Lisa Edwards

So nice to meet you! First off, what’s your name? Tell our readers a bit about yourself: where you’re from originally and where you live now.

My name is Lisa Edwards, and I’m the President, Creative Director, and a Master Colorist at Sunday Salon in Raleigh, North Carolina. I’m originally from Connecticut and began my career in the beauty industry there before moving to San Francisco in 2011. During my time in San Francisco, I worked at Cinta Salon and diPietro Todd, where I developed a strong foundation in hair color, education, and the level of technical excellence that has continued to shape my career.

In 2020, my husband, Andrew, and I moved to the Triangle. We opened Sunday Salon in Cary in 2021 and, after several years of growth, relocated to our new salon at Raleigh Iron Works in June 2026.

Today, I still work behind the chair as a Master Colorist while leading the creative direction and continued growth of Sunday Salon.

Tell us one thing you love about where you live now.

I love the sense of growth and community in Raleigh, and Raleigh Iron Works has really become a reflection of that for me. There’s an incredible mix of local businesses, restaurants, creative companies, and people all contributing something different to the development.

Since opening Sunday Salon at Raleigh Iron Works, I’ve loved becoming part of that community. There’s an energy here that feels creative and forward-thinking while still feeling very connected and local. We’re constantly meeting new people, collaborating with our neighbors, and watching the area continue to evolve around us.

It feels like we’re not just building our business in Raleigh, but becoming part of what’s being built here, and that’s really exciting to me.

Tell us a little more about what your company does and how it started. How does it help your customers?

Sunday Salon is a full-service hair salon specializing in hair color, precision haircuts, lived-in and low-maintenance styles, extensions, and treatments for a wide range of hair types and textures.

My husband, Andrew, and I opened Sunday Salon in Cary in 2021. From the beginning, we wanted to create a salon that combined a very high standard of technical work with an experience that felt personal, thoughtful, and comfortable.

Hair is incredibly personal. Our job isn’t simply to provide a service. It’s to listen, understand what someone wants, consider their lifestyle and maintenance preferences, and use our expertise to create something that works specifically for them.

We also invest heavily in education for our team. The beauty industry is constantly evolving, and we want our stylists to continue developing their craft throughout their careers. Ultimately, that translates into a better experience and better results for our clients.

If someone wants to start a business, what advice would you give them?

There is a lot of excitement around starting something, but building a business requires consistency when things aren’t exciting. You have to be willing to learn constantly, make mistakes, change your mind, solve problems you never anticipated, and keep showing up.

I would also say to pay attention to what your business is teaching you. Some of the decisions we make today at Sunday Salon are very different from the decisions we would have made when we opened in 2021. That doesn’t mean the original decisions were wrong. The business grew, and we grew with it.

Have a strong vision, but don’t become so attached to one way of achieving it that you stop adapting.

What is one piece of feedback from a happy customer or client that you won't forget?

The feedback that stays with me most is when a client tells me they felt genuinely heard and cared for. Hair is incredibly personal, and over the years I’ve been fortunate to build real relationships with clients and be part of so many different seasons of their lives.

Of course, I want every client to leave loving their hair, but for me, it has always been about more than the end result. I want people to feel comfortable, understood, and taken care of while they’re with us. When someone tells me they felt listened to or that they trust me completely, that means a lot to me.

Some of my clients have been with me for many years, and those relationships are one of the most meaningful parts of what I do. That genuine connection and trust is something I never take for granted.

Where do you see your company in the future?

I see Sunday Salon continuing to grow, but I’m very intentional about what growth means for us.

Opening Raleigh Iron Works gave us the physical space to think much bigger about education, career development, our client experience, and what Sunday Salon can become as a company. I want us to continue attracting incredibly talented people and creating an environment where hairstylists can build meaningful, long-term careers.

I’m also interested in continuing to evolve what the salon experience can be. I pull a lot of inspiration from hospitality, design, travel, retail, and wellness, and I think there is tremendous opportunity to rethink some of the traditional expectations around visiting a salon.

Whatever comes next, I want our growth to feel purposeful.

What is the biggest misconception about your industry?

I think there are two misconceptions that often go hand in hand: that doing hair is easy and that it isn’t a career where you can be incredibly successful.

This industry requires an enormous amount of education, technical skill, discipline, creativity, and hard work. Becoming great at your craft takes years. You’re constantly learning, refining your skills, building relationships with clients, and adapting as the industry evolves.

At the same time, there is tremendous opportunity in this profession. You can build a loyal clientele, specialize in a craft you love, become an educator, travel, work alongside incredible brands, lead a team, or build a business of your own.

I’ve built my entire career in this industry, and I think hairstyling deserves to be viewed as the skilled profession that it is. There is no shortcut to success, but if you take your craft seriously and are willing to put in the work, you can build an incredibly rewarding career.

What has been one of your biggest struggles building your business, and how did you deal with it?

Learning how to grow without losing what made the business special in the first place has probably been one of the biggest challenges.

When Sunday Salon was smaller, communication was easier and many things happened naturally because everyone was closely connected. As the team grew, we had to become much more intentional about our systems, expectations, education, communication, and culture.

The move to Raleigh Iron Works intensified that. We were designing and building a significantly larger salon while continuing to operate the business, serve our clients, and support our team.

I’ve dealt with that by becoming more comfortable with change. What worked at one stage of the business may not work at the next. I’ve had to learn when to hold firmly to the vision and when to change the process we’re using to get there.

Where can our readers learn more about you and your company?

You can learn more about Sunday Salon, our team, services, and online booking at sunday.salon.

You can also follow us on Instagram at @sundaysalon_ to see our work, education, team, salon experience, and what’s happening at our Raleigh Iron Works location.