My Big Idea: blow-dry and beauty brand Duck & Dry

Yulia Rorstrom is the Founder and CEO of Duck & Dry, the London-born blow-dry and beauty brand she launched in 2014. A former financial services consultant with a Management degree from LSE, Yulia brought an outsider's eye to a traditional industry,  building Duck & Dry into a design-led, experience-first brand centred on quality, convenience and confidence. Over 11 years she has scaled the business through multiple locations, department-store partnerships, franchising and international expansion, all while championing a predominantly female team and genuine career progression from the salon floor to leadership. She is now growing Duck & Dry into new UK cities and international markets.

Hi Yulia ! What's your elevator pitch? 

Duck & Dry is a London-born hair and beauty brand that I developed in 2014. The original idea was simple: I wanted to make the experience of getting long-lasting, flawless hair easier, faster and more enjoyable.

We started with blow-drys and styling; however, the brand has since expanded since we opened our doors. Today, we have salons across London, our first international location in Doha and our own range of professional haircare and styling products. 

Why does the market need it?

When I started Duck & Dry, I was a customer working in finance, not a haircare professional. I knew what I enjoyed about going to a salon, but I also knew what put me off booking the appointment. 

At that time, getting your hair done still felt like a big, timely chore. I wanted to create somewhere you could pop into before work, dinner or just because you wanted to feel good - without having to block out hours of your day. 

However, I didn't want convenience to compromise on the overall activity. That's why creating a 360-degree brand experience was so integral to my early business plans. From booking your slot to the salons' digital presence and interiors, uniforms, service, products and that glass of prosecco, I always felt that my brand needed to represent far more than just a name or logo.

Where is the business today? 

Since opening our first salon in Chelsea over a decade ago, we've come a long way! Now, our London locations include Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Oxford Street, The Whiteley and Battersea, and we've recently taken Duck & Dry across the pond, opening our first international location in Doha.

We've also grown beyond just salons and launched our own haircare and styling range. This move felt very natural for the brand considering we've done thousands and thousands of blow dries over the years. It's safe to say we really know what makes a blow-out last. 

I'm really excited about this current chapter and the potential of franchising across the UK, into major cities like Liverpool and Manchester, and the rest of the world. We've spent enough time building and learning what works, now it's all about where we can introduce the brand to next.

What made you think there was an opportunity here?

I'd spotted blow-dry bars while travelling, particularly in the US and Japan, and loved the convenience the concept offered. But I felt there was a gap to give clients more than just a quick blitz with the hairdryer. 

I realised the salon experience should be so much more than sitting in a chair and wanted to incorporate a social and event-led element to my blow-dry bar. I decided to mix great hair, beautiful interiors, good music, a coffee or a glass of prosecco with an atmosphere that didn't feel like a traditional, soulless salon.

How did you research the niche?

I took advantage of being the target customer at the start of my business journey and approached it from that lens. I was travelling quite a bit with my finance job and whenever I was in places with these blow-dry bars, I'd look at what they were doing differently - while noting down what I thought was missing.

When I decided I was going to launch Duck & Dry, I honed in on the current offerings of the London salon market. I wanted to understand what customers were paying for and where there was room to shake things up. 

It was never my intention to lift up a New York blow-dry bar and drop it in London. The cities are not the same, nor are the inhabitants and my business had to reflect that -  it had to have its own personality.

What's wrong with your competitors?

There's nothing "wrong" with our competitors - in fact there are some brilliant salon businesses out there and I simply see competition as being a healthy driving force. 

What I felt was missing when I started was somewhere that sat in the middle of the traditional salon experience and a quicker, more convenient alternative that held onto quality. It couldn't feel transnational or it wouldn't have worked. 

We've always concentrated on carving out our path rather than worrying too much about what everybody else is doing. For me, if you spend all your time watching competitors, you'll end up following the market rather than listening to your own unique customers.

What's your biggest strength?

It would have to be our ability to really understand our customers.

The experience is tailored to feel warm and welcoming from the moment you open our web page. All the details matter - from how easy it is to book and what happens when you walk through the door, to the atmosphere, the team, the products and ultimately how you feel when you leave.

We've also worked really hard to build a brand that people recognise. You need to give people a reason to remember you and come back and I feel we've achieved that with our branding and in-salon signatures. 

What is the secret to making the business work?

Consistency. It's relatively easy to obsess over details when you have one salon. Once you have multiple locations and bigger teams, you have to make sure you're maintaining the standards people specifically came to you for.

It should never be the case that a customer has an amazing experience in one Duck & Dry and then something completely different at another location. We've always poured into our people to ensure this is true, with comprehensive training and making sure everyone understands the brand. 

Another thing, growth isn't always better. It can sink a ship if it's not the best thing for the business at that time. 

How do you market the company?

Word of mouth has been vital for us. Hair is very visual, so from day one, we wanted to create something people would want to photograph, share and tell their friends about. Social media became a bigger part of that later, alongside PR, creators, partnerships and collaborations.

I still think the best marketing we can do is give someone a really good experience. A genuine recommendation from a friend is incredibly powerful and you only get that if you've actually delivered on your promise. 

Tell us about the business model

The salons are at the heart of operations, but over time we've built other parts of the business around them, such as our professional haircare and styling range. This means we're not limited to the relationship we have with somebody while they're physically sitting in one of our chairs. 

Franchising through international expansion and partnerships is another area we're developing. Doha is a really good example of this because it has taken Duck & Dry into a foreign luxury hospitality and wellness setting.

The reality of running salons is that there are significant overheads. You've got rent, fit-outs, staffing, training, products and all the other costs that come with having bricks and mortar. Ultimately, there are only so many chairs and hours in a day, so you have to understand how your salons are being used, when your busiest periods are and how you keep customers coming back. That's also why having different revenue streams is important to us.

Another unique thing about us is that in terms of staffing, we don't operate under confusing tiers of junior and senior stylists. Every stylist is trained to deliver the same high-quality, consistent experience. 

What were you doing before?

I worked in finance but I come from an entrepreneurial family, so starting a business wasn't completely alien to me. I'd always wanted to build something of my own. 

Choosing hair was a challenge though, as I had to learn a new industry very quickly and recognise gaps in my knowledge. I've never been afraid to surround myself with people who have expertise that I lack. 

In hindsight, coming from finance gave me a useful commercial grounding, while being an outsider meant I came into the hair industry without too many preconceived ideas about how things were supposed to be done.

What is the future vision?

For starters, I want to be clear that I don't see Duck & Dry as just another salon chain. 

We've built a really strong brand over the past decade and there are lots of different ways we can expand - whether that's internationally, through our ever-evolving, expertly created product line or hospitality and wellness brand partnerships. Doha has been exciting because it offered us proof that our concept works in a different market and environment.

We've spent the first decade proving that the idea works. The next stage is really about seeing how far we can take it - the sky's the limit! 

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