Hair salon to open in Crosstown Concourse

Hero & Sage | SUSAN ELLIS - MBJ

”I was always in my sister's hair," said Whitney Adams. ”She didn't like it."

Adams' business partner, Barbara Barnett, was also the type of kid who cut her Barbie's hair and styled her friends' hair for dances and other special events.

Now, the two lifelong stylists are teaming up to open Hero & Sage in Crosstown Concourse on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The pair were working at a popular Midtown salon and had to plan their new business on the sly.

”That was the hardest part: To plan to open a shop on our half days and weekends without letting anyone know,” Barnett said. ”That's the nature of the business.”

Barbara Barnett and Whitney Adams, owners of Hero & Sage | SUSAN ELLIS - MBJ

They had a direct hookup to the Crosstown space: Barnett cuts the hair of Todd Richardson, the cofounder of Crosstown Arts.

”We knew immediately that this was where we wanted to be," Barnett said.

The space, designed by Austin Magruder of PKM Architects, is warm and inviting. It has a small sitting area at the front featuring a shelf of environmentally friendly products from Kevin Murphy. A counter separates the front from the dryers and shampoo area.

Along one wall are four stylists chairs. Once the pair gets settled, they plan on recruiting two stylists to work either on commission or by renting a chair.

The women can't pinpoint a specific Memphis style but said that, for Midtown folks, it's "anything goes.” They said the trend right now is the sexy, long layers of the Biolage look and natural-looking color. Hero & Sage will be a full- service salon.

”We do a little bit of everything,” Barnett said. As for the name?

”We didn't want anything conventional," Adams said. ”I just went to Google one night. We're both into astrology. Then this hero and sage article came up, and it just really fit us. It's like we're each other's yin to her yang."

Credit: Susan Ellis – Projects Editor, Memphis Business Journal