Mateo Wood first dreamed of becoming a hairstylist and owning a salon when he was a student at Desert Vista High School in Ahwatukee.
“Looking back, I always knew I wanted to own my own business in some aspect, and I knew it was the perfect fit for me when I entered the beauty industry,” Wood says.
While Wood figured it would take him a number of years before he could open his salon, he ended up achieving his goal much sooner.
Wood opened Verbena, The Salon in October, 2021 in the east valley when he was just 21.
As Creative Director and Owner of the salon, Wood’s job titles are “Hair Extensions Guru,” “Color Wizard and “Weiner Dog Dad” – the latter a reference to his beloved Dachshund, Dulce.
His business partner, salon manager and fiancé, Zachary Novak, is “Healthy Hair Advocate,” “Image Consultant” and “DayMaker.”
“As a salon we cater to a very very wide range of client demographics. I mainly work on women from their mid-20s to mid-70s, as I greatly focus on coloring and extensions services as a passion of mine,” Wood says.
As Wood, now 23, notes, he decided to launch his salon earlier than planned because he wanted to create an environment that is enjoyable, encouraging and supportive for him, and his team of stylists.
“I wanted to nourish stylists at all experience levels to be successful with what they are passionate about and to experience a work life balance that encourages true wellness,” he says, adding that it is important to him that his stylists not only make a fair wage, but also work in a place that figuratively “fills their cups.”
This devotion to his co-workers’ happiness and fulfillment led to Wood forming the Co-stylist Program, a 90-workday long mentoring and training period where brand new stylists grow into full-time skilled stylists that already have a growing clientele.
“After a verbal and technical interview, and two weeks of training, our Co-stylists start taking clients one day a week, and they assist me behind the chair two to three days per week,” he says.
By the time new stylists finish the program, they are ready to work a full four-day workweek.
“For my other stylists who are already experienced and confident in their behind the chair skills, I do find other ways to implement newness and excitement to a career they’ve already been doing for many years,” Wood says.
“We host regular in salon education, we do team building activities, we volunteer as a team for charity events or other outreach, and I also match their investment in their own education 50/50.”
Wood says he is equally as passionate about being involved with the local community as he is mentoring his new stylists.
“As a salon we do a couple things to give back and create community. We regularly donate and partner with a local organization called One N Ten, and we are in the works for creating educational opportunities, and we’ve even been involved in backstage hairstyling work for fundraising events they’ve done,” Wood says.
“We have also partnered with Hope Women’s Center, and in the upcoming year we are going to be launching a program with them to educate women in safe and effective hair styling. Our hope is that this valuable skill will lead to new job opportunities or inspire them to go further into Cosmetology.”
Wood is also immensely proud of owning a salon that offers a very inclusive and compassionate environment – something that many clients have looked for and are glad to have found at Verbena, The Salon.
While Wood admits that owning a growing salon can be a lot to juggle at times, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“If I had to pick one thing it would be all the people I get to see every day. I love my staff so much; they are all unique individuals that share the same heart for others that I do. And I love all my clients, catching up with them about life and things really fills my cup each day,” he says.
“Knowing that you are a small but important part of someone's life is such a cool thing to cherish.”
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