Welcome to the very first installment of our She Squad: A Spotlight on—a new monthly series celebrating the inspiring women who make our community so special. Whether they’re leading the charge, styling behind the scenes, or simply showing up for themselves and others, our She Squad is full of everyday powerhouses who deserve the spotlight.
And who better to kick things off than our fearless founder and CEO, Stephanie Cleck?
In this special video interview, Stephanie opens up about the journey that led her to create Concihairge—from her early days as a salon receptionist to the lightbulb moment as a new mom that sparked an entirely new way to experience beauty. With warmth, honesty, and a few laughs along the way, Steph answers questions pulled straight from a hat about motherhood, business, balance, and building a company that puts women first.
Whether you’re a longtime client, a fellow mom, or a stylist dreaming of a more flexible life, this conversation is full of relatable moments, wisdom, and heart. So grab a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine—we don’t judge), and enjoy getting to know the woman behind the mission.
Steph: “Hi, my name is Stephanie Cleck. I am the founder and CEO of Concihairge and I love helping other women feel good about themselves.
This is so fun. We’re starting something new. I am going to pull some questions out of a hat to talk about me, myself, Concihairge, and some other things that I have no idea. So, this is super fun. It’s almost like my birthday or something. Let me, let me see what this little guy is asking me. Okay.”
How did your own experience as a stylist and a mom shape the vision for Concihairge?
Steph: “As a mom, shaping the vision for Concihairge, after we had our first child, we were living in Northern Virginia. We didn’t have any family in town. And even though I was a hairstylist, I still needed to get my hair done. And so, I found it hard to not feel guilty to go spend three hours in a salon.
You know, $60 to $75 on a babysitter, paying for parking or taking time away from my family. And I found that there was time being with my baby. It could be used for multiple things. I could be nursing my baby, but I could also be getting my hair done. Or I could put the baby down for a nap and still be there and get my hair done.
I originally started out actually as a salon receptionist, and I fell in love with that job because I loved seeing women come in. In one way, they might have been tired, exhausted, stressed because traffic or that morning schedule, whatever. But when they left, they were like a new person. They were so excited. So, I that’s how I knew I wanted to become a hairstylist was because I wanted to be a part of that transformation, not just in the hair, but the way that the woman felt about herself after leaving her hair appointment.
So I think it wasn’t until I had my child that I was able to combine, the needs of both. Both for me, the stylist helping other women feel good about themselves. But me as a mom, seeing that the efficiency of being at home with my child versus spending time away and getting things done that I could get done at home. How that was something missing in the market.”
How has your family influenced or supported the growth of Concihairge, and do they get involved in the business at all?
Steph: “So my family has influenced, and supported the growth of Concihairge because one, I had this vision that women could have their hair done at home without going into no salon for hours.
But I also had a vision that hairstylists don’t have to work five nights a week or three, even two nights a week, if they need to be at home with their families and they don’t have to spend every Saturday in the salon that they can too be on the sidelines cheering on their kids at the soccer games, at the ballet recitals, that they don’t have to be in the salon taking care of others, especially if we can take care of those others during the week when they are at home.
And yes, my family does get involved in this business. My husband is my business partner. He works on the back in the things. He’s a bald guy. Guys, he really can’t, offer a whole lot of information about balayage and custom hair extensions or keratin treatments. Although he has learned a lot, and our teenage children do help out.
In fact, my daughter, is now, a part time employee for Concihairge. And, it’s been really cool because she was the inspiration of when I first started Concihairge and to now see her taking part in the business. It’s truly a full circle moment of just feeling super blessed and and lucky to be where we are today.”
What makes Concihairge different from other salon experiences? And how do you think it is redefining beauty services for busy women?
Steph: “Concihairge is very different. I don’t know about other women. I hate being late. And, sometimes we can’t help it if we’re balancing work and kids and family obligations and household items that need to be addressed.
Sometimes we simply can’t help being late, but I find that it, when we go to our clients houses, that they are more relaxed. They are not worried about being late. They can have the refrigerator repairman there while their balayage is processing. They didn’t have to wait for their babysitter to arrive in order for them to leave, because the stylist comes to them.
So, I think we’re making it a more low key, less stress situation for our clients. And I really think that we are redefining beauty services for these women because they see that they can have salon quality hair without the stress of leaving their house or finding time on their busy schedule to leave the house. And, but yet they can still have amazing hair from the comfort of their home.
And so they don’t have to spend, you know, three hours sitting in the salon every 6 to 8 weeks. But yet they can still look just as amazing with less stress.”
What has been your proudest moment so far on this entrepreneurial journey?
Steph: “I will say for me, my proudest moment is that other stylists, who, you know, we have work- family, we have family-family and all that. I am a stylist at heart. So the fact that other amazing, talented stylists have entrusted me with their careers has been incredible.
You know, Concihairge is built out of an idea and a need that I saw. But when I started it, I don’t know that I ever really envisioned what it could be. And so the fact that other people saw that vision when I talked to them about it, and they trusted me. That’s huge. It’s one of my proudest moments in my life.
And along with that are the thousands of women that have trusted us these past ten and a half years to come to their home, to meet their babies, to take care of their children’s haircuts, to occasionally give their husbands haircuts, that they’ve invited us into their lives. And that our team is just, I it’s just something that I’m so beyond grateful for and definitely a moment of pride that I feel.”
If you could give your teenage self one piece of advice. From everything you’ve learned as a mom and business owner—what would it be?
Steph: “Oh, that’s a good one. That’s a super loaded question. My one piece of advice would be to trust, always, always trust your gut. There have been times when I’ve tried to push that feeling or that thought down.
Whether I was thinking that I was making a mistake or I shouldn’t take the company in this direction, or I shouldn’t… should not on this service. Or you should add on this service, or you should add this to the team or, it is typically my gut is always right. And I look back, on my teenage days, from time to time, and I wish I could go back and be like, don’t question yourself so much. Like what you know and what you feel, it’s right. And, you know, I think that lesson comes with time and with experience, but that is certainly something that if I could go back to, you know, 15-year-old Stephanie, I would say your gut is right. Listen to that!”
You’re raising three teenagers—how do you balance family, business and everything in between?
Steph: “Oh, my gosh. One I used to talk, to myself and to our team a lot about the balancing act. And I think at one point I might have believed that it was like, oh, if I do this, this and this, everything is going to work out perfectly. And I think what I learned is the word act is a verb. It is a constant action that has to happen in order to try to achieve balance. So my act, my action is that, one we use a really great family calendar.
It’s just Google Calendar, but we have a specific calendar that is dedicated to our all of our family stuff. And then we have, it’s really cool. We have a board. My husband put this, like, TV board up, a few years back in our kitchen. So even our kids see what’s happening every day if it involves them.
So that’s really helpful. Scheduling means scheduling everything. I’m a huge, huge fan of time blocking. I think, my Concihairge team will tell you that, like, even if I’m supposed to do something like film some questions, it needed and to live on my calendar. Otherwise, if it’s not on my calendar with 500 reminders, it’s probably not getting done.
I think having a supportive partner, a supportive team is huge in that balancing act. Communication. Explain to my kids when you know why I can’t be there, why I want to be there, but why I simply can’t change it. So open communication helps with that balancing act so that I’m not going back and repairing hurt feelings.
Does that make sense? Yeah. And then setting cut off time. I know that there are certain weeks like the month of May. Oh my gosh, probably all of our clients can totally relate to the month of May is one of the most insane months with the end of the school year, staff and teacher appreciation week, but it’s also Mother’s Day and like all the things, it’s just super busy.
I think knowing that like that, there going to be days or weeks in that month where I’m going to be swamped with personal stuff. So I’m going to be working later in the evenings on those days, but then other days when I’m not swamped with those things really sticking to like now I’m working 8 to 5 and then and then I need to head off for the day so that I can recharge and be a better mom, better spouse, a better friend, daughter, sister, better teammate to my Concihairge crew.”
What does having a strong “She Squad” mean to you, and how has it impacted your life or business—And what advice would you give to women looking to build that kind of support system?
Empowering Women: The Role of the She Squad
Steph: “Let me just say, I don’t think that you will meet anyone in this world who says that they can do it all on their own. We all need a She Squad and I have had a She Squad for as long as I can remember, both in my personal life. Like when times when my husband was traveling because he was deployed, with the military or traveling for his daily life.
I had, She Squad of women who were helping me, you know, with kids and all those things. With Concihairge, I consider our team a She Squad. We want to elevate each other as we elevate ourselves. And it’s inspiring to be a part of the Concihairge She Squad team. But then on the outside, supporting women, that goes back to what I talked about.
Supporting women, helping them feel good about themselves has always been one of my goals. But it can’t happen with just one person. We need a whole squad, and we need to all have that same theory of building others up. I don’t build others up so that I can feel good about myself, but I’ll tell you, that is one of the perks that I have found.
And when I build others up, I feel good about myself. I’m super excited for the official launch of the Concihairge She Squad. I think our She Squad has been in existence for years, but it just never had a title. It was like kind of behind the scenes characters. But I think it’s time to shine the spotlight on all the characters that make up the She Squad of Concihairge and beyond. Let’s go She Squad!”
What inspired you to start Concihairge, and what problem were you hoping to solve when you launched it?
Steph: “Okay, kind of funny. I didn’t know I was launching Concihairge. There were two problems that I had discovered. After, I guess, late 2008, early 2009, I just had our daughter.
I needed to get my hair done. And even though I’m a hair stylist, I still wanted someone else to do my hair. There’s only so much you can do. You know, if you’re getting highlights and haircuts and all that kind of stuff. And so, I was looking up to see if a hair stylist would come to me so that because I was nursing and doing all the things and not, you know, without family in town to help and then didn’t have a sitter at the time.
I looked to see if I could find a hair stylist that would come to me and I couldn’t find one. And at the same time that that was happening, I was in a couple of moms’ groups, that all had babies around the same age as mine. And they were having the same problem with their hair.
Their roots were getting longer, and they’re like, I don’t know how I’m going to get to the salon. I am, this baby is literally attached to me, like, you know, all hours of the day. And so it was kind of at that moment that I was like, well, why don’t I come to your house and I’ll do your hair when your baby’s napping, and I’ll leave my baby at home with my husband, when, you know, he’s off work.
And it was kind of like a light bulb moment when often, like other people are looking for what? I’m looking for a stylist to come to them and. Oh, light bulb! I am a stylist that can go to them. So Concihairge was really built out of just like, an accidental discovery. And so yeah, that was the inspiration of Concihairge.
Okay. Wow, that was super easy. Thanks for asking me the questions. Concihairge. And, that’s a wrap!”
