The talented and creative Gaelle Secretin
Photo courtesy of: Gaelle Secretin
“Our job is to read our customers,” explains Gaelle
Secretin, “to look at what your wearing, your taste and to listen to you
closely. It’s important to understand you and what you like – in order
to translate that into a style that suits you, that feels true to who
you are.” Such a great quote – it could and perhaps should be included
in the MBA program at Harvard and
other top-notch business schools. Gaelle doesn’t have an MBA (as far as
we know) but she certainly could teach a Master of Business
Administration graduate course. She seems to intuitively know how
business works and how to treat customers so perfectly that they always
come back for more.
Gaelle is an astute businesswoman, no doubt, but she is also
an artist with a vision. Growing up in France and Africa she fell in
love early on with art in general and painting in particular. Basically,
she was enchanted with beauty and immersed herself in artistic
expression. Eventually, her sense of aesthetics drew her into the art of
styling. Her immense talent brought her to the famous Toni and Guy
Academy where she became the youngest style director at that
world-renowned institution. After that she worked alongside her mentor,
the distinguished entrepreneur and hair designer, Stephane Amaru.
Speaking of her years of working and studying in Paris, Gaelle says, “I
learned so much and the experience gave me confidence, and that
confidence was what pushed me to go explore the world on my own.”
And that’s exactly what she did. She moved to Southern
California, worked in salons in Silver Lake and Beverly Hills and then
organized a hugely successful crowd-sourcing drive and opened The Hub Factory in Los Angeles’
Downtown Arts District. That area was going through a revitalization at
the time and it was being transformed into the city’s “Hub” for the
arts world and its creative forces. She found a loft, hired some of the
most eclectic and diverse, and of course, extremely gifted, designers
and opened The Hub Factory.
The warn brick walls of the former warehouse lend a casual
counter point to her business of beauty and design. The antique carpets
and hanging tapestries, along with the paintings, knick knacks and books
that complete the large space, give it a feel of welcoming comfort to
all those smart people who want their hair and personas re-designed or
designed for the first time. Gaelle Secretin has a success on her hands
and nobody is surprised.
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