We are spotlighting the winners of Beauty Launchpad's 25 Under 50K contest for 2025, sponsored by SalonCentric.
Here, you will get to know Vincent Saladino (@vinnyvici.tampa), a hairstylist based in Tampa, FL who specializes in personalized color and men's and women's cuts.
Q&A with Vincent
Beauty Launchpad (BLP): What is a fun fact about you?
Vincent Saladino (VS): Something a lot of people don’t know about me is that I was a huge band kid/music nerd in school. I played trumpet for 7 years and also sang in chorus, show choir and a barbershop quartet. To this day, I physically cannot refrain from singing a catchy song or joining a song in harmony.
BLP: How did you get your start in the industry?
VS: I started in the beauty industry after taking a break from “standard university” and was captivated by the billboard ads I’d drive by on my way to my serving job. Inspired, I went to let my dad in on my new interest when he interrupted and said, “I was thinking, too… Maybe something in fashion or HAIR?” And THAT was enough confirmation from God and the universe for me to begin my path into the hair world. Within two months, I had toured and enrolled at Aveda Institute in Clearwater, FL and I was off to the races. I like to think that I had a great connection with my educators in school, I know they could see the drive, passion, and thirst I had for more knowledge, technique, and experience. My parents and teachers are the foundation of my career, for without their constant support and love and encouragement, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed learning as much. Thank you all for pouring so much into me.
BLP: What is your proudest accomplishment/achievement in the industry so far?
VS: My proudest accomplishment in this industry would honestly be the trust and rapport I’ve built with my clients and peers alike. It has been my mission to uplift everyone around me and support my peers in any way I can, like they would for me. I think, overall, I’m most proud that being honest, reliable, and authentic has built the relationships with my clients and peers that allow me to work for myself, pay myself, and have so much independence and freedom.
BLP: What is your current favorite hair/nail trend?
VS: My favorite trend right now is a proper bombshell blowout. I feel like nothing beats knowing how to manipulate anyone’s hair (with any texture and density) to move beautifully and make them feel how everyone should when they leave the salon. For men, I’d say I’m enjoying how more and more guys are transitioning into more scissored cuts rather than clippered cuts and fades. Allowing your hair to move and flow as it wants to is a great way to show off the great head of hair you were blessed with.
BLP: What is a tip you have for your fellow beauty pros who are looking to grow their following on socials?
VS: A tip to grow your following on socials… would be to stop focusing on trying to grow your following on socials. The following will come naturally if you’re providing authentic and valuable content for education or entertainment or BOTH. Focus oncapturing crisp, quality content, and make videoing and content creation part of your daily routine, so it becomes second nature.
BLP: What advice would you give to the younger version of yourself just starting out in the industry, looking back on your whole career?
VS: I would tell my younger self to not be as scared to move out of town for a year or two to explore and study under as many noteworthy artists around the country or even world as I can. I’d remind myself to have a little more discernment with who I disclose personal details to (God knows I love to overshare, still to this day), and just to keep my mouth shut a little more.
BLP: What is a tip/technique you’ve learned that’s helped you be more efficient/successful in your services or business?
VS: Something that has helped me become so much more successful and effective behind the chair is knowing how to show up centered and regulated for my clients. I love teaching my peers how to calm the noise in a world of yapping, loud music, and blowdryers. A lot of the techniques I use to center my studio, clear and reset energy between clients, and decompress after a long day use free resources like air and water, and reflective skills to regulate the short-of-breath, the over-thinkers, the behind-the-chair therapists that tend to hold their clients’ emotional weight long after they’ve left the chair. The best thing I’ve ever learned and love to pass on is the art of releasing that weight.
BLP: Who is someone you consider a mentor/role model in the industry?
VS: People in the industry I look up to would include Natalie Ann Ayoub, Max May, Ruslan Nureev, Priscilla Valles, JVN, Alyx Liu, Carlos Rojas, Aleksey Bishop, Matt Rez, Tracey Cunningham, Melanie Hasson, James Earnshaw, Jaye Edwards, Kevin Kelly, Haley Haxton, my good, local stylist friend Amanda Killen to name a few. (Definitely check them out I went through my following list :))
BLP: What is a practice/ritual you have to care for your mental health and set boundaries between your work and personal life?
VS: I have refrained from texting clients back about appointments after 9pm or before 9am. I don’t mind clients leaving texts or messages, but there is no longer expectation for immediate text-backs after-hours. I feel this gives me a lot more time to actually “shut-off” and decompress a bit before trying to sleep. I tend to have dreams/nightmares about client appointments if I don’t.
BLP: What do you think needs to change in the industry to help beauty pros continue to grow and thrive?
VS: I think stylist could use a little more training from the beginning in emotional and physical regulation. I think as artists and therapists in one career, we can’t solely rely on the “expression” doing our clients’ hair gives us… because it’s essentially a work project, an assignment, a transaction to be completed. But why do we feel so empty or overwhelmed at the end of our work days? Could it be because we starve ourselves for hours at a time with tunnel vision on the hair transformation. I say that it is imperative to teach breathing techniques, self-awareness skills, how to clear emotional weight dropped by one client before allowing the next to add more onto the top… and especially to understand how to show up with presence and balance to optimize success behind the chair while preventing emotional and physical burnout.
BLP: What is a career goal you have for yourself?
VS: A career goal I have for myself is to provide more “regulated stylist”-based mentoring and consulting programs to encourage other stylists and salons to use their authenticity, and their own breath, to create a brand and essence of confidence, trust, and elevated services without becoming overwhelmed or over-stimulated.
