Mireya Villarreal, founder of From Chair to Boss™, is bringing together beauty industry leaders for a new one-day educational event designed to help salon professionals strengthen the business side of their careers. From Chair to Boss Live! will take place September 28 at the Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center in Oak Brook, Illinois.

The event will focus on business strategy, leadership, mentorship, financial education, branding, and entrepreneurship, with the goal of helping beauty professionals build sustainable careers both behind the chair and beyond it.

Throughout the day, attendees will hear practical business advice, participate in networking opportunities, earn six hours of continuing education, and take part in a new Dreams to Dollars $70K Challenge, where future beauty professionals will present plans to build successful service businesses.

"Talent may open the door, but business knowledge, mentorship, strategy, and relationships are what create sustainable careers," Villarreal said. "This event is about helping beauty professionals think bigger, dream bigger, and build something that lasts."

The event is open to beauty school students, emerging artists, salon owners, educators, independent professionals, suite renters, and anyone interested in growing their business knowledge within the beauty industry.

Event Details

From Chair to Boss Live!

September 28, 2026

Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center
Oak Brook, Illinois

Registration is now open.

Why Business Education Matters More Than Ever

As salon professionals increasingly dream of owning a suite, opening a salon, launching a product line, or building a personal brand, Villarreal believes technical education alone isn't enough. She says today's beauty professionals also need a roadmap for pricing, finances, leadership, marketing, and entrepreneurship, skills that can determine whether talent becomes a thriving business.

MODERN SALON spoke with Villarreal about the gap she sees between beauty school and business ownership, why fear keeps so many professionals from charging what they're worth, and the biggest business lesson she learned after nearly losing everything.

MODERN SALON:Focus on your education seems to be filling a gap, and building a bridge, between school and salon. How do you describe that gap...what do you see is missing that prevents professionals from succeeding during that important transition?

The gap I see is not talent. Beauty students and new professionals have plenty of talent, creativity, passion, and heart. What many of them do not have is a clear roadmap for what it takes if their dream is to one day become independent.

Schools do an important job. They teach students the foundation. They prepare them to become licensed, to work safely, to understand the basics of salon life, and to begin building a career behind the chair. That path is valuable, and many professionals can build a beautiful, lifelong career working in a salon.

But when I speak to beauty school students and ask them what their dream is after graduation, just about every one of them says some version of the same thing: "I want my own salon one day." They may not know if that means a suite, a small studio, a full salon, a brand, education, or something even bigger but they know they want independence.

That is where the gap is.

Being a great stylist and becoming an entrepreneur require two different levels of preparation. If someone wants to go out on their own, they need to understand money, pricing, taxes, budgeting, branding, marketing, client retention, legal setup, operations, leadership, and, most importantly, mindset. They need to know what they are actually stepping into before they get there.

From Chair to Boss was created for that reason. It is not meant to replace beauty school or salon experience. It is meant to build on it. My focus is on the professionals who have that passion and that dream of independence, and helping them understand how to prepare for it before they are already in the middle of it.

MODERN SALON:Follow-up question to that—why is it missing? Are schools too stretched, needing to cover too much? Are salons too stretched, not having the time, bandwidth, money to do the proper training?

I do not want to place blame on schools or salons, because I think the bigger picture is that the industry has shifted.

What I hear from students is that they do not just want to learn from a book. They want to learn from someone who has actually walked the path. Someone who has:

• Stood behind the chair.
• Opened the small salon.
• Made mistakes, lost money, rebuilt, and learned from those experiences.
• Created products, traveled, negotiated deals, and learned business the hard way.

That is why I created From Chair to Boss.

MODERN SALON:I love that you talk about how fear gets in the way of people succeeding, and specifically, making money. Tell me more about that. What fears do you see people holding onto? And how does it get in the way of feeling confident and charging appropriately?

Fear is one of the biggest reasons people stay stuck, but I think the fear we do not talk about enough is the fear of success.

Success brings responsibility. It brings pressure. It brings decisions. It may require hiring people, charging more, showing up bigger, being seen, managing money, letting go of control, and stepping into a version of yourself you have never been before. That can feel scary.

MODERN SALON:I know you have overcome business setbacks. Looking back, please describe one and also what you took away from the experience, your most valuable lesson.

One of the hardest business setbacks I ever faced was nearly losing everything because of a bad business deal.

At the time, I thought growth meant success. The opportunity looked big, exciting, and validating. When you are building a business and a major opportunity comes your way, it is easy to think, “This is it. This is the moment that takes me to the next level.”

But what I learned the hard way is that not all growth is good growth. I lost control of the growth because I did not know my numbers the way I should have. I was focused on the size of the opportunity, the orders, the visibility, and the excitement of what it could become. But I was not watching the deeper numbers closely enough—the margins, the cash flow, the true cost of doing business, the terms, the risks, and what that deal was really costing me.

That mistake almost cost me my business. I came very close to bankruptcy. It was one of the most painful and humbling experiences of my life. But it also became one of my greatest lessons.

I learned that you cannot run a business on excitement. You cannot run it on hope. You cannot run it just because something looks big on paper. You have to know your numbers. You have to understand what is profitable and what is just busy. You have to know when an opportunity is helping you grow and when it is quietly draining you.

I also learned that as an entrepreneur, you cannot hand over control of your future to a deal, a customer, a partner, or anyone you think is smarter than you. You have to trust yourself enough to ask hard questions, walk away when something does not feel right, and protect the business you worked so hard to build.

That setback changed me. It made me stronger, sharper, and much more intentional. It taught me that growth without control can destroy you—but growth with clarity, numbers, and discipline can build something that lasts.

That is why this mission is bigger than education to me. It is about giving beauty professionals the roadmap, the confidence, and the real-world business knowledge I wish I had—so they do not have to risk everything chasing the dream they were born to build.