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After cutting hair in Tysons for 17 years, Ukrainian immigrant Natalya Anderson achieved her longtime goal of owning a salon when Alya Salon and Spa opened in Vienna on Feb. 1, 2019.
Anderson came to the United States in 2001 and initially worked as a seamstress before pursuing cosmetology. She graduated from Pivot Point International Academy and received additional training in New York City and Chicago.
“I always wanted to own my own salon,” Anderson said. “I wanted to have a great team and create a good family.”
She opened Alya at 139 Park St. SE, one block south of Maple Avenue. Her vision was to assemble a team of hair-design artists capable of handling everything from precision cuts to complicated color corrections.
The salon offers haircuts, coloring, extensions, balayage, ombré, fashion colors and bridal styling. Its curly-hair services include Ouidad and DevaCut techniques. Facials, massages, makeup, brow treatments, lash services and men’s styling are also available.
Alya’s team has contributed hair and cosmetic work to fashion shoots and magazine projects. Its bridal operation includes an events coordinator and stylists serving weddings throughout Virginia, Washington and Maryland.
The business has pursued environmentally conscious practices by working to eliminate product waste, reduce energy consumption and use organic, cruelty-free cosmetic products. It has also received recognition for customer service and entrepreneurship, along with honors naming it among Northern Virginia’s leading salons.
Community involvement has been part of Anderson’s business model from the beginning. Through what she calls the “10-10 plan,” clients supporting a charity receive a 10% discount while the salon donates 10% of the proceeds to that organization.
Alya has worked with Britepaths, which provides food, gift cards, school supplies and other assistance to families in crisis. The salon also served as a donation site for BRAWS, or Bringing Resources to Aid Women’s Shelters, and participated in the organization’s Mardi Bras event.
Other efforts have supported DEBRA, an organization serving people with the rare connective-tissue disorder epidermolysis bullosa. At the Viva Vienna festival over Memorial Day weekend, the salon offered hair braiding at an outdoor booth to raise money for charity.
For Anderson, the Vienna salon represents more than the culmination of a nearly two-decade career in Northern Virginia. It has also become a way for her woman-owned small business to support nearby charities and fellow local businesses while building the close-knit team she envisioned.