Q&A with Founder Jereme Bokitch: The Hedkandi Story

What's my earliest memory of being fascinated by hair, beauty, or style?

My earliest memories take me back to being around 14, highlighting my mom and sister's hair through one of those old-school caps. We didn't have the cash to get our hair done professionally, so we became our own little DIY salon crew. I always thought I was pretty fashionable and stylish as a kid—though I'm honestly not sure if that was actually the case or just teenage confidence talking!

Who or what influenced you most early on in your career?

My first mentor was Fima Preeves in Saskatoon, and meeting him was a game-changer. I was only in my second month of hair school when I started standing behind his chair, absorbing everything—how he cut hair, how he connected with clients, the whole experience. For the next eight to ten months, I shampooed all his guests and watched every move he made. I did this every day after school and every Saturday, completely for free, just for the opportunity to be in that salon environment.

Did you always know you'd start your own salon?

I think the entrepreneurial bug bit me pretty early—within the first couple of years, I knew I wanted to own my own shop. I was developing this understanding of education and honestly thought I could do things better or at least differently. The thing is, I felt like I was working for people rather than with them in a lot of the Calgary salons I experienced. Many of these places had pretty toxic cultures—weak leadership, minimal training, and this weird dynamic where they wanted you to succeed but never better than them. Once I realized these environments didn't make me feel good or comfortable, I knew I had to create something different in our market or in the industry that wasn't being done at that time.

What inspired me to create Hedkandi?

The main inspiration was bringing together a team of like-minded artists who were genuinely passionate about doing hair, passionate about the industry, and passionate about having fun with music and art. I wanted to create this culture of sharing and community that I felt was missing everywhere else.

What was missing in the industry that you wanted to change?

The biggest gap I saw was the collaboration piece inside of the industry. I wanted to create real opportunities for young stylists to step up, grow, be themselves but a better version of themselves, and ultimately become as successful as they possibly could be.

What values were non-negotiable when you started the business?

Honestly, in the beginning, we had so little structure that our values weren't written on some corporate poster in the back room. They were lived values: respect, education, working together, taking care of your team. We were always striving to become better, and education wasn't even a question—it was just what we did, all together. The core was building a super close-knit team where everyone had each other's backs and genuinely wanted to see everybody grow and do better.

How did you envision the guest experience from day one?

The vision was always about creating an unbelievable guest experience while being the most educated salon in our market. We wanted guests to feel, see, or hear something different—something they don't get to see, feel, or hear on the everyday. We played music you'd never hear on the radio, brought in DJs for Thursday nights and Saturdays, bought obscure $30 magazines that most people wouldn't splurge on, and featured real artists and their work. We were constantly hosting events. These elements made us incredibly different from everyone else.

When guests walk through our doors, I want them to feel like they're part of something special. I want them to feel seen, heard, and comfortable. Our spaces were never meant to be boujie or uptight—it's always been about having fun, creating beautiful hair, and making sure people leave feeling better and more confident than when they arrived. I want them to feel excited and be able to see a team that's genuinely energized about the industry.

What was my philosophy on team culture and leadership?

My approach to team culture and leadership has evolved dramatically over the years. When I opened Hedkandi at 27, I just wanted to have fun, do hair, and hang out with my friends. But as we've grown, so has my understanding of what real leadership means.

Culture, to me, is how we do what we do. It's about supporting each other, showing up, being part of the education process—not just learning, but teaching each other, the team, our guests, and the guest service team. Everything in our culture should center around growth, education, and becoming better.

Leadership means always trying to do the next right thing, showing up as someone the team aspires to be like, being accountable, positive, and supportive. It's about looking for the best in people, not constantly focusing on what they're doing wrong. I'll be honest—I haven't always gotten this right. Leadership is a constant learning process, encompassing accountability and systems, and I've discovered that the better leader I become, the better and more successful my team becomes as an outcome.

What's the biggest challenge you faced when starting out?

The biggest challenge was transitioning from being a stylist to becoming a leader. Learning to navigate that space between leadership and friendship—especially when you're trying to lead your friends to success—that's still challenging sometimes. Being a stylist through and through while learning to understand what's best for the team, even when it's difficult, has been an ongoing journey.

Was there a make-or-break moment where you knew this was going to work?

As a young entrepreneur who probably had more ego than brains, I honestly never thought this wasn't going to work. The real make-or-break moment was the day I signed that lease—suddenly there was no other option except to make it and become successful.

How did I push through tough times?

Over the last 26 years, we've faced countless tough times that required us to dig deep and reinvent ourselves to keep pushing through. The key was believing—in myself, in what we were doing, that our approach was better for the industry and better for people. I had to keep believing we were doing the right thing, and if we kept putting our team first and our clients next, success would ultimately follow.
Having a strong team with people who've been with me from the beginning and are still with me now also made a huge difference. The weight of having so many people's families, futures, and jobs on my shoulders gave me the ability to never give up and do whatever I needed to do to stay.

How would you describe Hedkandi's vibe in three words?

Fun side of luxury. I think too many people take themselves and their businesses far too seriously. I get it—I probably could have taken mine a bit more seriously—but at the end of the day, we're cutting hair, and that should be fun. We're also making people feel better, changing their perspective around their lives, or the way they view themselves, so positioning ourselves as the fun side of luxury feels exactly right.

What makes our salons different from other luxury salons?

Hands down, it's our team. We have by far the best team in the industry—they're passionate, excited, young, and love to educate. I know every salon owner probably says they have the best team, but I actually know we do.

Our education program is by far the best training program out there right now. We can take stylists who can barely hold a brush when they graduate school and develop them into extremely successful stylists within two to three years. That's something that really sets us apart.
The other differentiator is that our team's well-being is always first and foremost on my mind. I always want to make sure they're taken care of and growing—maybe sometimes to a fault.

What role does design, music, or culture play in the brand?

Design, culture, and music are absolutely everything for us. From the early days, we focused on the design and functionality outside of the salon, creating spaces that didn't look like every other salon. Our spaces are highly designed, with high attention to detail and the types of materials used, ensuring they don't look like any other space you've been in before. I've never tried to design a salon myself, so we hire the best architects and designers to create spaces that feel completely unique when you walk in.

For years, salons were just functional spaces with chairs and mirrors—very transactional, without a huge experience. We dreamed bigger. Our first location had a glowing blue hallway that felt like being in a nightclub, curved walls and a room that you entered through a circle cut out and an AstroTurf wall to speak to the texture we had. Each iteration has gotten better and more detailed.

The music component comes from our roots in the early 2000s underground scene—we were all about music, going out, raving, and hanging out with club kids. We'd literally be doing hair in clubs until midnight, then have fashion shows on the dance floor. That culture of music, design, fun, and community is what set us apart inside our market, as we've always been out and about, at restaurants and clubs, a part of the culture of the city that made the city great.

When people think of Hedkandi, what do you hope comes to mind?

I hope they think about a brand that's always been evolving with the times, that's striving to become better, that takes care of their guests, and that's innovative and creative. My feeling is that we've been doing this for 26 years, and we're still as relevant—if not more relevant—today than we've ever been.

How do you want your story to inspire your team or your guests?

You don't have to take advantage of people to become successful. You can always be doing the next right thing, and when I die, I want to know that I did the right thing—even if it was the wrong thing for me but the right thing for the situation that we were in.

What's next for Hedkandi?

We're not done yet. There are so many areas in this industry that we can make better. I see our future in having an influence on the younger stylists in school to become better, raising the bar of this industry. I want to change the narrative from parents saying, "Yeah, you can be a hairdresser, but you have to go to university first and if you still want to be that," to people recognizing that being a hairdresser, barber, or esthetician means you can buy a house, travel, and never ever have to be reliant on others ever again.

What's next for Hedkandi involves many different things. Only the future will know. More will be revealed.