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

Hi Amanda, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
We are a sustainable salon by recycling our salon waste with Green Circle Salons. Green Circle takes salon waste and turns it into things like renewable energy, asphalt and even taking our hair foils which turns into recycled metal for bicycles. We try to be more eco friendly in every way like preserving water with our shampoo bowl nozzle. Additionally most of our salon furniture has been up-cycled or repurposed. Along with our salon space we have an outdoor garden area that we’ve used as a pop-up shop to host local businesses. We’ve been able to seasonally donate alongside our pop-up shops to local organizations such as My Friend’s Place, which helps youth experiencing homelessness move toward wellness, stability and self-sufficiency.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Opening a salon during the middle of a pandemic is no easy feat. In 2020 our industry was closed for a total of 8 months due to mandated closures and a million other hurdles like working outside with 100° weather during wildfire season. But being open as a business provided 5 stylists with a place to call home and somewhere to work during one of the hardest times of our careers. Opening Summer Hours gave our clients stability and something to look forward to with their services and feeling “good” about themselves. We were able to give back to our community and the earth with our business plan and hope to continue doing more of that good work in 2021+.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When a friend comes to visit some of my favorite neighborhood spots are: -Dayglow; best coffee in LA
-Hike Griffith park
-Belle’s bagels in highland park
-Relax for a day in Malibu at the beach of jet away to The Sands hotel in Palm Springs
-finish the weekend off with dinner at Blair’s

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 amazing stylists; Ash, Courtney & Darla

Website: Www.SummerHourssalon.com

Instagram: @summerhourssalon

Image Credits
Morgan Newton

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.