Keeping the ‘clean’ in your routine

Saudi national Layla Alhajjaj, 36, is the brains behind Boho beauty

Tell us about your business – what inspired the idea and when did you start it?
Boho Salon started as a hair salon with a sustainable and ethical beauty concept in Abu Dhabi, in November 2020. It was a covid baby! During lockdown, I wanted to leverage remote working and the change in my workload by creating and investing in a business that is mine. I never thought I’d open and operate a hair salon. I started my career in Oil and Gas working as an engineer in the field and in operation, did that for six years, then I made a career change to delivering community development programs in a Non-Profit organisation focusing on people with intellectual disabilities. During COVID, I started looking at what opportunities are there for me, mainly businesses to buy and improve considering that there were a lot of expats liquidating their assets and leaving the country. I came across this salon in a strategic location, that I then acquired, rebranded, redecorated and staffed. The process took 2.5 months from purchasing to transforming then opening which was a good way to start at first.

My passion for social impact and being a part of the change that this world needs is important to me and any business I build will carry my values. I believe that businesses play a role in making the world a better place and that there is a way to be both profitable and impactful. Hence, the sustainable and ethical concept in the business.

Now, Boho Dubai opened in Arjan in June 2023 offering both hair and beauty services under one roof!  

What do you consider to be your greatest personal and professional achievements?
Pushing the boundaries by doing the unusual and taking risks despite the background noise saying Don’t do it.

Although I graduated with a computer science degree and got myself a full master’s scholarship in a top university in the US, I decided to join a male-dominated industry for the challenge. Working in an oil and gas operation for 6.5 years shaped me as a person but it was not aligned with who I am nor with my values. Landing a different role in a different industry was not easy since I was a field and technical sales engineer, but I managed to land a role that opened a lot of other doors for me.

Deciding to open a business during COVID, wasn’t something anyone encouraged me to do, I am proud that I did it and proud of my expansion.

What are the keys to creating a profitable business?

• Believing in yourself while knowing your strengths and weaknesses.
• Having a support system that believes in you, especially when you don’t.
• Consistency.
• Sharing the pie with your employees rather than eating all the cake by yourself.

What were your biggest business challenges? How did you overcome them?

It was shifting from managing people in a corporate setting composed of people with similar qualifications and professional backgrounds to managing people in a different setting that uses emotional thinking rather than reasoning and analytical thinking.

I like to empower my team to be able to make their own decisions when it comes to work and get their input on building the business. However, I realised this was the wrong approach to implement as in such a setting, a commanding leadership will be more effective. I had to work on developing the skills needed for that role but also hired someone with that skill.

What three pieces of advice would you give to the younger generation that might want to follow in your footsteps?

• Start investing early in your 20s. You can establish a balance between living your best life and building a life for yourself in your 20s. The biggest mistake a lot of people make is to wait until their 30s.
• Have a side hustle. Dedicate some of your free time to do something that brings you an income. It doesn’t have to be something you love, but something that makes you money.
• Surround yourself with people who are doing better than you in their careers. Keep expanding your circle; your social network is your net worth!

What advice were you given when you started, and did it help?
When I first started, I reached out to two of my friends who have businesses that advised me not to get into the hair industry emphasising that the ROI is not worth all the hassle that comes from it. I have to admit that these two conversations demotivated me for a while. It was important that I didn’t doubt my capabilities going into it. Hence, I decided to go into the business silently without engaging in conversations with other people.

On the other hand, before opening the second branch, I reached out to a friend of mine and asked if it would be crazy to open a second brand and acquire a third business in the same year, while still having a job. His response was, “What is the worst that can happen? You lose it all and start from scratch? You can build yourself again. You did it once, you can do it again.” That advice encouraged me and made me feel, if not now, when?

How do you manage the daily stress that comes with running a business?
I’ve learned how to manage my stress and reactions through the business. Initially, I used to freak out and always felt that everything should be corrected right away. I learned to be patient and to always remind myself that it is not the end of the world, whenever something goes wrong. Let it be for a while and choose wisely which battle I need to engage in. 

In your price menu, you have a Boho Deluxe Scalp and Hair Ritual can you elaborate a bit more?
Hair health starts with a healthy scalp. With this ritual, we customise a combination of products that target concerned areas that are unique to every client. Whether your scalp is dry, oily, sensitive, or itchy, we have the right treatment for you. Similar to hair, we will assess your hair needs and choose a treatment that targets that area.

We can see that you also specialise in curly hair. What is the difference between a normal cut and a curly dry cut?
People with curly hair was a segment that was underserved in the UAE. Now, there are few places like ours that offer these specialised services. Curly hair has a different hair texture, therefore, different needs require them to use different hair products as well as follow a curly hair routine.

When curly hair is dry, the curls will have different elasticity or even a different curl pattern. If you wash the hair and do a wet cut, those differences won’t be visible, and the haircut won’t be even when the hair is dry. That’s why curly hair should be cut when it is dry, that way the stylist can see the real status of every side.

Anything stands out and sets you apart from other salons?

• Quality of products we carry. We only work with brands that are cruelty-free, vegan and source ingredients sustainably and ethically. We take pride that our two main brands are B Crop certified.
• We implement sustainable practices.
• We believe in a holistic approach to hair services. We don’t only specialise in colour but also in haircare. Regardless of which hair service you looking for, we assess your scalp and hair health and suggest working with you on how to maintain both.

If you look back over your life and career, if you were given the opportunity to do anything different would you?
This is hard to say. If I chose a different path, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I might have chosen to study business instead of computer science, to work in business function rather than engineering and definitely to start investing in real estate earlier than I did.

Have your priorities changed as you have matured? If so, how?
My Priorities stayed the same which is to always keep evolving and growing as a person and to build a life that I am proud of. The definition of what that looked like has changed over the years, but it has nothing to do with maturity. More to do with a change of values and fulfilment. When I was younger, my goal was to become a VP or a president of an international corporate company in the Middle East. That didn’t appeal to me anymore. Then for a while, all I wanted to do was to have an impactful job in a non-profit and to become a yogi and a sound healer. I’ve spent time and money training on that spiritual path which I still enjoy now. I expected that this path would fulfil me but it didn’t. Now that I am an entrepreneur, despite the challenges, can’t imagine myself doing anything different.

What inspires you?

• Growth & results. Seeing what I can accomplish and how far I can push myself.
• Conversations with like-minded entrepreneurs

Do you prioritise your mental health, and how?
Before the business, I always prioritised my mental health by preventive tools and routines like yoga, journaling, various spiritual activities as well as working with a therapist/coach. However, with the business, I have not been able to establish a healthy routine whether it be for mental health or fitness. It became a thing I prioritised whenever I felt burnt out. This is something that I am slowly starting to work on this year.