"Personal, Private, Professional"

~ Established in 1996 ~

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS!

Coming Soon... More New Updated Salon Renovation's!

Sherry Miller Salon:

 The Beauty of Staying True 

By Caurie Putnam

For three decades, Sherry Miller Salon has been guided by its founder's three core principles: “Personal, Private & Professional.” Those values have shaped a distinctive and quietly exceptional experience that has earned the salon a loyal following and continues to set it apart today.

Roots

Hair wasn’t the industry Sherry Miller intended to pursue when she started college as a business and law major, but her own hair gently pulled her in another direction.

 “I was inspired by my own hair,” Sherry said. “I have naturally curly hair, and nobody knew how to handle it."

From a classmate, Sherry heard about an in-home hair salon about an hour from her school that specialized in curly hair and decided to give it a try. Her expectations were low.

“I thought it would be a kitchen hairdresser, but it was a gorgeous in-home salon run by a Redken educator who chose to work from home because she was also a Mom to young kids,” Sherry said. “She was the first person who ever did my hair right."

Sherry, a natural creative who had always loved hair, was inspired by the talented entrepreneur, but the negative words of an educator from her past echoed in her mind.

“I had been dissuaded from going into hair by my guidance counselor,” Sherry said. “I had graduated at the top of my class, and the expectation was that I would go into a field like business or law. At the time, hair had a reputation of being something you did when you didn’t have other options, and I was discouraged from pursuing it.”

Correction

After graduating from college, Sherry, who also has an MBA, began a corporate career. But as an artist at heart, she found the work personally and professionally unfulfilling. She knew she needed a career correction.

Sherry’s mother and husband, Bill, encouraged her to explore her passion for hair, and she decided to give it a try.

“The education gave me the confidence I needed that I was an artist and that I could do hair well,” said Sherry, who began working at salons in the Rochester area. “I learned quickly that corrective color was my jam. No two hands are the same, and every artist paints differently. I do one-of-a-kind work.”

After building her skills as both a corrective colorist and educator, Sherry, with the encouragement of her family, opened Sherry Miller Salon in her former home in Clarkson, New York, in 1996. In 2006, she expanded to a larger space adjacent to her family’s new home and beautiful, private 80-acre property in neighboring

Hamlin.

The green, solar-powered salon, complete with a color bar and lather lounge, is entirely private. This means clients receive Sherry’s full, undivided attention, whether they’re there for a six-hour corrective color or a simple wash and blowout.

“I’m here to service,” Sherry said. “Hairdressing is supposed to be 100% about your client.”

Privacy is equally important when it comes to client information and data. Sherry does not store client information online or use third-party booking services, and she also offers a cash discount.

“I am from the generation that remembers pre-internet,” Sherry said. “The vision I had back then is the vision I have now. Personal space and security are sacred.”

Layers

You won’t see photos of professional models on the walls of Sherry Miller Salon. Instead, you’ll mostly see photos of Sherry’s clients - a beautiful mix of prom queens, working parents, homeschool moms, college students, and glowing grandmothers - all with beautiful, healthy hair, regardless of where they are in life.

“My clients fly here, drive here, and come back generation after generation,” Sherry said. “People see someone’s hair in Wegmans or at work and notice how healthy and gorgeous it is, and they get referred to me. That’s how I’ve grown - it’s all been grassroots, word of mouth."

That’s how Sue, one of Sherry’s longest-standing clients, first found her about 25 years ago. Sue had admired a co-worker’s hair, which was done by Sherry, and asked where she went. 

“I have naturally curly hair, and it had always been a challenge to find someone who knew how to work with it,”Sue said. “Sherry was the first hairdresser who sat me down and got to know me and my hair before she did anything to it.”

Two decades later, Sue says she wouldn’t trust her hair with anyone else.

“I got married last year, and Sherry came to the Thousand Islands to do my hair, my daughter’s hair, and my niece’s hair,” Sue said. “She’s my hairdresser, but she’s also my friend and a constant in my life.”

Another client, Betsy, has seen Sherry regularly for about a decade. She was first drawn to the salon for its private location, but stayed because of the quality of Sherry’s work and her character.

“She’s a very caring person,” said Betsy, who noted that when one of her daughters began losing her hair during cancer treatment, Sherry supported her with professional guidance and products. “She’s a great person.”

Gloss

Looking back on thirty years in the industry, Sherry said she is most proud of changing lives.

“Hair is identity for a lot of people,” she said. “It’s been so meaningful to me to add value to people’s lives and to the community and beyond.”

One of the most memorable moments of her career involved helping a young woman named Miranda, whose hair was breaking off in chunks after a reaction to store-bought hair dye.

Miranda’s fiancé brought her to Sherry because he remembered a positive experience his own mother once had with her with custom, corrective color.

“Miranda didn’t want to trust me at first, but once I was done with her corrective color, her spirit changed,”Sherry said. “I watched her transform. She’s now a regular client.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 5% of small businesses survive 30 years or longer - and salons face even steeper odds. Bloomberg estimates 80% of hair salons close within the first 18 months to two years of opening.

Sherry has endured, in part, because of moments like Miranda’s, Sue’s, and Betsy’s.

“This was against all odds,” Sherry said. “I knew there was a high failure rate when I started, but I’ve stayed true to my art, and my three principles - personal, private and professional - and that’s made all the difference.”

She is also deeply grateful to her husband, Bill, and sons, Billy and Chad, for the many ways they have helped the salon thrive over the years. From helping build the salon to plowing client parking spots on snowy winter mornings, each has played an important role.

“I am also so grateful and humbled by my clients,” Sherry said. “I love every one of them.”

Looking ahead, Sherry has some cosmetic renovations planned for the salon, but mostly hopes to continue growing in the rich, nutrient-filled soil where she has planted herself.

“Eighty acres is a lot of space,” Sherry said. “I’m grateful for my clients, my family, and my health. I don’t see myself retiring any time soon. If anything, God willing, I see myself continuing to build.”

Author’s Note

When Sherry asked me to write a piece to help celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Sherry Miller Salon this year, I was honored. I have been a reporter for nearly thirty years, and for most of that time, Sherry has been my hairdresser. I learned about Sherry in the early 2000s when I was looking to donate my long hair to a wig program for children with cancer. At the time, Sherry was a Locks of Love free-hair cut site. I was immediately drawn not only to Sherry’s giving heart, but artistry and thoroughness. I had recently had a baby and was breastfeeding. Sherry took time to get to know me, my diet, my health, and my hair before even

beginning to cut. I was so impressed by the time Sherry spent with me, especially considering it was a free cut. I remain a client of Sherry’s today, and that baby I had just given birth to is a client too.