Behind the hair brand: sacha mitic and juan rosenlind of sachajuan

Sacha Mitic and Juan Rosenlind the co-founders of SachaJuan reveal the secret to creating a successful professional brand and how to step outside of your comfort zone...

How has SachaJuan evolved over the years?

SM: I opened a salon with Juan in Stockholm in 1997 and we had expanded to five salons in Sweden when we launched our professional hair care brand in 2003. When we started the product company, we were managing a huge amount of people, as well as the product company and being active in the salon. We decided to stick with our original salon and concentrate on the products and growing our professional range. We are now active in 40 countries and the US is our biggest market. Our philosophy is that hairdressing is very complicated in many ways and products are part of a tool box for manipulating hair.

What is the SachaJuan philosophy?

SM: When we launched our brand a lot of product companies were creating products with complicated names and descriptions. We wanted to help the hairdresser and the end consumer to choose the right product and know how to use it so we created a simple product that was easy to use. The aesthetic of the product was something very classic – it was a medicine bottle. We wanted the hairdresser to be able to control the product and we wanted the hair to still move and to be able to e manipulate the hair after using it. In terms of style, we love beautiful things. We love beautiful and strong women and men but that doesn’t mean it has to be aggressive. We have a classic approach to hair, but it’s done in a simplified way that’s pared down and has a quality to it.

What are the current issues facing the Swedish hairdressing industry?

SM: Young people want to become successful hairdressers straightaway but it’s hard work. When you talk to salon owners in Sweden, they always say they can’t find staff. They struggle to find people who are willing to dedicate time to perfecting their craft. One positive about hairdressing is that you can digitalise doing real hair and it wouldn’t be cost-effective to use robots to do it so our industry has real staying power.

Why does your Stockholm salon continue to be a go-to destination in Sweden?

JR: We believe in offering high performance results. Every client is a paying client, so we respect every client regardless of whether they are famous or where the client is from.

What’s the secret behind your brand’s success?

SM and JR: We still work in the salon so our brand is driven by the craft of hairdressing. For us, it’s essential to understand our roots and why we’re creating products. When we deliver products it’s important for us to understand is this a great product for our professional haircare brand and what it stands for. We always ask environmentally conscious questions as it’s important for us to use 100% recyclable PET bottles and we don’t test on animals. We don’t shout about these facts on our packaging because it’s part of our DNA and our original philosophy. We’re an honest brand so we will always tell people what we do and what we don’t do and this has earned us a lot of respect.

Why should hairdressers’ stock SachaJuan?

SM: Our brand is about giving skilled hairdressers products that will always perform and will always work well in their client’s hair. We find that very skilled hairdressers appreciate our brand because they are passionate about using the best tools to achieve the best results. As a hairdresser I know that if you have a mousse or a styling product that doesn’t perform it is really frustrating so we work hard to develop products that will perform every time. We aim to create high performance products that still feel light within the hair. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ff2sdpYwn/

3 learnings from running a successful salon and brand

1. Nothing stays the same so you should always be prepared. 2. If you want to be creative, you need to step outside of your comfort zone and don’t be afraid about what others will think. 3. Everyone talks about creativity, but most people just want to copy. You need to take a different approach to what an idea could be and not worry if it doesn’t fit into the current environment.