Community Highlights: Meet Rachel Harned of Bombshell Blow Dry Bar and The Salon Professional Academy of Holland

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Harned. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Rachel Harned is the founder of Bombshell Blow Dry Bar, a salon company in Holland, Michigan. She grew up on the east side of the state and attended college at Grand Valley State University. She graduated from GVSU with a bachelor’s in Communications and Advertising. Her dream was to always become a small business owner. After working with small businesses as an account executive for the Grand Rapids Press, her passion emerged. After her son was born with a serious heart defect she chose to stay home and raise a family for 4.5 years. During her time at home, she created her plan for opening her first business along with her salon manager, Amanda Marquez. After 9 months of planning, Bombshell was created. 

As a small business owner, she is passionate about coaching her staff to reach their highest potential and become wildly successful. Her business has grown to become a million-dollar industry leader and is a Platinum member of the High-Performance Salon Academy, winning the Velocity, Momentum, and Industry Shifter. 

With a growing passion for the beauty industry, 2 years after opening her salon, Rachel, her husband Scott, and her business partner Nikol Taylor opened their first cosmetology school, The Salon Professional Academy of Holland. The school has been honored as a Redken Diamond Academy for 6 years due to its best practices and model systems. In 2023, TSPA was awarded the Spec Franchise Marilyn Fulkerson Community Service Award for devotion to community outreach. In 2022 and in 2023, the salon and academy are premier sponsors for The Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity Women Build. Dedication to community outreach is a number one priority to the staff and owners of both businesses. 11 years ago; she also started an organization to provide gifts for pediatric heart patients and their families during the holidays. Her 13-year-old son helps with this organization in order to show parents and kids that there is hope after open heart surgery. 

As a salon coach, beauty school owner, and mom of two active boys, she works every day to make sure life is lived to its fullest, placing God and family at the forefront. This past month, Rachel and her family embarked on a mission trip with Engedi Church to the Christian Caribbean Center for the Deaf in Jamaica. Here her team and family spent time with the deaf community using sign language to communicate and fellowship with the residents. They engaged in service activities and learned about this amazing group of individuals with big needs in Jamaica. It is Rachel’s goal to learn more sign language and engage in local deaf missions in the future. 

This year she became a board member chair for the Michigan Associate of Beauty Professionals. Just this week, Rachel gathered a group of estheticians in the state to form a group to stop new Michigan rule revisions the would make it impossible for estheticians to continue business as usual. She was successful at gaining the attention of the Michigan State Board of Cosmetology and will keep working hard to encourage lawmakers to change the scope of practice for the beauty industry making it more transparent and beneficial for stakeholders. 

Rachel’s dream is to mentor other salon owners by helping them create a solid salon culture just as Bombshell Blow Dry Bar has done over the past 8 years as well as continue to be an advocate for the beauty industry on a local and national level. Her company has increased capacity and revenue exponentially in the last few years even after a 3-month shutdown threatened to damage her salon business in 2020. It is her hope that she will continue to grow her staff, empower them to make a difference in lives, and always place God and family at the center of her life. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life has not been easy. Having a child with a serious health problem was a hard road to go down; however, it brought more clarity to my purpose here on earth. 

I also faced a big challenge in 2020 when both of my businesses were closed for 3 months. I was thankful for the support of our clients and staff to get us through that time. It was a turning point in my journey as an advocate for our industry when we formed the first salon owner coalition to help salons reopen safely. My husband and I were able to testify in Lansing before the covid committee to make a stance for why salons/spas were safe to open during a pandemic, and we received the governor’s attention because consequently she announced a date to reopen salons. 

Now we are facing another threatening change to our industry with new rules being written to stop our estheticians from performing services that are vital to their livelihood. We will continue to fight by working with lawmakers to change our scope of practice. 

In 2020, my mom faced a tough diagnosis of breast cancer. She was a fighter and is now a survivor. 

Other than that, my life is a huge blessing! 

As you know, we’re big fans of Bombshell Blow Dry Bar and The Salon Professional Academy of Holland. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Bombshell is a full-service salon but is unique because of its blow dry bar concept. We offer blow dry bar services along with color, cut, extensions, waxing, and an array of spa services such as facials, lashes, and more. 

We are a commission-based salon which means our employees work in a team-based environment with the motto TEAM FIRST! We have a code of honor that helps guide us through our choices each day. Our team is comprised of 20 beautiful, talented, hardworking, sophisticated women! We love to win together and to bring joy to our clients’ lives. We are also a teaching salon which means the we have 4 educators who spread their passion to young artists each day. We hire newly graduated cosmetologists and teach them what we call a “master’s in hair” in order to boost their success in the industry. Our team culture is centered around commitment and family-based work environment. Our team is driven and goal-orientated. They also place education as a top priority because our industry is constantly evolving and changing. Our team of leaders has really created the most amazing place to work. Special thanks to Amanda, Brittany, Casey, Josie, Shannon, and Remington, our Bombshell leadership team! 

Our Cosmetology school is no different. Our staff of 15 employees are some of the most loving and generous individuals. They have a passion that is for the student, and they place the student as a top priority. Education on the highest level while following state guidelines is what they do. Our school has won many awards within our franchise as well as national awards through Redken, our designated brand. It’s not easy to be the best but we always strive for being at the top if possible. Our team is so dedicated to our mission, and they love that we have growth opportunities within the company. Nikol, Scott, Kathryn, Jessica and Jenna do a phenomenal job created team unity and balance. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory was growing up in North Carolina with parents and younger brother. The weather was perfect for exploring the outdoors year-round. The people were caring and loving. The opportunity for anyone to live in another country or state is a great way to broaden your mind and give them dreams for a future outside of their comfort zone. 

Contact Info:

• Website: bombshellbdb.com
• Instagram: bombshellbdb
• Facebook: bombshellbdb
• Other: tspaholland.com
• Instagram: tspaholland
• Facebook: tspaholland

Image Credits
hzphotograpy