Artist Spotlight | Live to Dye Salon

Meet Emily Nicole Tummers, the creative force behind Live to Dye Salon in Charlotte, NC. Emily is more than a solo color specialist; she’s a visionary who crafts a unique "boutique experience" for each of her clients. With the support of SalonInteractive, she has discovered the crucial "missing link" that transformed her business. No more worries about stock—Emily can now confidently recommend professional products that her clients love. This innovative platform has empowered her to boost sales and earn commissions, all while making it seamless for her clients to support her online. 

Q: Tell us about you, your path into the industry, and your journey with online retail. 

I've been in the industry for over 12 years. I originally went to college for early childhood education, but quickly realized it wasn't for me. I'd always messed around with hair, so I was like: ‘Okay, let's look there.’

I toured the Paul Mitchell School in Charlotte, and it was like: ‘This is very cool. I love this vibe.’ So, I started classes there. Three months in, I became pregnant with my daughter, which was a big surprise. She's kind of gone through the whole journey with me. In those initial three months, we're taking a lot of theory classes, and the one thing that immediately stuck with me was color. I loved school, but I never really had something that was what I’m meant to do.

I stayed with Paul Mitchell, graduated, and then assisted, and bounced to another salon, trying to find my place. I worked at a big salon for five years, which was about the time frame I had set for myself: I wanted to be independent. Then COVID happened, and it was shut down for two months. When we came back in July, management found out that several of us were leaving and decided we needed to sign a non-compete—on a Monday afternoon—to work the next morning. So, I was able to move my lease up and about a week later opened Live to Dye, where I am currently, and just celebrated five years in July. 

Q: Tell us about how you came to name your salon.

So that is a full-circle moment because my wonderful, amazing mother came up with Live to Dye. I wanted something to signal that I really was passionate about color.

Q:  How did the transition to the suite life go for you?

One of the wild things about COVID was that it brought the suite to life, and now clients really love that personable “boutique” experience. I feel like my average ticket time is like three hours. You want someone for their skills, but also make sure you can connect and be yourself. 

I don't double-book, so we get a little therapy and a little best-friend interaction, and you walk out feeling amazing. I really love to give back in that way. That's what fills my cup: seeing people fall in love with themselves again, and just feeling like they're not being judged. I have struggled with mental health my entire life, so I know how intimidating it can be in new places, especially in the beauty industry. 

So I love that one of the first things people say when they leave a review is: ‘Emily just made me feel so comfortable and so welcoming,’ and that's one of my favorite things about doing hair. 

Q:  What's been your relationship with retail in general, working for other people, working for yourself? 

Never had the best relationship with retail. I definitely have a better relationship with it now that I am working for myself. The last place I worked at was almost too salesy, like wanting to force things on clients, which is actually why—if we're going to talk about SalonInteractive—once I saw it, I immediately wanted to sign up. If I love a product, stand behind it, and think a client will very much benefit from it, I absolutely want to share that information with them. 

I was running into the issue of not wanting to spend a bunch of money to put products on my shelves, because that investment is just sitting there. Until somebody buys it, it's just money spent. So, once I saw that there's this online SalonInteractive, it's just perfect.  I love that it reminds me to send recommendations to people. I love that I can just customize whatever products or brands I want and create bundles. Since I've started using it, I recommend stuff instead of just being like, 'Uh! They're gonna take a picture of it and go to Amazon or whatever.' Now I can say, 'Hey, you want to support me? Thank you for supporting me. I'm gonna send you my link, and I'll get a commission. It skirts Amazon, and then you can get exactly what you liked during the service.’ I'd say 40% have purchased what I've sent them. In two weeks, I noticed already like 60 bucks (in commissions), which, hey, it’s 60 bucks I didn't have, so I think it's been really good. 

Q: What's been your sense, from your clients, when you tell them that your Online Store even exists? 

Everybody's like, ‘Oh my gosh, that's so cool; please send it to me.' They definitely want to support me. I just think there was that missing link, and this filled it, because I didn't want to invest all the money in stocking products and didn't have an online storefront, which almost pushed them to Amazon and other sources. So, I definitely think my Online Store bridged the gap, and my clients seemed very excited. 

Q: Is there anything that really helped kickstart either how you were talking about it or what you were using to share your store? 

Yes, I did all of the above. I love the Client Connect Automations. I have that set up, so it will remind people when it's their birthday or time to book their next appointment, and all that. I actually had a client reach out because Redken sent her a Sabrina Carpenter blonde On Behalf email, and she was like, ‘Are you trying to tell me I should go blonde?’ It's not even me (laughs). I don't know what it's sending, so that's been great.

I also shared my store on Instagram, and then in the chair, somebody's like, ‘Oh, that smells really good; what is it?’ Instead of responding, ‘Hey, you can take a picture of it,’ I'm like, ‘It's the Verb Hydrate, and now I have my online storefront, so I can just send you that link, and then you can purchase it from there,’ and they get really excited. And also, like if they have anyone, even if I don't do their hair, they love the gift sets for the holidays and everything, they love that. 

Q: When setting up your Online Store, did you prefer to carry a small handful of brands, or did you aim to include as many as possible to compete with the Amazons and Sephoras of the world? 

Kind of both. I started with ‘I'm gonna limit it, because I don't wanna give them too much access.’ But then I shifted my mindset. I love listening to Britt Siva, and she inspired me. So I was like, ‘Why not?’ If they're browsing and buy something they like, that's going to benefit me. I'm gonna get money, and then they're going to use more professional products and buy them from me. And they are getting it from a reputable source. They know it's the product that they want, because I talked to them about diversion and all of that, too. I have ADHD, and I love to change things all the time. So sometimes I find myself like, ‘I wanna try this product.’ And for that reason, they have access to everything on the site. I think it's great. 

 Follow Emily on Instagram

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