Cristal Galloso

Cristal Galloso

On their way to school each day, two sisters passed salon Azul Violeta in their hometown of Michoacán, Mexico. The constant presence of the storefront inspired them to one day operate their own beauty shop. Years later and thousands of miles away, the sisters opened a salon in Whitehall, Ohio. They named it Azul Violeta Salon, commemorating their hometown’s business. When the sister’s decided to sell the shop to care for an ailing loved one, the salon became Cristal Galloso’s. The acquisition fulfilled yet another aspiration for the 24-year-old Galloso, who dreamt of one day running her own business.

Galloso’s parents moved to Columbus from a small town outside of Mexico City. The United States offered greater economic opportunities for the family. Galloso and her parents are a tight knit unit and she attributes much of her success to her parents constant support. Galloso wanted to share her story with ¡Dímelo, Columbus! to inspire others to pursue their dreams and push past doubters and negativity. We met in her business, which she refers to as both Azul Violeta Salon and Cristal’s Beauty Salon. Listen to Galloso’s story of becoming a business owner at the age of 23:

Owning a business at 23-years-old:

🎧 Listen (3:51)
“My business is called Azul Violeta Salon. I’m 24-years-old, I’ve always wanted to have my own business. We do a little bit of everything and it’s more of a family place… We have a family friend, her name is Cindy and she’s a cosmetologist – she has her own salon. When I first came here she was the first person that I met that did hair, she would cut my hair and do my nails and stuff… I would just see that she was her own boss, she would take time off and go on vacation… I thought, ‘I’m gonna be like her one day…’ I always wanted to have something of my own… I’m 24 now, but when I took over [Azul Violeta Salon] I was 23. I didn’t think it was going to happen. I feel like anybody can achieve anything if you just work for it and I’ve had my parents next to me always helping me, encouraging me to go for what I want…and that’s a big thing for you to have that support.”

“Let’s go for it:”

🎧 Listen (5:49)
“When I was in school I was working in a junkyard [as a cashier]… On the first day I wanted to quit, but with time I learned. There were a couple times where guys doubted me because I was a girl and didn’t know nothing about cars… I feel like stuff like that just pushed me to do better. I’ve always liked to prove people wrong.”
“[While working at a salon] I was looking for a chair, I went online and saw they had one here [at Azul Violeta Salon] and were selling it. So I called the girls and was like ‘Hey, I’m interested in the chair…’ I came by myself to get it and I was like ‘This space is really nice, why are they getting rid of it?..’ We got into a whole conversation [about why they were selling it]… They got it into my head ‘Why don’t you buy it [the salon]? Why don’t you take over it?…’ I just kind of took a piece of paper and wrote how much I’d be spending… how much are we talking about, and I was like, ‘I can do this…’ That night before I called them I was praying, that if it was meant to be for me, let’s just go for it… My dad said ‘I’m gonna support you in whatever you want to do…’ Since day one from beauty school I kinda already knew what I wanted, but I didn’t think I was going to have my own salon at 23!”

Making it happen:

🎧 Listen (2:59)
When I was in beauty school, one time I made a comment [on Facebook] about how expensive beauty school was.. This guy sent me a message asking, ‘Why are you paying so much for beauty school? That just seems dumb to me…’ I told him, ‘ Look you know I’m going to school because I like it, but it’s not just about cutting hair – you can be a teacher, you can have your own business… I’m gonna have my own business…” He’s like, ‘A lot of people just talk but they don’t make stuff happen…’ When I opened the business… he came [to Azul Violeta] when it was really busy [for a haircut]… He brought it up, he said ‘Do you remember what I said to you?’ and I said ‘Yes…’ He’s like, ‘You’re one of the few people who said something and made it happen.’

A Latina entrepreneur:

🎧 Listen (3:46)
“I identify myself as an entrepreneur, a Latina entrepreneur. I never really thought about that, I am always so busy working I never described myself as that. I also wanted my own salon because I wanted to give back to my parents… I’m always excited to come to work, I have new clients, my regular clients.”
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text are copyrighted to Leticia Wiggins. Music for introduction & interlude by The Original Soundtrack (thanks, guys!).

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