CHERRYANN THORNE IS A hands on business owner. She has to be as she is a licensed cosmetologist: “I love doing hair from I was a teenager. I did all my friend’s hair. I was so obsessed with hair that every two days I would do my own hair in a different style.”
Cherryann, 33, and a mum to a son, is a past student of St Leonard’s Girls’ and moved to the United States where she attended Lakewood High (FLORIDA), Canarse H. S. and New York International Beauty School (New York).
“I was in the medical field as a certified nursing assistant and hated it. At that point I realised the only thing I loved to do was hair. It keeps me sane,” she said while curling a customer’s hair in her salon.
“I have been doing this for 13 years. I trained and worked in New York for four years before making the move back home to Barbados,” she added.
Cherryann’s own hair in a loced style, and is coloured depending on her mood (“16 years natural. My locs are very low maintenance”) and she believes in healthy hair.
“My three favourite products to use on clients are Paul Mitchell’s finishing spray and serum and the Design Essential Hydrated Leave-in Conditioner. I can’t live without those three.”
“Two of the biggest mistakes people make when taking care of their hair is that they weigh the hair down with oily products like oil sheen or hair polisher. It’s great to have moist hair, but over-moist hair can lead to weak, limp hair and possibly breakage.”
For those who are thinking Cherryann looks familiar, she should be. She was the winner of the Karl J Celebrity Hair Show Barbados in 2011.
Cherryann’s salon, of which a second will soon be opened, offers different services such as moisturiser and reconstructive treatments, weaves, colour, cuts and relaxers. 
“Opening my salon was a big highlight for me but what’s even bigger is having this second location. I believe a salon should have standards and many don’t. Having my own helps me to put those standards in place. After all, it speaks for you and your brand.”
That brand is My Salon By Cherry.
“My son’s father and I were coming up with all kinds of names like ‘Cherry’s Salon’, ‘Trendy Salon’ and so on, but I just wasn’t loving any of them. Then he said, call it ‘My Salon’. It’s yours and your clients so everybody can call it their salon so make it easy and call it ‘My Salon’. I ran it by my cousin in Miami and she added on ‘By Cherry’. So now the official name is ‘My Salon By Cherry’.
Cherryann’s signature style is her bob or pixie cuts and she said her journey has been an eventful one.
“My biggest challenges when I first started my company were building clientele, establishing a good name for myself and finding good employees. When I was a junior stylist I did my first pixie cut and the client loved it. She became a regular.
“I provide high-quality services in a clean, relaxing environment. You can just come and unwind. It’s a no gossip zone. I’m here to help enhance client’s physical appearance, which helps with confidence. Make them feel their best. I educate clients on how to maintain their hair at home, give them information on retail products and equipment to do so.
“Salons are not just about being able to cut hair. I believe that it is very important to know the science of hair and what works for different clients, as each person is unique and so is their hair. Having high standards, efficiency, knowledge and a good understanding of exactly what clients want are what sets My Salon By Cherry apart from others.”
Cherryann said most workdays are rough, “Sometimes I don’t get a break . . . . But I enjoy every minute of it.’
When you see Cherryann’s work it is art. From the elaborate coiffures to the colour and cut, Cherryann said her inspiration for the looks is life.
“I am an artist and hair is my form of art. I am inspired by everything around me and I love being creative.”
That creativity also is seen as part of the entertainment company LOUD87.
“As part of that team I get to work on editorial-style projects, which gives me a platform to be creative and come up with different styling concepts. I am very ambitious, hard-working and I’m always ready for the next level. Whenever I start something I have to finish it.”
Cherryann said if she had to do things differently she would have been a hairstylist from the get-go “instead of doing the nursing assistant course”.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that ‘you can’t’ and ‘it’s not going to work’. I heard that my whole life and never listened,” she said, laughing. “Look at me now.” (NS)