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What It Takes to Build Denmark’s Most Loved Salon Brand
Episode 24

What It Takes to Build Denmark’s Most Loved Salon Brand

Tommy Nielsen didn’t set out to run a salon empire. With a finance and consulting background, the beauty industry wasn’t on his radar until an unexpected partnership led him to Rodeo, a bold new salon concept in Denmark. Under Tommy’s leadership, Rodeo has expanded to 11 locations, attracted over 20,000 members, and redefined what a salon experience can be. In this episode of Growth Diaries, host Sudheer Koneru sits down with Tommy to explore how approaching the salon business like an entrepreneur, not a hairdresser, changed everything, from building an in-house academy and training stylists from day one to creating a membership experience that keeps 95% of clients coming back.

Growth Diaries by Zenoti · Zenoti

August 12, 202552m 29s

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Show Notes

Tommy Nielsen didn’t set out to run a salon empire. With a finance and consulting background, the beauty industry wasn’t on his radar until an unexpected partnership led him to Rodeo, a bold new salon concept in Denmark.


Under Tommy’s leadership, Rodeo has expanded to 11 locations, attracted over 20,000 members, and redefined what a salon experience can be. In this episode of Growth Diaries, host Sudheer Koneru sits down with Tommy to explore how approaching the salon business like an entrepreneur, not a hairdresser, changed everything, from building an in-house academy and training stylists from day one to creating a membership experience that keeps 95% of clients coming back.


What You’ll Learn:
  • How Rodeo turned a simple loyalty card into a membership program with a 95% adoption rate
  • Why making salon data transparent to staff became a game-changer for culture and performance
  • How creating an in-house training academy solved the stylist shortage and built loyalty from day one
  • The role of “The Big Five,” Rodeo’s secret framework for unforgettable client service
  • Why efficiency matters more than endless expansion when scaling service brands
  • How being an industry outsider can help you see opportunities insiders miss


Tommy Nielsen is the CEO and Partner at Rodeo, one of Denmark’s fastest-growing salon brands. With no hairdressing background, Tommy brought an auditor’s precision and an entrepreneur’s mindset to Rodeo, helping turn it from a scrappy startup into a respected brand with 11 salons, 100+ employees, and one of the most successful salon membership programs in the world.


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Previous guests include: Matt Maroone of Silver Mirror Facial Bar, Shabana Karim of House of Enspa, Marilyne Gagne of Dermapure, Smita Vallurupalli & Shashank Kancharla of Bubbles Hair & Beauty and Old School Rituals, Rob Peetoom of Rob Peetoom Salon.


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Growth Diaries by Zenoti is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Topics

Tommy Nielsen RodeoDenmark salon businesssalon membership programbeauty industry innovationsalon CEO interviewentrepreneurial leadership in beautybuilding a salon brandcustomer loyalty strategiesin-house salon training academyservice business growthsalon industry disruptionclient retention in salonssalon business efficiencygrowing salon locationsmembership-based salon modelbeauty business scalingsalon staff training programsoutsider advantage in businesssalon brand marketingGrowth Diaries podcast episode
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