MollyAnn Kencec, MollyAnn Hair | Business Stories Magazine

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 MollyAnn, and I’m a Colorado native, born in Boulder and raised in the Littleton/Centennial area. After graduating high school, I moved to Summit County to enjoy the mountain lifestyle and, of course, snowboard.

While living in Breckenridge, I worked as a receptionist at a hair salon. I had always had a passion for hair, and the stylists I worked with encouraged me to go to cosmetology school. I took their advice, and I’ve been a hairstylist since 2009. I spent the next several years in the mountains building my career while enjoying everything that comes with the Colorado mountain lifestyle.

In 2020, I moved back to the Denver area, and eventually my husband and I made our way back to Centennial. Today, I’m the owner of MollyAnn Hair, a private salon suite here in the community where I grew up.

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

One of the things I love most about living in Centennial is that it truly feels like home. I grew up here, and now getting to raise my son in the same neighborhood where I grew up is really special. I also love that we have the best of both worlds—we’re close to everything the Denver area has to offer, but the mountains are never far away. It’s a pretty amazing place to raise a family.

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

I started MollyAnn Hair because I wanted to create a salon experience that was about more than just great hair. One of the things I’ve always loved most about being a hairstylist is helping women see on the outside the beauty and confidence they already have within themselves.

Over the years behind the chair, I’ve seen firsthand how much our hair can affect the way we feel about ourselves, especially for women with fine or thinning hair. Helping women navigate those changes and find solutions that make them feel like themselves again has become a huge passion of mine.

Today, I specialize in customized color, haircuts, extensions, and hair toppers, with a particular focus on solutions for fine and thinning hair. Sometimes that means creating dimension with highlights or choosing a haircut that makes the hair look and feel fuller. Other times it may mean adding extensions for density and volume, finding the right topper, or simply teaching someone how to better care for and style the hair they already have.

MollyAnn Hair is a private salon suite, which gives me the opportunity to provide a very personal, one-on-one experience. There isn’t one solution that works for every woman, so my goal is to really listen, find what works for her, and help her leave my chair feeling beautiful, confident, and more like herself.

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

My biggest advice is to be willing to work hard, keep learning, and stay open to where your career might take you. The beauty industry has given me so many opportunities that I never would have imagined when I first went to cosmetology school.

Being a hairstylist is just one path. You can own a salon, manage a beauty supply store, become an educator, create a product or extension line, work with a major beauty brand, or even help other stylists learn how to build and run their own businesses. There are so many ways to grow and create a career that fits you.

For me, this industry has given me the opportunity to continually build on my education, grow as a hairstylist, and eventually become a business owner. I would absolutely recommend it to someone who has a passion for the beauty industry, but you have to be willing to put in the work. Have a strong work ethic, never stop educating yourself, and don’t be afraid to change direction as you figure out what you really love. There is so much opportunity in this industry if you’re willing to work for it.

What was one feedback from a happy customer/client that you won't forget about?

One piece of feedback I’ll never forget came from a client whose hair was still recovering from chemotherapy, radiation, and cancer treatments. She told me, “MollyAnne makes me smile at my reflection.”

That really stayed with me. As hairstylists, we can get caught up in the technical side of what we do—color, cutting, extensions, products—but that reminded me of the real reason I love this career. Hair can be such an important part of how someone sees and feels about themselves.

Knowing that I could help her look in the mirror and smile, especially after everything she had been through, meant more to me than any compliment about a haircut or color ever could. That is exactly what I want MollyAnn Hair to be about: helping women feel beautiful, confident, and like themselves again.

Where do you see your company in the future?

In the future, I hope to continue growing MollyAnn Hair while staying true to why I started in the first place. I want to keep educating myself, evolving with the industry, and finding new ways to help women feel confident and beautiful in their hair.

I especially want to continue expanding my knowledge and the solutions I can offer women with fine and thinning hair. Whether it’s through color, extensions, toppers, or simply finding the right haircut and products, I want my clients to know they have options and someone who genuinely cares about finding what works for them.

For me, success doesn’t necessarily mean having the biggest salon or growing into something huge. If I can continue building meaningful relationships with my clients, doing work that I love, and having people leave my chair happier and more confident than when they walked in, I’ll consider that a pretty successful future.

What is the biggest misconception about your industry?

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the beauty industry is that being a hairstylist is simply “doing hair.” There is so much more that goes into this career than people realize.

We’re constantly educating ourselves on new techniques, products, color chemistry, hair and scalp health, extensions, and changes within the industry. For many of us, we’re also business owners, which means we’re handling everything from scheduling and inventory to marketing, finances, and customer service.

But I think the part people underestimate the most is the relationship we build with our clients. You’re there for so many different seasons of their lives—the exciting ones and sometimes the really difficult ones. Hair can be very personal and closely connected to someone’s confidence and identity. What we do goes far beyond making someone’s hair look good; it’s about helping people feel good when they look in the mirror.

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

One of my biggest struggles has been learning that being a great hairstylist and being a great business owner are two completely different skill sets. Hair has always been the part that came naturally to me, but running a business meant learning everything from pricing and marketing to managing my time, setting boundaries, and understanding the numbers behind the chair.

For a long time, I think I tried to do everything and make everyone happy, and I’ve learned that you can’t build a healthy business that way. I’ve invested a lot in education, not only in my craft but also in learning how to run a business. I’m still learning and evolving all the time.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you don’t have to have everything figured out at once. You have to be willing to make changes, learn from what isn’t working, and keep moving forward. Some of the biggest changes I’ve made in my business have come from the times when I felt the most challenged.

Who was your favorite music artist and athlete growing up?

It’s almost impossible for me to pick one favorite music artist because I’ve always loved music. Music has an incredible way of bringing people together and creating a sense of love, peace, and connection. The Grateful Dead and Phish have definitely been some of my favorites, and live music has always been a big part of my life.

As far as athletes go, I don’t know that I ever had one particular favorite—but I’m a Colorado girl, so I think I’m contractually obligated to say someone from the Denver Broncos!

Any shoutouts you want to make?

Absolutely—my biggest shoutout goes to my husband and my son. Building a business can mean long days, late nights, and a lot of time spent working behind the scenes that nobody sees. I’m incredibly grateful for their patience, love, and support while I continue building something that means so much to me.

And of course, a huge thank you to every client who has trusted me with their hair and supported my business over the years. I truly wouldn’t be where I am today without them.