In a recent episode of Hairbrained Conversations, Gerard Scarpaci sat down with colorist, educator, and salon owner Luis Gonzalez of Vida Salon in Denver, Colorado. Their conversation pulled back the curtain on a career shaped not only by talent behind the chair, but by a larger ecosystem designed to support artists as they grow.

“When I started with Aveda, I knew I wanted to be part of the best,” Luis says simply. What followed was a career that offers a clear look at how a true partnership can unfold, and why more salon owners and colorists are paying attention.

Color as a Creative Language

For Luis, color has always been more than a service. It’s the primary way he connects with clients and expresses his artistry, and it begins with a belief most colorists understand instinctively: no two heads of hair are the same, and no two formulas should be either.

“I feel like that’s how I was able to retain my clients,” he explains. “By saying, I’m going to create a look specifically for you.” That commitment to customization isn’t just artistic, it’s also good business.

The flexibility of Aveda’s professional color system allows Luis to refine tone, deposit, and direction until the result feels truly personal for each guest sitting in his chair. But performance alone isn’t what keeps him loyal to the line.

“I know that when I’m putting color on my clients, I’m not having to worry that I’m adding anything negative to them,” he says. “It’s all about the mission, caring for people, caring for our clients.” For Luis, that alignment between artistry, performance, and purpose is what makes the system easy to stand behind.

An Ecosystem Built for Growth

Ask Luis what truly sets Aveda apart, and he’ll say it’s the ecosystem. “It is such a powerful ecosystem where the brand supports the business, the business supports the education, the education supports the creativity and the revenue,” he says. For him, the relationship works because each part of the system reinforces the others.

That philosophy traces back to Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher, who built the company around a vision that beauty professionals should have access to products that are good for them, good for their guests, and good for the planet. That mission, caring for people and the earth, remains central to the brand today. Luis experienced that culture firsthand during his early training years, where the caliber of the educators left a lasting impression.

“I really loved watching educators and the ideas they brought,” he recalls. Those experiences shaped not only his technical skill but his entire vision of what a career in the industry could look like.

The Support Behind the Business

When Luis eventually stepped into salon ownership, he discovered that the Aveda network offered something he hadn’t fully anticipated: real partnership on the business side of the industry. That support often comes through Salon Development Partners, a team dedicated to helping salon owners grow their businesses and plan strategically for the future.

Gerard Scarpaci describes them as “the stitches that hold the fabric together,” and Luis agrees. “Now that I own a salon, the support we have, they’re technically salespeople, but the relationships we build with them are real partnerships,” he says. “They talk to us about our numbers and help us set goals.”

For Luis, those conversations help translate creativity into sustainable growth. And when he first set his sights on becoming an educator, his Salon Development Partner was the first person he called. “I finished my training program, and that’s who I called,” he remembers. Today those partnerships continue to shape his plans moving forward.

We have an amazing path for how we’re getting to the next level.

— Luis Gonzalez, Vida Salon

Driving New Clients Through the Door

One of the things Luis is most excited about right now is Aveda’s commitment to actively bringing new consumers into salons. Under Aveda President Shane Wolf, the brand launched Hairs in Chairs, a consumer-facing initiative designed to drive guests into Aveda salons through national advertising and digital campaigns.

“What he’s doing is driving clients into specific Aveda salons,” Luis says. “He’s sending this influx of people who are falling in love with the brand.”

What happens next, he makes clear, depends on the artist behind the chair. “At Vida Salon, we take those clients, and through education, through teaching them how to achieve their dream hair, we retain the clients and grow our business.”

That client flow has ripple effects throughout the salon. For newer stylists who are still building their books, it can mean the difference between waiting for opportunity and stepping directly into it. “It gives them the beginning parts of their clientele,” Luis says. “The brand supports your business on the back end, and then the education we provide supports the stylist growing.”

Passing It Forward

When Luis talks about the artists on his team, his priorities become clear almost immediately. “I tell them the world is your oyster,” he says. “I want my team to grow and to be the best versions of themselves.” Everything he learned through Aveda’s education programs has become part of the culture inside Vida Salon, where techniques, business knowledge, and creative thinking move from one generation of stylists to the next.

“I took everything I learned through Aveda’s training programs and built it into how we work as a team,” he says. The philosophy reflects something he believes deeply. “I think Aveda’s not about products. It’s about people. If one succeeds, everyone succeeds. We care.”

That idea, rooted in Horst Rechelbacher’s original vision of a brand designed to serve people and the planet, is what continues to draw artists into the community.