Celebrity hair colorist Marco Pelusi gets around—to all of the right people! The owner of Marco Pelusi Hair Studio in West Hollywood, California, Pelusi has been leading his team and even his clients toward healthier practices by pooling the knowledge.

Pelusi explains, “When a client at my salon wants to find a health-related resource, like a good Pilates instructor or yoga program, everyone says, ‘Ask Marco. He’ll know someone.’ I like being known for that, because I can help out clients.”

It works in the reverse as well, with clients sharing their expertise with Pelusi’s team. “Some of my clients are practitioners,” he says. “Among my clientele there are yoga instructors, an acupuncturist and an herbalist, and my assistants and other stylists get to speak with them. It’s nice as an owner to be able to connect your staff with the benefits of your clients’ knowledge.”

Pelusi was inspired in a similar way when he was starting out as a hairdresser. “When I first moved to L.A. in my early 20s,” he recalls, “I taught a class at the salon of a hairdresser who was in his 70s but looked so good! I asked him how he stayed so healthy, and he replied, ‘Yoga.’ I’ve never forgotten that.” In addition to Hatha yoga, Pelusi does meditation. Both involve deep breathing, which Pelusi says helps him to relax his mind and body. 

“You don’t have to go into an intense yoga routine,” Pelusi says. “You can do just a little. We take short, shallow breaths all day. Some people go through their whole life and never take a deep breath. But the body responds to deep breaths and, over a long period of time, it really helps.”

While Pelusi’s staff members regard him as a role model for healthy eating, he does not encourage them to simply copy his food habits, which include eating lean protein, staying away from saturated fat and keeping alcohol consumption to a minimum. “How we eat affects how we feel when we’re standing all day doing hair,” he says, “but through trial and error you have to find out what’s right for you. Don’t let others influence how your eat. Find foods that you digest easily—some people don’t do well with gluten, while other people are not sensitive. I’ve gotten into cooked vegetables—steamed, roasted and grilled—but I have a friend who eats all raw.”

Don’t completely cut out foods you love, cautions Pelusi, who has his own line of hair care products available for purchase on his salon's website. “I love bread, so I eat it,” he explains. “It’s hard to live with no carbs, and you can have a piece of bread. You want your body to feel satisfied, so don’t deny yourself. Eating well is easiest when you bring your food with you to the salon. It does take planning, but you have to stay vigilant with your health.”