Buffalo Boss Babe: Erin Moser
Erin Moser ---- Photo by: Luke Copping ( which is AMAZING BTW)
Erin is the owner behind one the coolest salons around! Crown Buffalo is a collective of talented individuals that have found their way back to each other. Erin, Grace, Chelsey, and Sarah have been working side-by-side, in various settings and groups for the past 10 years. Now that the team is reunited, they're building a bigger one. They currently have a 10 member team and 12 if you count their 4 legged team members!
Erin is a Buffalo Boss Babe for sure! We sat down to chat with Erin about life and her super cool salon.
Crown Buffalo Logo
Â
Tell us your story, What makes you a Buffalo Boss Babe?
Crown was founded on the idea of modeling the team as a band, not so much a salon. Every person who is on the team was my apprentice at one point. We came up together. The core group of us were together for the better part of a decade, but never truly fit in at or respected the places we worked. We knew as soon as we could announce we were starting our own shop, our guests would find us via social media + follow us. Having 4 stylists with existing guest lists was a relief. So we started thinking about how we wanted to present ourselves, and the model of a band rather than a cookie-cutter salon group just made sense. Having a music promoter Dad, we took cue. We love giving out free swag to all who enter crown, in the form of 1" buttons + stickers. We retail branded "merch", 100% of that profit goes to our team education account! A few of us even travel together to see live music, so the band feel is more of what you get at crown!
Â
When the lightbulb went off in my brain for the name "crown", it just stuck. There are so many meanings behind that simple word.
Â
The core group was on board immediately, and the business planning began. In our trade, the moment a salon owner feels you may leave, they will fire you on the spot. I don't know how we kept it all so quiet for 3+ years!!! Big props to the SBA + SCORE mentors who volunteer their times + minds. I couldn't have done this the right way without their confidential planning help!
The hunt for real estate was the most daunting challenge. It's all about location and parking. Thanks to the Savarino's + their project at 500 Seneca, we found our home. (Anne Savarino is a badass boss babe herself!) It's amazing to be part of revitalizing Buffalo instead of leaving it in the dust for a bigger city.
Who are your favorite people to follow?
Mostly, I follow my favorite bands, artists, and friends. To name a few- Jeremy Fish, GoodDYEyoung, Paramore, The Kills, the Left Brain Group, Perfume Genius, Andrew Does Hair, Juxtapoz Magazine, Gina Devine, Luke Copping, FKA Twigs... I could go on forever.
Â
What are your favorite things to do in the area (Buffalo and greater WNY)?
Some of my fave things to do in the area are supporting other locally owned businesses, especially coffee spots + restaurants! I have always been a Southtowns gal, and there are so many hidden gems such as the Mess Hall, Winfield's Pub, and Black Iron Bystro. My boyfriend and I recently moved to a new home, and the view from the new house is of the lake, which should prove to be a constant in our lives from now on.
Erin and Her Sister Grace at the Pride Parade.
Â
Crown Salon at 500 Seneca St. Photo by Luke Copping
Tell me about your favorite collaborations or a dream collaboration?
It would be my dream to do a collab shoot or event with the GoodDYEyoung team out of Nashville. We already have the honor of working with them, and have some serious history. I think crown X GDY would make some fantastic images together!
We also have collaborated with numerous charities since we opened 10 months ago- I believe at least 12 to date thus far. We've teamed up with Music is Art, Planned Parenthood, Elite Events, the Matt Urban Hope Ctr, Journey's End Refugee Services, Roswell Park, TLC Prom, PRIDE Center, Veteran's One-Stop, Mental Health Assoc, and Hospice, to name a few. Our dreams of merging the hair world + helping our community have truly come to life!
If you could have coffee with anyone in the world who would it be?
Allison Mosshart, hands-down. But she is so cool, we would probably just sit in silence + sketch as she smoked.
Erin and Sarah in the Crown portrait studio
Â
What are your hopes, dreams, goals? Big or Small.
The past year has brought many of my dreams to life, and I am lucky enough to share that with my crew. We come from a long upbringing of being the misfits in any hair studios we have worked at together, and now we are again side-by-side. I couldn't ask for more! But that being said, I hope + dream for crown to become a movement + culture in our industry. There are so many things that are wrong in our field, and we strive to start the shift now. Th most significant want to change is the following- I dream of a world where pricing of haircuts is not determined by what's in your pants. That always bothered me; that my ladies who love fades have been forced to pay $50+ at some of my previous employers, where as my guys with mid-back-lengths have had to only pay the typical $30 for their more labor-intensive style. Make no sense! Hair is hair. Cost should be based on time. To date, we are the first + only shop in WNY that lives this idea, and we hope more follow our lead.
Tell us about your family a bit ?
My family is small but so close! My sister Grace works next to me every day. Our Dad, recently dubbed "Poppa Crown", has a brain that is a music history museum. We all care for our Momma Mary, who is living with a traumatic brain injury, and that has majorly changed our lives. Behind it all is my amazing boyfriend of over 13 years, Chris, who is truly a rock. We live at home with our lil senior pug, Monster, who is usually at the shop, as well as our cane corso Brodie + our weird little black cat names Gooch. Only furry kiddos for us!
Monster the Pug! Photo by Luke Copping
Â
Feel Good Five :)
Color: you cannot ask this to a colorist + artist, LOL...
Food: "The Hot Mess" at the Mess Hall
Super Power: I just know things. It's spooky.
Animal: pugs. duh.
Season of the year: non-snow-time
Erin and her team make me want to leave right now and get my hair did! I admire their rebel souls and creativity. The salon and team seem like an amazing thing! We cant wait to see what the future holds for Crown Bflo! Keep rocking you Buffalo BOSS BABE!
Check out more from Erin and Crown at their website crownbuffalo.com & go get your hair done by these RAD people!
Until Next Time Babes!
Buffalo Boss Babes is a woman run blog that features amazing woman doing amazing things in and around the city of Buffalo N.Y. If you know someone doing amazing things for our community, past and present, young and old..... send us a message at buffalobossbabes@gmail.com
Be kind to everyone you meet.
Here's to strong woman! May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.
Â
Â
