Meet Fallene & Kyle Wells: The Crazy Entrepreneurs of: Let Em Have It Salon, Torpedo Coffee, Close Quarters cafe

We had the good fortune of connecting with Fallene & Kyle Wells and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Fallene & Kyle, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Kyle and I both see social impact as an important role that small business can make within their community. We empower the people on our teams to do what they are passionate about. For example at Torpedo Coffee if we have someone interested in baking, we set up internships at bakeries and they can bake their goods to sell at our shops. At our salon if someone shows interests in volunteering we help support them in their endeavor by integrating it in our culture. We also care about the impact we have on our planet. By making sure all of our to go containers are compostable, composting, recycling and diverting as much waste as possible to lower our carbon footprint at all of our businesses. 

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Let Em Have It Salon is a certified B Corporation, using our business as a force for good to make a positive impact in our world. We create a safe space where people are empowered to be who they really are. We work together as a team to mentor, uplift and train one another to ensure we are all working to give the best experience for our customers while supporting each others growth. We’re partnered with Green Circle Salons to divert, and repurpose 90% of our salon waste. What makes me excited about our salon is the opportunity to inspire our team and our customers to help them realize their full potential. Salons can be a place where we try to hide who we are to fit in to what society sees as beautiful, we try to show people that they are already beautiful and learn how to embrace what makes them unique. We have owned the salon for 7 years and I have been in the industry for 18 years. None of owning a business is easy, mostly because you can stand in your own way to growth. You have to work on yourself first to have a strong vision on where you are going, on what you value so you can become a better leader to help your team get there. Brand discovery can take years of personal development, which doesn’t come easy. Our salon has had a lot of set backs, because innovation is one of our values we are always creating our own path and that can be an uphill journey. We started out as most salons, as an independent contractor booth rental pay model, and went to a hybrid booth rent and commission, then to commission employee based, finally are a team based salon which allows for a more supportive culture. With every challenge there is an opportunity to learn and adapt. This year has been especially difficult for small business because a lot of the logistics of being productive at the salon are out of our control due to COVID. The challenge has been how to be an optimistic and authentic leader for our team. There have been enough lessons for a book in these 7 years of owning Let Em Have It. The biggest ones are if you are going to start a business understand why, what is your purpose, take the time to brainstorm what you value and what you don’t want to tolerate. This helped me to define our hiring processes, and to understand our customer. I would love for people to view salons as a path to self love and discovery and not as vanity and superficial. We could be an industry that helps empower people to love themselves for who they are and they can spread that happiness to others which would help change the world for the better.

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 day out pre-COVID to spend with friends, I would start out at breakfast at Snooze or grab coffee at our coffee shop Torpedo, we could then go to the Denver Art Museum, go shopping at all the antique stores down broadway and boutiques like Decade, Fancy Tiger. We could get a massage and facial at Jalan Spa and go for delicious Mexican food at one of my all time favorites LaLoma!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shout out to our incredible teams that help make our dream possible, and to the strength of our marriage to get through the hardships that owning a business brings. I personally would love to shout out to podcasts that are huge inspirations, Brenee Brown “Unlocking Us”, Recommended reads, “Delivering Happiness” from the amazing entrepreneur Tony Hsieh. “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek “Herding Tigers” Todd Henry

Website: www.letemhaveitsalon.com www.torpedocoffee.com www.theclosequarters.com
Instagram: @letemhaveitsalon @torpedocoffee @closequartersdenco
Facebook: @letemhaveitsalon @torpedocoffee @closequarters
Yelp: letemhaveitsalon torpedocoffee closequarters
Youtube: letemhaveitsalon