ENTREPRENEUR Hairstylist envisioned 'glam' life and built it

Now his hair-care line can be found in a major retailer's stores.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Hairstylist Samy is much too busy for a last name.
There he is, overseeing his eponymous salon in Miami's Radisson Hotel (where two shifts keep the chairs busy until midnight). And performing his style reporter gig for Univision's morning show, "Despierta America" -- a show he has done every Wednesday for seven years, making him a household name in many Latin households. And introducing new products from his Samy Salon Systems hair-care line to beauty editors at glossy magazines in New York.
Samy's winding down one promotional tour for his line in Wal-Mart stores (also sold in Target, Eckerd, Walgreen's, CVS and Winn-Dixie) before winding up another tour in January for a new line of styling products called Smooth. Recently he taped a segment for Kimora Lee Simmons' syndicated TV show "Life & amp; Style."
Samy even manages to find time to do hair every once in a while -- especially if you are Gloria Estefan, Raquel Welch, Ricky Martin, Sharon Stone, Thalia, Cindy Crawford, Roger Moore, Diane Sawyer, Madeline Albright, Margaret Thatcher or various members of the Bush family.
Samy's also back and forth over the Atlantic Ocean with regular appearances on Home Shopping Network here in the United States and in Europe (South Korea is next), which has made his products over the past five years the No. 1 hair care line sold on both networks.
A trendsetter
He also did makeovers before they were the nightly fodder of reality television. He calls his makeovers the "Samysazo," which have helped make his sign-off -- "If you look good, I'll look better" -- a catch phrase.
"He has been a regular of the show for many years and on many occasions has had the set rolling on the floor with laughter with his wit," said Fernando Arau, co-host of "Despierta America." "His is one of the most popular segments on the show, we receive hundreds of letters from viewers, mostly females, who want to be made over by him. Though he is a master at his craft -- and most end up in tears of joy -- there have been a couple of times the women didn't like their 'Samysazo' and have said so. Others are not quite as frank, but you can see the dislike on their faces when they say 'thank you.' Not that he cares, he has a lot of fans and a great sense of humor."
When he was young
Born Samy Suarez in Cuba (his father is Cuban Catholic, his mother is Cuban Jewish), he immigrated to Chicago when he was 8 years old. The family was on welfare for a few years, then his father worked two jobs.
"But my Cuban father loved baseball," Samy says. "We lived across the street from a Walgreen's and he would send me there to buy baseball cards, his one indulgence. I would go and buy hair coloring instead. I must have been 8 or 9 at the time. That was my passion. I loved the boxes. They were so beautiful with the hair covering one of the model's eyes. I loved that. My cousins and friends would come over to the house and we would lock ourselves in the bathroom and I would do their hair. I would even do my sister's Barbie dolls' hair. My father just said, 'Oh well, my son's a hairdresser.'"
Samy admits he's always had an eye for the glam life, but he stresses that he also had the entrepreneurial spirit to get there.
After Samy graduated from high school in 1972, the family moved to Miami, where he still lives, because the weather was better for his father's health. Samy got a job making wigs at the Jordan Marsh in Dadeland Mall before going to work for Marriott's in-flight services.
Samy also took classes in interior design and architecture. After finishing with classes at 9:30 at night he would go to a friend's house where five haircuts would be lined up. By the time he was 21 he had enrolled in beauty school.
After beauty school, there were stints at Mister John's chain of salons in the 1970s, where his business acumen kicked in. As the 17th hairstylist among 18 chairs, walk-ins had to go past 16 other stylists before they stopped at his chair. Samy says that when he did get a client, he would lavish attention on her and give her five of his cards with the promise of an occasional free haircut. With that he would foster loyalty and get five new customers for the price of one free haircut.
Along the way, Samy had been giving his parents money, which his mother never spent. For five years she horded the financial gifts from her son, eventually saving the $60,000 that Samy needed to open his own salon 25 years ago. The rest is the stuff of local lore and Latina locks.
Full circle
It all came full circle for Samy when he walked into Walgreen's headquarters in Chicago three years ago to pitch his hair products.
"I told them my story about Walgreen's and my father and the hair dye. This one lady named Linda Conway told me that was a great story, and then she took me by the hand and led me out of the meeting and took me over to a real Walgreen's they have set up there at their executive campus so I could see where my products would be. She literally took me by the hand and opened doors for me.