Meet banker who quit to become hairstylist

Forty six-year-old Bruno Oahina rose to become an assistant manager in a bank, but left his banking career to set up a unisex beauty salon. In this interview with Daily Trust, he tells his story. Why did you leave a job at a  bank to set up a salon? I planned my exit from day […]

Forty six-year-old Bruno Oahina rose to become an assistant manager in a bank, but left his banking career to set up a unisex beauty salon. In this interview with Daily Trust, he tells his story.

Why did you leave a job at a  bank to set up a salon?
I planned my exit from day one because anything can happen in the banking industry. Before I went into banking, I’d actually discovered my talent so I was only looking for a platform to fully express myself. We all know how it is in the bank; when you’re given a target and you don’t meet it, you’re fired.So, I thought of a Plan B. But even before the idea came, I used to follow my wife to the salon and each time I go there, I observe the way they do their things and sometimes, I talk to people, ask questions and all that.
In the course of discussing with the stylists, I discovered they were just looking for a role model, so I decided to mentor them, but they weren’t taking it seriously, after all I was a banker and advising them about their skills. So, I started learning the handiwork to be like them, and that brought us closer.
I used my spare time to learn more about the job. But before starting mine, I went to a well-known salon to get some clues about the business aspect, in addition to someone who was also teaching me at home, and today I’m happy that my salon is located in one of the largest malls in Nigeria – a place where even my workers can proudly say I’m a stylist at Bruno’s Place.
You said you had to learn the skills. Which major skills did you acquire?
I started with barbing and now I can barb very well, I even barb white men’s hair perfectly. You know women spend more money than men so I started learning how to fix weavon, braids, how to cut and style women’s hair but it got to a stage where I discovered I couldn’t do everything myself so I started training people. Now, I do more of supervision; I just guide and direct the stylists.
How often do you organise training sessions?
We train people almost all the time; like in our Lagos branch which is well established, we have close to ten apprentices, but we just started the Abuja branch. We even have NGOs that bring people for us to train, which we do free of charge.
What are the major challenges in your business?
High dollar rate, because we pay our rent in dollars or its equivalent. Getting a shop in a mall is very expensive but however, the business is not bad. I wanted to be in a place where I don’t have to look for customers because the mall is trendy and it’s where people naturally troop to everyday.
Since you pay your rent in dollars, how do you make ends meet from what you charge your clients?
You can’t compare the kind of customers we get on a monthly basis with the ones people outside the mall get. In Lagos alone, we have close to 10,000 clients on our data base and we are less than 3 years old. The truth is: we are not running at a loss, we are paying our bills, my staff are being paid and I’m fulfilling my dream.
Being a stylist presently, how do you relate with your former colleagues in the bank?
I’m happy and they are happy for me too. I left as an assistant manager and my salary was half a million naira but today I have 55 staff and I pay salaries of about N2 million monthly. So, which is better? Besides, when I was working in the bank it was just me alone, but today I’m giving back to the society; which is what I had always wanted to do.
Who are your major clients?
We have clients from different backgrounds and strata.We also have lots of celebrities, I don’t want to mention their names but we thank God.
Do you regret doing this business?
No. I don’t. For you to know that I’m happy, it was the same bank that I was asked to leave that holds me in high esteem because they see me as a testimony.