Influential Woman · Beauty Industry
Nina Tulio
Beauty Industry Business Speaker
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Her Story
About Nina
Nina is an award-winning salon business consultant, educator, speaker, and author with nearly three decades of experience in the beauty industry. Her career began as a hairstylist after choosing beauty school over a traditional college path, driven by her passion for helping people feel confident and empowered. Through hard work and determination, she advanced from stylist to salon manager, district manager, and eventually salon owner. Along the way, she partnered with industry mentors to open five salons in Florida before returning to Pennsylvania to launch and successfully operate her own salon for more than a decade. Her first hand experience building and leading salon businesses laid the foundation for her work as one of the industry's most respected business educators. For the past nine years, Nina has dedicated her career to coaching salon owners, hairstylists, and beauty professionals on leadership, culture, pricing, profitability, and sustainable business growth. Nina also serves as the Business Education Ambassador for Oligo Professionnel and a trusted educator in the beauty industry, she travels nationally and internationally delivering educational programs, keynote presentations, and in-salon training. Known for her practical strategies and people-first approach, Nina helps salon owners understand that profitability and exceptional leadership can coexist, empowering them to build thriving businesses while creating positive workplace cultures that support both team members and clients. In 2026, Nina made industry history when she was named NAHA Educator of the Year, becoming the first business educator to receive one of the beauty industry's highest honors. She is also the author of *Profit Is Personal*, a book that explores the connection between self-awareness, leadership, pricing, profitability, and long-term business success. A passionate advocate for entrepreneurship and professional development, Nina continues to inspire beauty professionals around the world by helping them lead with purpose, embrace their value, and build businesses that are both financially successful and deeply fulfilling.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nina
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say that this is the absolute, hands-down, best industry that you can be a part of, not only for the community, but there are tons and tons of opportunity in this industry. You can be a teacher, you can be an educator, you can be a platform artist, you can be a stylist, you can be an owner, you can work with brands, and so I think the opportunity is endless. You just have to apply yourself and be open to learning and working insanely hard, like any business and any career that you choose. A lot of people give our industry a bad rap because they say you can't make money and it's a dead-end job, and it absolutely isn't. It's a full-on career that has created so many opportunities for people to grow and continue to learn and serve people. You get to make people feel beautiful inside and out, whether you're educating students, teaching stylists, or working with a client. I would always say, do it, and listen to yourself. You have to have a passion and heart for taking care of people. It truly is a service industry and service-based industry, so if you have that on your heart and you love to take care of people, there are so many opportunities for you to make a long, filled career.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say things are shifting with the economy, which is challenging for any business. The salon owner, commissioned salon owner world right now is still struggling to find its place because suites and rentership has taken over, so salon owners sometimes get a little bit of a bad rap. They're trying to really navigate turning their businesses around and creating people-first leadership, being better leaders and offering better compensation. One of the biggest challenges, honestly, has been pricing. Since I started in the industry, we've been talking about pricing. We don't know how to price our services, when should we have increases, everything is very emotional, so that is a common thread for the last 29 years that I've been in this industry, and it's something I'm talking about daily. The commission world and the salon ownership world is getting a little bit of a revamp, I would say.
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