Mel Calver
Mel Calver grew up in Dorset and now lives in Westcombe, Somerset with her husband Tom, a cheesemaker/farmer and their two children, Rupert (9) and Heidi (8). She grew up in a creative household where her parents had a dream of building their own family home. As a child, she would spend her weekends helping to build that home. This fostered a creative side in her. She is now a proud owner of three hair salons and has turned her hobby of planting and growing flowers into a very successful micro-business.
Words & Photography from Mel Calver
My main job is cutting hair as a hairstylist 4 days a week and running my 3 hair salons. Cutting hair allows me to be creative every day. I learned to be a hairstylist in Somerset but then quickly travelled with my skills and worked in Sydney, Toronto, London and then Bath where I managed a salon for 9 years before opening my own in 2008. My hairdressing inspiration comes from the constant quest for learning and bettering myself, I try to lead with my gut and block out the noise of other people's opinions. Every client is different and I enjoy the journey someone goes on with their hair. I enjoy cutting hair so much that I could honestly do it until midnight.
Eventually, I decided to open my own salon as I was passionate about the experience the customer gets. It’s such an intimate experience and I wanted to make sure I had an environment people would feel relaxed and comfortable. I set out to renovate an old car garage in Bath for my first salon, I kept all the materials exposed, natural light as much as I could, and a mix of wood and concrete. Nowhere else was there anything like it back in 2008. I even put in an Aga/Rayburn to cook croissants for customers. Two years later I started my second salon and renovated another building, I split the team and opened up in Frome. I am extremely passionate about giving opportunities to people so I listened to my gut and ten days after my first baby was born I opened my third salon.
However, cutting hair is not my only passion. My side hustle is growing seasonal herbs and flowers for restaurants and bespoke orders. I started growing during the pandemic while I was homeschooling my kids and navigating furloughing 66 employees at the salon and I desperately needed some creative outlet. So, I signed up for a flower farming course and I did it every Friday night for six weeks. I make a mood board at the beginning of each year which I never steer away from. This gives me a vision of what to grow, sow and pot. I have 20 beds, half are perennial and half annuals, so I sow seeds at different stages meaning I have continuous flowers throughout the season. Succession sowing ensures I have a steady flow of flowers year-round. I make sure to spend a day a week and a few evenings on my plot. Having this time allows me to destress from running a business and I find it extremely relaxing.
I pick the flowers to order on a Wednesday evening and then they are conditioned overnight. I get up very early on a Thursday morning before the kids wake up and make the flowers into bunches, and then they go out for delivery. I call my bunches, Field Flowers, as I want them to look like they have been picked from your own garden when you buy them. In floristry and growing, I do a lot of research, I get inspired by nature with all the different colours and textures throughout the seasons. My favourite flowers are sweet peas and during this time of year, I adore sowing the seeds in the kitchen, as they love a warm kick to get them germinated and then put them in the Polytunnel until spring.
I love the contrast of being in the garden on my re-rooting day but the next day the contrast of being in the salon, jumpsuit and trainers on with the team and clients that have been with me for years. Years ago I was given some amazing advice that I try to stick to, ‘never let the commute to work in the car be your creative thinking time’, which is why my day outside in the garden is so important to me.
My passion is giving people opportunities and in the salons, I have 12 apprentices that we call our ‘homegrown’ stylists of the future, the next generation of stylists. I am so proud of them all. I encourage anyone to find a balance that allows them to both support and express themselves and follow their artistic path, my flowers started off as a hobby but are now rapidly becoming a micro business.
To find out more about Mel visit https://www.melanie-giles.uk/ or follow @melaniegiles or @re_rooting on Instagram and re-rooting.co.uk.
