Amanda’s Salon & Boutique Offering creative and customized haircare using Davines products and colours.

802 Prince Street Truro, Nova Scotia (902) 956-2053   Amanda Perrin has been a hairstylist for 20 years. She attended training courses across North America, including classes in Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax, before opening her own salon in 2017. Amanda’s Salon and Boutique is a beautiful, comfortable space in Downtown Truro where clients come to feel relaxed while Amanda solves their hair challenges. “I love making people happy,” says Amanda. “I’m a problem-solver and a people pleaser. When someone comes in with a hair problem and they can’t get the cut or colour they’ve been looking for, that’s what I really like, troubleshooting those types of things.” Amanda’s from Truro and has spent her whole career working in the hair industry in town. She has a loyal client base, including professional women who stop in over the lunch hour, young men, children, and people from every walk of life. “I love being downtown,” she says. “My clients love the location. I have people who come from out of town that will make a whole day of it. They’ll get their hair done, do some shopping, and eat a meal before they go home. It’s great seeing people enjoying our town and all it has to offer.” Amanda has always loved doing hair, ever since she was a child. She would practice on her family and friends when she was younger, but after graduating high school, she felt pressured to attend university. “So I did that for two years,” she says, “and I just knew I still really wanted to do hair. So I went to hair school for a year, and once I stepped into a salon, that was it. I’ve never looked back.”

Amanda’s Salon & Boutique carries a unique line of high-end haircare products from Davines, an Italian brand that focuses on producing sustainable products that work wonders on all types of hair. Davines is a Certified B Corporation, which means they balance purpose and profit, considering the impact their decisions have on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. She did a lot of training when she signed up to carry the Davines line of products in her salon, and she’s still taking courses virtually during the pandemic to ensure her skills and knowledge stay current. “One of the things I like about Davines is that I was looking for a high-quality product, which it is, but it’s also unique in the market. Not a lot of people on the East Coast have heard of it, and I love introducing my clients to products that really help their hair.” Davines is organic, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly. Amanda also carries a line of makeup in the boutique. One of the things Amanda enjoys the most about owning her own business is the ability to have a flexible schedule. Because she books her own appointments, she’s able to work around the schedules of her two children, a 15-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son, who are a huge part of her life and who she is. She’s able to work as little or as much as she wants while keeping a sense of balance and spending time with her family. Owning a business can come with challenges. “There’s always something to do and something to think about,” Amanda explains. “There’s appointments, cleaning, admin work, marketing, spending time with clients – but I love it!” Amanda’s advice for entrepreneurs considering opening a business in Truro is to stick with it. “I’ve seen lots of businesses open and not stay with it,” she explains. “I know it’s hard, but if you can do it, stick with it for at least 5 years. If you have a unique product to offer or a service that you’re great at, you have to give it time to grow. I look at it almost like earning a university degree. You work hard and go to school for several years and put in all that effort, and you come out on the other side of it with a great career.”