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Case study · Turnaround
TRIM NuLu: replacing a model COVID killed.
Sean Stafford, founder of Hunley Media, ran TRIM as CEO from 2020 to early 2026. This is a business he rebuilt himself.
TRIM ran haircuts inside offices. When COVID emptied the offices, the business went with them. The fix wasn’t marketing. It was a new business model. Sean moved TRIM out of the offices and into a destination salon in NuLu, then rebuilt the service menu, booking, and marketing around it.
What happened
$1M+
revenue within two years of launch
5×
Best Hair Salon in Louisville, Courier-Journal, 2021 to 2025
19
employees, 900 to 3,250 square feet
Top 200
Salon Today 200, 2024
The situation
TRIM ran mini-salons inside office buildings, bringing haircuts to people at work. When COVID closed those offices, the customers disappeared with them, even though the need for salon services didn’t.
The real problem
More marketing couldn’t fix it. The customers weren’t in the offices anymore. The model itself had to change, and fast.
What changed
A destination salon in NuLu, replacing the onsite model
An expanded service menu built around higher-value visits
Card-secured booking and rebooking so customers come back on a schedule
One discount a year, a Black Friday gift card sale that brought in cash up front (how it worked)
Referral, email, and paid media measured against bookings, not clicks
The result
Sales grew from $506,000 in 2021 to $897,000 in 2022, a 77% jump reported in the Salon Today 200. Within two years of launch, revenue passed $1 million, according to Square’s case study. In 2025, Inc. ranked TRIM No. 106 among the fastest-growing private companies in the Southeast, and the Courier-Journal named it Louisville’s Best Hair Salon for the fifth straight year. Square also reports no-shows cut from 20% to nearly zero after card-secured booking, and $17K in gift card sales in a single Black Friday.
“Our rapid growth over the past few years has largely come down to marketing that creates virality.”
The proof
Every number above comes from a third party. Here is where each one was published.
Sources: Square case study · Courier-Journal Best Hair Salon in Louisville (2025 winners list) · Inc. Regionals Southeast, No. 106 (2025) · TITAN Business Awards Gold (2021), announcement · Salon Today 200, Growth (2024)
Has the thing that used to work stopped working?
TRIM’s original model stopped working almost overnight. I have been there, with my own business and my own money on the line, and I know how heavy that feels. You don’t have to figure out the next move alone.
Tell me what is going on. I’ll look at it myself, find what is holding you back, and show you how we fix it. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll tell you that too.
Sean Stafford, founder, Hunley Media Group
Book a free 20-minute call. Sean will talk through whether he can help and what the next step would be.
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