Built on a partnership model that’s realised a success of 15 salons nationally, we chat with owner partner of Pacific Fair and now Bondi Oscar Oscar Salons Mary Walters about her longstanding loyalty to the brand and how she has maintained growth at the luxury end of town, writes Cameron Pine.
Over a remarkable almost 35 years tenure, Oscar Oscar Salons have become a national household name in luxury hairdressing, praised and recognised for their consistency and dedication to providing a premium service and building teams and a culture that has stood the test of time.
At the heart of this consistency of purpose is Mary Walters, the often-unsung hero of the brand’s Pacific Fair salon, having now branched out as the salon partner at Oscar Oscar Bondi.
Rewind 21 years and you could say the flair of the salon environment was in Mary’s veins – she was attracted to fashion trends and felt a hair salon was a great place to start, so she began working as a receptionist at the Oscar Oscar Pacific Fair salon. Her journey as a non-hairdresser proves people management and culture is a skill that when applied correctly can grow salon teams beyond norm.
“I always thought I was going to study fashion but also thought hairdressing was really cool and creative while also encompassing fashion inspiration and being around people that want to make others feel good,” Mary said. “Over time with experience and moving into a salon manager my role just evolved into the business side and the responsibility we have in-salon to grow and manage a team.”
Searching for growth and a new scenery in 2007, Mary was transferred to Sydney to manage the newly opened Oscar Oscar Paddington store. A flagship for the brand on Paddington’s high street after the acquisition of Sharon Maher’s Synergy salon some 12 months prior, it was time to let the Oscar Oscar brand shine in Australia’s largest city. With Queensland still responsible for the majority of Oscar Oscar Salons turnover, the move into Bondi is a strategic one.
As the lead coordinator, Mary was not only geared for salon a higher level of salon management, but familiarising a team with a completely new salon space and clientele, while growing the business from the ground up.
On loyalty to Oscar Oscar, Mary admits it was a 360-degree journey of always working with leading brands even after her time with Oscar Oscar Paddington but it was in fact spreading her wings to other areas and businesses that enabled her to come back in strong with a true appreciation and respect for Oscar Oscar, not just as a manager but as a partner and brand visionary in 2018.
Since moving locations to a completely new high-end part of the completely renovated Pacific Fair amidst a $670 million centre renovation in 2018, the Oscar Oscar Pacific Fair salon was one of the few that was still solely company owned. At the time, it had Adam Mcintosh as a manager, who also went on to become a longstanding Oscar Oscar salons employee as National Education Manager – testament to the brand’s pathways to further career success and advancement.
For the Oscar Oscar entourage the primary shopping centre locations are key to the brand’s strategy, ‘among good neighbours’ as Oscar calls it. Other high-end luxury brands at high-traffic areas of the centre is also crucial to the brand’s DNA.
“Coming back into the brand on the Gold Coast I grew the Pacific Fair store from 10 staff to 23 staff in a short space of time and as a non-hairdresser have always believed in myself as a good listener and manager of people and their potential,” Mary said. “You don’t become a good leader because every day is smooth sailing. Your mistakes and growing from them is where the evolution of a business lies.”
Having now taken on the Bondi salon as her second salon, Mary’s excited to unleash her true potential on Sydney and sees it as a bit of a homecoming after her years spent in Sydney working for Oscar and other premium brands.
You could say Mary’s obsession for high-street and high-end aspirational brand management was also further fortified during her time working at central London French Connection when that brand was in its glory days.
“I learnt so much from my manager then. I saw how she really managed and cared for her team at a time when I was a nomad, I really found my home in a strong brand with a solid team, and that’s what I’ve always wanted to create with my salon teams here, a home they can always count on or come to,” Mary said.
It’s little wonder Mary also worked for Ralph Lauren among these luxury brand tenures and has maintained loyalty to those who have nurtured her the most, including Oscar as the master brand pioneer and owner partner to each of his salon partners across the country. With Mary’s skills Oscar also allowed Mary to realise her own success and management style that’s continued to reward the brand significantly.
“I see a lot of opportunity in the Sydney team, the existing team is amazing and the potential for growth in Sydney is huge. A more diverse clientele and being able to partner with brands, fashion houses, events and community minded projects is all scope that can be achieved in Sydney – let’s be honest, that’s where most of the leading brands are,” Mary said.
Not only this but Mary has a real place in her heart for Sydney, and the opportunities that will arise for her wider salon team from having a base salon in the heart of many of the activations and events. Fashion Week, where the brand recently lead a show, is one example.
After spending 10 years there she believes while salons have continued to change and evolve, Sydney is the perfect place for a brand like Oscar Oscar.
“There is no other brand that offers what Oscar Oscar offers – a hair experience around luxury, the brand values, the products used, it’s a brand that challenges the status quo,” she said. “Bondi also brings a new challenge to stay fresh, adapt to the new and keep on-trend as a luxury brand.”
A challenge that is being met wholeheartedly involves Mary sacrificing personal and family time to be split between the two cities to ensure both salons are receiving the attention they deserve. With Bondi Junction recently victim to a tragic attack, it was only two weeks later that the music came back on in the centre and the energy has started to build again. Despite such challenges, Mary knows the market well as it was her home for a long-time, she’s connected and present with what’s happening there and outgoing in personality.
“My challenge is to get the business to grow and provide the type of hair and services clients of that area expect and want and using products that clients trust, not just for our execution but the premium products and services we offer too – this is crucial to our success,” she said. “The important thing for me to overcome these challenges in business is to have a good support network of people around me and to keep the communication regular and thorough with the entire team.”
The power of taking a team member for a quick 15-minute coffee and just having a chat and checking in with them outside of the salon without a specific reason, Mary says, has helped not only grow the team by numbers but also by rapport and consistency.
“It’s also how I’ve helped retain my team over the years and I only hope that my management style plays into a long-term legacy as a salon leader but also as someone that has maintained a positive and renewable energy in-salon. I want my team to remember me as a positive vibe,” Mary said.
Later this year other salon partners from Melbourne and Brisbane, Nathan Armagnacq, Jane Pausina and Oscar, are executing a roadshow, championing their hero brand of choice in Redken, but as an opportunity for the wider industry to come along and hear these leading managers talk and learn from each other. It’s Mary’s goal to further engage the Oscar Oscar salon in both Bondi and Pacific Fair with the wider industry as a whole. Not only this, but within the family the importance of being given career advancement opportunities is a strategy Mary will continue to embody within her businesses and ultimately continue to find ways to reinforce that there’s no other salon in the centres that Oscar Oscar salons trade in that provide that same level of luxury service to the market.
On this, Megan O’Connor, the Pacific Fair salon manager, was also in recent years given an opportunity to partner into the Pacific Fair business.
“I saw Megan’s huge potential to help grow the business and it’s important that she has the opportunity to be rewarded for that,” Mary said. “It was after the Australian Hair Industry Awards in 2020 where Megan won Salon Manager of the Year that created the ideal pathway opportunity to partner her into the business.”
For Mary, from beachside Pacific Fair and Bondi and beyond, it’s about staying relevant to the Australian market and we can’t wait to keep an eye on her combined teams of 35 plus hairdressers and where they’ll pop up next. From their own directed Fashion Week shows to affiliations with the best in the industry, for Mary the challenge of another salon and Bondi is just the beginning of the next chapter for the burgeoning brand.
For more information visit www.oscaroscarsalons.com.au
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