There was a time when a ‘beauty salon’ was a noisy, bustling, relatively small space packed with women in curlers, adorned by large metallic hair dryers and lots of chatter. Not anymore. Today, salons are designed to create an experience. Smooth jazz replaces verbal din. Mirrors and chairs are tastefully placed to heighten the senses. Increasingly men populate salons with equal engagement, rendering the demise of the beauty salon and barbershop. But some things do not change. There are the owners. The reception folks. The washers. The master cutters. And the go fors. The class lines at most salons are as striking as any large professional services firm is. Enter Aria.  I like many folks am attached to the person who touches my hair. Our relationship has become tacit. Mechelle, owner with husband, Matthew, just knows what I need when it comes to my hair. Over the years, I have watched Mechelle and Matthew, move from working for someone, to opening their own place seven years ago in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Getting your haircut and colored leaves a lot of time available to observe. I am often a fly on the wall. Watching with awe and amazement. There are no silos at Aria. Everyone Shampoos. The staff is much like an ensemble. All focused on the same thing, client service. Aria’s mission is simple, ‘To Serve”. Clients are greeted with a warm hello. Something to drink. A neck massage. There is little or no down time for clients to idly wait. And though there are ‘roles’, client service usurps every time. Everyone shampoos. There are two levels of hair stylists, and Mechelle, master styler, cognitively switches her ‘chair’ every few months, to ensure that there is no such thing as position power. Visit their website, and the only place you will see their names as owners, is in the press release section. There are weekly team meetings to share best practices, lessons learned. Don’t like your hair when you get home, well then just come on back, and Aria will redo until you are pleased. Want to try a new stylist, for whatever your reason, no problem. No one’s feelings are hurt. Everyone is on the same page. Service trumps individual ego. I have often tried to get inside Mechelle and Matthew’s head, probing to find out why they do, what they do, with such ease, grace, and success. Largely on instinct, coupled with learning, they have created and continue to sustain an enviable culture where everyone has their eye on the same goal, team play is a given; feedback is embedded; experimentation is welcomed, not punished; individuals are passionate and proud.  Aria is a culture where self-interest and collaboration, structure and freedom stand side by side. An Aesthetically Intelligent culture. A place where everyone shampoos. What about your place? What do you do as leader to create this type of environment/ What could you do?