How a luxury Afro hair salon is using Gemini to reach new customers

An interview with Adizat Oseni, founder of HBA Studio, a Dublin-based hair salon.

When I was young, I was turned away from hairdressers in Dublin because they just didn't know what to do with my Afro hair. While studying at college, I saw other students encounter the same problem, so I'd help with their hair, and soon realised I had a talent for styling. I started working as a freelance stylist, practising in a public community space where I met women and girls, some of whom were asylum-seekers. They’d inspire me with their stories and spirit of resilience as I styled their hair. On weekends, I’d see clients in my mum's kitchen. Soon I was fully booked and realised that there was a significant gap in the market for Afro hair experts. This spurred me to get a hairdressing qualification and start saving for my own place.

I opened the first HBA Studio in 2017 on the outskirts of Dublin, and in 2022, I moved to the heart of the city. We're proud to be one of Ireland's first premium Afro hair salons.

Our ethos has always been to deliver exceptional service in an open and warm atmosphere. While repeat business is very important, growth depends on connecting with new customers. To reach more people, I started posting on social media, but there was no clear story or rationale behind my posts. So, I created a Gemini Gem, a digital expert trained specifically in HBA's brand voice, audience, and goals, to help me develop a strategy.

“This Gem now supports our content strategy end to end: It analyses trends to suggest which posts to create, advises on imagery, and recommends optimal times to publish.”

The Gem doesn’t replace my own creativity or expertise, but it helps me develop ideas and look at things from different perspectives, which is so useful as a solo business owner.

Last year, I used the Gem to launch our new hair collection and heat-protectant hairspray. It helped me put together a social media strategy as well as a wider creative campaign to increase engagement and reach customers beyond Ireland.

“One of the posts I crafted based on that strategy generated 10 times our usual views, and we had interactions with people from across the world. As a result of this and other posts, we now ship products to customers across the UK, US, and parts of Africa.”

My goal is to open HBA Studio in different cities across Ireland and make a real difference to people with Afro or other kinds of hair textures. But success goes beyond expansion. After facing a personal loss and taking time off recently, I was moved to see the business continue to thrive. Building something resilient that grows through every season, much like the women who inspired me at the start of my journey, is what I am most proud of.