Seventwenty Collective, located approximately 15 minutes from UTSA, is a salon where individuals can go for a temporary new hairstyle or to completely reinvent their look. In a business complex off of Fredericksburg Road, the salon is easily accessible to individuals throughout the San Antonio community. 

Krista Gotthardt, the salon owner, opened the shop in 2009. She claims that despite hair styling being a second career for her, it has always been what she has wanted to do. Gotthardt’s early personal experiences within the cosmetology industry influenced the way she wanted to run her own shop. 

“I didn’t go to school until I was 27 to do hair,” Gotthardt said. “When I got into the different environments available to me at that time, I really wasn’t too jazzed about the way that people were treated in them — the way that stylists were kind of looked down upon — so I wanted to make my own environment where everyone was included and celebrated.”

After acquiring her own shop, Gotthardt formed ideas and goals for the kind of atmosphere that she wanted to create in her salon. Over the years, as more people have become part of Seventwenty Collective, that core goal has always remained intact. 

“I think originally, it was really just to create a space that I was personally comfortable in,” Gotthardt explained. “Then I pulled in a couple of people that I knew from school, or that I knew in the industry that also were looking for something different. And now it’s definitely become an expanded version of that.”

Since the salon first opened, a comfortable atmosphere is something that Gotthardt has not only strived to create for her fellow cosmetologists, but for their clients as well. The stylists at Seventwenty Collective hope to reflect a welcoming environment for various clientele through their offered services. 

“We have so many people here that do different styles of services or cater to different things,” Gotthardt said. “So I think in general, I would like to be able to service everyone.”

One of the salon’s most notable facets is the fact that prices for their hairstyles are not based on the gender of the person — the cost lies solely in their hair. Two things are considered when determining the prices at Seventwenty Collective: the kind of hairstyle the client wants and how long it takes to complete the service. 

When explaining the thought process behind the relationship between hair and pricing, Gotthardt said, “They’re [hairstyles] based on the work put in basically … the time you’re putting in, the work you’re putting in is what we base our pricing on.”

Taking gender out of the equation when it comes to styling hair is a concept that was inspired by Gotthardt’s personal life, and she cites it as a reason for implementing this value in her career.

“I have a transgender son,” Gotthardt disclosed. “So for me, it was really important once he came out to me and I started learning more about, you know, all of that, to really take that in and utilize it in my life and my business.”

Given that creating an accepting environment is a core value of Seventwenty Collective, one would expect that sentiment to translate to their offered services in the form of stylists who can not only style the hair of people of different genders but of different races as well. When asked if the salon had cosmetologists who could work on various types of hair, Gotthardt made it clear that the inclusivity at Seventwenty Collective is intersectional.

 “We actually get quite a few phone calls asking those questions because unfortunately, people have gotten used to the fact that they can be serviced in all spaces, right?” Gotthardt stated. “So they’ll call and inquire about those things and our answer is always ‘hair is hair,’ and if you know how to do hair you know how to do hair.”

Aside from the unique pricing method for hairstyles and the atmosphere they attempt to create, what Gotthardt feels sets Seventwenty Collective apart from other salon spaces is how they view the career of cosmetology. 

“I think that we really embrace the idea of being artists, and that’s why most people have ended up in here versus in traditional salon environments,” Gotthardt said. “We’re all really here to embrace what we enjoy doing and share that with people, and also just celebrate the people that come in here.”

To any client who may find themselves in the chairs of Seventwenty Collective, Gotthardt extends advice that can be applied in life as well as business.

“Whatever you want to do, you can make it happen,” Gotthardt emphasized. “If things aren’t working for you, make something else work for you. It will.”

Seventwenty Collective is located in a salon at 4831 Fredericksburg Rd. They are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and they are closed on Sunday and Monday. For more information, visit their website https://www.salonseventwenty.com.