When Tabatha Coffey isn’t busting balls of failing salons and turning them around on her hit BRAVO show Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, she’s either cutting hair at her humble New Jersey salon Industrie Hair Gurus, or serving clients on the west coast at a more posh salon in Hollywood: Warren-Tricoma. She also represents the Joico hair products line, which she exclusively stocks at Industrie, and does editorial hair styling for spreads in magazines like Marie Claire and Seventeen.

With all of these (well-deserved) high-falutin’ projects, what’s it like inside of Tabatha’s small salon in Ridgewood, New Jersey? As pictured above, the building, located in a strip-mall, has a modest exterior including a puzzlingly unstylish sign. From the video footage below the inside is a nice surprise. It’s a small, simple, well-organized, unpretentios space with hardwood floors and red accents. Although Tabatha proclaims the space as clean, there is a hint of clutter, and a lack of polish that’s kind of homey. If you’re looking for a streamlined, upscale experience, book an appointment with her in West Hollywood. You’ll probably get the same haircut, but pay a lot more.

Here’s a video tour of Industrie Hair Gurus:

Tabatha is blunt, and stern when she takes ailing salons by storm, but she leaves them better than she found them. But avid watchers (as well as some of the stylists at the salons featured on the show) wonder if this platinum-haired pitbull with a heart of gold practices what she preaches. Judging from some of the reviews on insiderpages, most customers who watch the show are a little shocked by the building itself, and but usually leave happy, especially if Tabatha herself does the cut and styling. Good luck with booking an appointment with Tabatha, though. She’s usually booked for three months, and is rarely  in the salon because of her rising celebrity status.

Obviously Tabatha is emphasizing her direct style of honesty to maximize the drama on the show, but it also helps wake up the owners and the staff. She doesn’t use the classic, good news-bad news-solution management style, it’s pretty much bad-news-solution-good news. At her own salon (when she’s there) I’m sure she points out mistakes when she sees them, but she’s probably more the warm-hearted relaxed individual we see at the end of the show, or when she drops in for a followup, as this AOL television article suggests.

Tabatha seems to know the right balance between tough love and compassion, and I would bet she could walk into almost any failing service business and make significant improvements.

The reception area at Industrie Hair Gurus:

Visit tabathacoffey.com to learn more about this hair guru.

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