Meet Matt Pawlowski | Salon Owner and Stylist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Pawlowski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I believe that passion and persistence are the foundation of success. When you genuinely love what you do and stay committed through the challenges, success tends to follow.

A large part of my success as a hairstylist and business owner comes from finding work that gives me a true sense of purpose. I love making people feel good about themselves. Helping someone leave your chair feeling more confident and beautiful is incredibly rewarding.

Before I entered the beauty industry, I worked in marketing and web development. It was a good career, but it wasn’t where I was meant to be. The moment I stepped into the salon environment, I knew I had found my calling. I was drawn to the creativity, the energy, the social connection, and the opportunity to work so closely with people on something as personal and meaningful as their appearance.

There is an enormous amount of trust involved in doing someone’s hair—especially a woman’s hair. It’s deeply connected to confidence and identity. In this industry, you can succeed in a big way or fail in a very visible way, and that responsibility pushes me to continually grow and improve. I embrace the challenge, and I believe that passion, purpose, and persistence are what have driven both my personal success and the success of my brand.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is Matty Lee Hair, a two-location, full-service salon with locations on Canton Street in downtown Roswell, Georgia, and at Cumming City Center in Cumming, Georgia. While we are incredibly proud of the growth of our business, what truly sets us apart isn’t the number of locations or the services we offer—it’s our culture.

My wife and I built Matty Lee Hair around one simple idea: people should feel at home when they walk through our doors. We wanted to create an environment where both guests and stylists feel welcomed, supported, and never judged. We believe that when people feel safe, valued, and inspired, great things happen. The energy in a salon is everything, and I truly believe it’s our most valuable asset.

The journey hasn’t been easy. We’ve experienced toxic workplace dynamics, staff walkouts, and the uncertainty that came with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many small businesses, we’ve faced moments that tested us personally and professionally. But every challenge reinforced the same lesson: keep showing up.

I’ve learned that success isn’t about avoiding adversity—it’s about how you respond to it. Stay passionate about your craft. Protect your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Invest in your people and your culture. And above all, don’t give up.

I want people to know that Matty Lee Hair is more than a salon. It’s a place built on relationships, resilience, and the belief that beauty is about helping people feel confident and seen. Our story isn’t one of overnight success. It’s a story of persistence, hard work, and continuing to show up every day with passion and purpose.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a tricky one because we moved to Cumming in March of 2025, so we’re still discovering new places ourselves. That’s actually part of what makes it so exciting right now. If my best friend came to visit for a week, I’d want to give them a mix of our new hometown and our roots in Roswell.

We’d spend a lot of time at Cumming City Center. It’s close to our home, it’s where our second salon location is, and it has quickly become one of our favorite places to hang out. We’d catch a concert at the amphitheater, walk around the green space, and spend our evenings trying different restaurants. One of our favorite spots is Homestead. There’s a great energy there, and it feels like the community is really coming alive.

I’d also have to take them to downtown Roswell because it’s such a special place to us personally and professionally. The atmosphere is hard to beat. The open-container district makes it easy to grab a drink and wander, and there always seems to be a festival, live music, or something happening on the weekends. It’s the kind of place where you can spend an entire day exploring local restaurants, shops, and patios and still find something new.

The perfect week would honestly be pretty simple: great food, live music, good conversations, and spending time in communities that have played such a big role in our lives. Both Cumming and Roswell have their own personalities, and right now it’s been fun getting to experience and appreciate both.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout has to go to my wife, Laine. Without her, I wouldn’t be in this industry at all.

Ironically, the first head of hair I ever touched was hers. We were getting ready to go out with friends, and she needed her tape-in extensions installed. I had no idea what I was doing, but she talked me through it. Neither of us knew it at the time, but that simple moment would completely change the direction of my life.

When Laine left her salon in 2016 to open her own loft, I helped with her website and marketing. As her business grew and she opened Bristow Hair Company on Canton Street in Roswell in 2017, I found myself spending more and more time in the salon. I laid flooring, hung mirrors and chandeliers, answered phones, checked clients out, and did whatever needed to be done. Meanwhile, my web design business was suffering because my heart was no longer in it—it was in the salon.

In 2019, I earned my apprentice license under Laine and officially began doing hair. She was patient with me, challenged me, and believed in me long before I believed in myself. She gave me the freedom to make mistakes, learn from them, and ultimately grow into the stylist and business owner I am today.

In 2024, she retired from the industry and handed me the reins of the salon we built together. Even though she’s no longer behind the chair, she’s still my partner, my biggest supporter, and my most trusted source of guidance.

Every opportunity I’ve had in this industry can be traced back to one person taking a chance on me. My success story is really our story, and for that, I’ll always be grateful to Laine.

Website: https://www.mattyleehair.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattyleehair

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattyleehair