve got bigger dreams of making a meaningful impact on our community. We’ve hosted several charitable events for the Aboriginal Mother Centre Society and will continue to support meaningful causes in our neighbourhoods. Being on the edge of the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, we feel an immense responsibility to play a role in positively impacting women who endure hardships, especially Indigenous women. QALI was possible because of Indigenous business grants (due to my Indigenous ancestry), so my personal mission has always been to support Indigenous women in any way I can. The more success QALI achieves, the more we’ll be able to give back.
We have so much to say about redefining the perception of the beauty industry and the power it holds. With our West Coast roots, everyone-is-a-friend attitude and genuine desire to make a difference, we believe we can shake up the status quo in a meaningful way.