A talent that grows
The appointment book at Harper’s Salon in Mountain Brook Village is practically booked through the end of the year.
Most of those appointments, from the time the salon opens to when it closes, belong to owner Martine Sebbag.
The “magician,” as she is affectionately called by her staff, has been standing in the same corner of the salon at the helm of the same chair for 37 years. This June, Sebbag celebrated her 50th year as a stylist.
Born in Israel to parents of Moroccan and Spanish descent, Sebbag said she and her family moved to Paris when she was 7. By the time she was a young teenager, Sebbag said she became bored with the daily routine of school.
“My dad asked what I wanted to do,” she said. “And when I didn’t have an answer, he decided for me.”
At 15, Sebbag began a three-year training regime in Paris, working at multiple salons with an apprenticeship at first and then eventually with an assistantship.
“I learned to love it,” she said. “I’ve been at it ever since.”
Back then, Sebbag went to school three days a week and worked at salons the rest of the time earning just $1 a week, but it was the connections she formed with people, along with the ability to create, that kept her in the profession, she said.
When she was 27, Sebbag moved from Paris to Birmingham after a family member had secured a job for her. She said she remembers the exact day she walked into the Mountain Brook salon more than three decades ago.
“I started working here at Harper’s on Jan. 7, 1979,” Sebbag said.
At the time, the salon’s owner was Tony Buy, and though she was grateful for the opportunity to work, she was also lonely. Sebbag said she was used to having her entire family close by, and it was a difficult adjustment to make, even with her brother and an aunt nearby.
“I cried for a whole year,” she said. “I stayed because I needed the $125 I made a week.”
Slowly, the charm of the South took over, Sebbag said.
“I started building a life here,” she said, “connecting with customers, meeting families, creating my own family.”
Over the years, Sebbag has styled parents, their children, grandparents and great-grandparents. Eventually, Sebbag bought both the building and the salon.
“That’s the beauty of what I do,” she said. “The community has, in turn, helped me raise my daughter and grandchildren.”
Styling also allows her to create, Sebbag said.
“I want everyone to feel beautiful when they get out of my chair,” she said.
Whether she’s blow drying and styling a grandmother’s twice-weekly look or transforming a young girl’s hair from blond to purple, Sebbag said she enjoys it all. She’ll do weddings, proms and everything in between.
“There’s a certain trust that exists between a stylist and a client,” she said of her clients who stop in every time they are in town from places as far away as California, New York and Florida.
That trust, said Harper’s receptionist Christy Tumlin, is what keeps Sebbag’s daily appointment log booked.
“She can do anything from a complete transformation to a weekly styling,” Tumlin said. “It’s why we call her the magician.”
Tumlin said a big part of what has helped keep Harper’s successful is Sebbag’s careful selection of stylists. Combined with Sebbag’s experience, in all, the stylists at Harper’s — including Carol Stokes-Reed, Glen Conn, Ricki Owen, Mary Helen-Harris, Karen Glass and Pam Packer — have more than 227 years of experience, Tumlin said.
“We are constantly busy,” she said.
Harper’s stylists have between eight and 52 years of experience, said stylist Pam Packer.
“But without Martine, those statistics wouldn’t be possible,” she said. “She’s trained so many of us.”
As for the salon and its staff, which also includes hair tech Jamika Harris, Sebbag said she aims to constantly improve both the salon and the staff’s skills.
“I want them to constantly be learning,” she said. “New trends come and go, and we have to adjust with them.”
Recently, Harper’s added a blow dry bar on the bottom floor where customers can come in for a complete blow dry without an appointment for $35.
Asked what the future holds for her now that she has 50 years of styling under her belt, Sebbag said she will be happy doing more of the same.
“As long as I feel great coming to work, I’ll be here,” she said.
And from there, only time will tell.
“I’m a good adventurer,” she said, “an entrepreneur.”
Harper’s Salon is at 2810 Petticoat Lane in Mountain Brook Village. For more information, go to Harper’s Salon on Facebook at facebook.com/HarpersSalon.