Elysium Hair Brisbane
Colour in Brisbane

If you’re familiar with the name ‘Elysium Hair’, it’s probably because you’ve heard it through a microphone to the tune of raucous applause. The salon team has had an award-winning year most salons dream of, taking out Australian Salon Business of the Year at both the Australian Hair Industry Awards (AHIAs) in March and the Hair Expo awards last month. Let’s find out why.

The Elysium trajectory began in Brisbane in 2008, where Kate and Oscar Henderson finally acted on an ambition to create a small business with optimal customer service at its core. The duo purchased a salon most would kindly describe as a ‘fixer-upper’ on the first floor of a dilapidated office building in the Brisbane CBD and then got to work, moulding the salon into the establishment it is today.

The pair has now expanded the team considerably, with 15 staff contributing to an incomparable salon culture.

“It has never been about money for us,” Kate shared. “We just hope to have an amazing, strong customer service business that offers a stable place for our team to flourish and grow, where we can support our own lives and families and a place we can all be proud of.”

That pride remains strong with a host of awards under the salon team’s belt. The salon decided to enter awards as a forum through which to learn and grow, utilising the process as a means through which they could improve their business. The salon has had a wealth of success, winning this year’s salon business awards at Hair Expo and the AHIAs, as well as taking out Salon of the Year at the Australian Hair Fashion Awards in 2015. They’ve also been awarded the Best Hair Salon award at the Australian Small BusinessChampion Awards in 2013, best Salon Design at the AHIAs in 2015 and more. What began as just local accolades have now been stretched to acclaim all over Brisbane as well as winning every major national salon award the country has to offer.

“Winning these awards is something we are immensely proud of,” Kate said. “A small business in Brisbane winning every single national best hair salon award out there is pretty crazy! However, we do not have big egos and we will never let this go to our heads. In fact, we have so much more to do, so many more improvements we can make and so many more ideas on how we can enhance guests experience with us that it sometimes makes our heads spin!”

It’s that humble attitude, the pursuit of education and desire to put the client first that sees the Elysium Hair trophy cabinet continue to fill.