1 on 1 with Small Business of the Year winner Kanaan Steiner

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – A 1 on 1 you will only see on FOX23 at 9 with Kanaan Steiner, owner of ‘The Room Hair Design Studio’. She’s also winner of ‘Small Business of the Year’ for the Cape Area Chamber of Commerce.

She shared her passion as a business owner and an artist to create a space where everyone is welcome. She says winning ‘Small Business of the Year’ is still surreal.

She opened the room back in 2017.

“It is my life, it is my baby. From the beginning I just wanted to create something where everyone felt welcome,” she said. “If you look around it’s very gender neutral colors, it’s not a lot of feminine stuff or masculine stuff. I’m very gender neutral even on pricing.”

Kanaan says it’s been quite a journey, starting in 2011. She went to hair school at Trend Setters in Cape Girardeau.

“I had a mentor tell me I was going to struggle in the industry. He was like ‘You are going to struggle.’ And he said, ‘It’s because you are so passionate about learning and progressing,’” she shared.

Kanaan says she used that strong passion to propel her to the next level in a challenging industry.

“We here behind the chair. We want to please everyone and we want to make everyone feel beautiful,” said Kanaan. “I think good hair can change your whole day.”

She shared her biggest goal was to become a Redken Artist. So, she started classes, earned certifications and auditioned. To her surprise she was chosen out of hundreds.

“I’m usually gone 2-3 weekends a month educating other salons,” said Kanaan. She shared it’s a role she doesn’t take lighty. “It’s huge,” she said.

Now she says her mission is to make sure ‘The Room’ grows as a place that feels like home to everyone. So her stylists are taking part in Loreal’s Texture of Change mission to transform the beauty industry by putting textured hair into cosmetology school curriculums. She says it’s so they are prepared when they start in salons to accept clients with textured or curly hair. Making sure every person who walks through the door leaves feeling seen, feeling beautiful.

The Room Hair Design Studio is ready to welcome people with all hair times right now. You can find the salon on Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau.