Meet Cathy Koluch | Founder/President

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cathy Koluch and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cathy, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think risk taking is part of being an entrepreneur and of life. Without risk there is no real great reward. Not being afraid to take risks allows you to be innovative, a thought leader and an out of the box thinker. There is no failure in failure. Just another opportunity to try again. Every day there are risks factors of many kinds, if you live afraid, you aren’t moving forward. I always say “smile.” Fight for what you believe in.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Studio Academy of Beauty is an award winning chain of beauty schools across the valley offering education in cosmetology and esthetics. We started the school in 2006. We persevered for 3 years and earned accreditation and Department of Education Financial Aid. We overcame the recession of 2008 as well as burdensome regulations from Federal regulators and attacks from State to deregulate our licenses. We have worked tirelessly to safely open our schools for students, staff and clients in a hybrid manner to continue moving forward during COVID-19. We have built teams to support our students during their journey and built an extensive network of salons and spas to hire our graduates and help them transition to the workplace. We are known for preparing our students for careers that can lead to business ownership. I am proud of the success our graduates have had over the years. We want to help those who have goals and dreams of careers in the beauty industry. There is tremendous opportunity. Our goal is to connect students with industry and to instill in them to have confidence in their abilities so they can live their best life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had a friend visiting and they had never been here I would take them to downtown Chandler to hit up San Tan Brewery for some beer flights and my favorite Mexican restaurant Juan Jaime’s. We would make the drive to Sedona for the Red Rocks then turn around and head to Show Low to enjoy the fresh mountain air, go kayaking and paddle boarding at Fool Hollow Lake and if it was winter we would ski Sunrise.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Jeff Koluch, my life partner is also my business partner. I could not have gone on this journey without him. We compliment each other so well. We are constantly strategizing and re-evaluating the way we do things to see if we can improve. We are each other’s support and critiquer. Our children have also been part of the journey. As they grew up, they all got a chance to work in the business which made it truly a family affair.

Website: www.tsaob.com
Instagram: Tsaob_beauty
Twitter: @tsaob
Facebook: Thestudioacademyofbeauty phoenix, az