Meet Kelle Miller– she uses her 20 years of experience in the style industry to make a change in her community and more. Although she is an independent stylist who works with a Salon called The Royal Treatment, she has a solid team behind her. The salon consists of a group of women who are all independent stylists. However, Kelle Miller doesn’t limit herself with The Royal Treatment. She is also a traveling stylist, gaining inspiration from throughout the United States. Needless to say, women who boss together win success together.
Kelle Miller describes herself as a stylist who makes women feel good about themselves. She sees the value of empowering women with confident styles. Kelle decided to become a stylist because she enjoys helping women feel good about themselves. She enjoys the creativity behind being a stylist. Kelle describes her career as a form of art.
“I get to be behind it and create an image. Some women are known for their certain hairstyles or their certain colors. I love my career. It’s like being able to play dress up all day long. That’s kind of why I became a stylist, To be free to create and the art behind it.”
Kelle Miller not only just styles and travels; she also trains. “I love helping train other stylists. Especially one’s coming in new to the industry. I’ve been a stylist for 24 years. Even being a stylist for 24 years, every day I learn something new. One thing about the beauty industry is that it is constantly evolving. So I really stay active on keeping up on the latest trends. Being an educator it is nice to help out a younger stylist that are coming into this field. I had mentors when I was younger coming in. The mentors that I had helped me become the stylist that I am today,” she explains
Kelle says there are extras that you don’t learn in beauty school. Without having a mentor to teach you the extras needed to be successful could cause frustration to new stylists.
Kelle Miller co-owned her own salon for 10 years, along with 8 other stylists working with her. Kelle made sure her stylists were successful. She believes that if her team is successful then it reflects on her level of success.
Kelle’s traveling stylist career allows her to collaborate style trends merging from California back to places like West Virginia, where she lives. She uses her training to teach her clients how to maintain their hair as well. Kelle teaches a blow dry boot camp for anyone to attend. Her classes help women learn the best products for themselves as well as styling techniques. She wants women to look good rather they are in the salon or not. “If you are my client at the end of the day, you are my walking billboard.” One thing she teaches a lot of young stylists is that your client is your best advertisement. People will spread bad experiences in salons, so doing a great job with your client is important.
Kelle sets realistic goals for her clients to achieve the looks they desire. The hardest part of her career is transformation achievement when clients are wanting drastic hair changes. She says explaining the process to clients is essential. However, she gives an upfront honest explanation to clients looking for total transformations. Kelle quotes, “I am a beautician, not a magician”. Her professional experience allows her to bring a happy medium between a client’s desire and the reality of the process to achieve that desire.
Style is everything nowadays. There are many striving stylists we see all the time on Social Media and in every community. However, Kelle goes beyond just styling. Her style also brings therapy to women suffering from cancer. Kelle launched the “Look Good Feel Better” program that has since gone nationwide, a great accomplishment from its inception in West Virginia. She uses her knowledge in the class to teach them about skin care and wigs while they are going through treatment. Cosmetology is a board-certified license, just like becoming a doctor, or a dentist. Kelle says a lot of people do not realize that. She uses her license with the importance of other board-certified licenses. She even extends free haircuts during Christmas to children in low-income homes with a program called “Cuts with Santa”.
Kelle Miller is a proven stylepreneur. She is planning to open up another salon again as well. She uses her style in leverages of entrepreneurship to teach, to heal hearts, and to boost empowerment. Being in the industry for 24 years, Kelle has seen ups and downs. She says the negative competition is a dislike of hers. “There are enough clients for everyone. Each stylist has their own niche. When I owned my salon all we did was hair and makeup. Other salons that I knew that offered facials, hair, make up, and massages, I would send my clients there due to them offering spa services. I had no problem doing that. At the end of the day, my clients were coming to me for their styles and would go to the other salons for massages and makeup. I was o.k with that. “
Kelle says the hardest part of her journey and being in the industry for 24 years, many stylists are paid on a commission basis. Building clientele is hard. There are not many hourly paid salons, so you constantly have to hustle in this industry. You have to do whatever it takes to keep and build your clients. Budgeting is essential as a stylist. If you take a vacation you are not going to get paid.
Kelle is the mother of an 18-year-old son, and taking time out for the family is o.k. Sometimes people feel like they have to choose between family life and making extra money, so balancing work life is essential. “To me, my son’s football and lacrosse games are far more important”.
To aspiring stylist Kelle advises that the style industry is what you make it, it can be such a fun industry as long as you make it. You have to stay on the trends and keep up with everything that is going on and keep hustling. Kelle says being an entrepreneur gives you the freedom to do what you want. “If I want to try something new in my career I don’t have to ask my boss I can just do it. But you have to be that person that has the drive and the will. It’s a blessing within my personal life to be able to spend time with my family.”
Check out Kelle Miller the Stylepreneur on Instagram @Kelle_stylist_ or you can catch her at the salon:
The Royal Treatment Hair Salon
1163 Greenbag Rd, Morgantown, WV · (304) 241-1592
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