Salon franchise owner starts podcast to keep in touch with her beauty community
By Jess Watts | 07 May 2026 | Business & Education
The founder of an award-winning salon brand has started an in-salon podcast to ensure growth never comes at the cost of connection…
Amy Lewis is the founder of Mooeys – a seven-strong salon franchise across southern England, with an ambitious target of 50 locations by 2030.
“I’ve been in the beauty industry for over 25 years,” Amy says. “My background spans salon and spa management, recruitment, operations and cruise ships – which is where I really learned about people and pace.”
Franchising
The first Mooeys salon opened in Farnham in 2012, with its success allowing for another location to follow in Horsham in 2019. However, after opening the second salon, the business suffered a setback.
“A £10,000 deficit almost ended everything,” Amy shares. “I got us out of that hole, but it shook me. Afterwards, my business banking manager suggested I look into franchising the brand. I’d never seriously considered it before, but I went away, looked into it properly and completely fell in love with the franchising world.”
The appeal for Amy was personal as much as professional. “I’ve always liked the idea of coaching other salon owners, and franchising means I get to do exactly that,” she says.
Mooeys team members are affectionately called ‘the Herd’ – which Amy describes as ‘a proper ecosystem, full of incredible humans’. “We’re growing steadily, and I’m fiercely protective of the integrity and values of the business. Mooeys is a fully operational machine that teaches you exactly what to do, and there’s always someone in the Herd who’ll help with anything,” Amy adds with a smile.
Moo Chats
Despite Mooeys’ continued success, Amy recently found herself confronting an unexpected feeling. “I have never felt so disconnected from my own business,” she admits. “It’s my brand, and I’m connected to my team – but I’m not on the salon floor. That disconnect is incredibly common at this stage of business, and it only gets worse the bigger you grow.”
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Determined to bridge the gap, Amy looked for a creative solution. When she asked herself whether she was ready to expand further, the answer came with one condition: “Yes – providing I’ve still got a creative outlet and a thread of connection back to the people.”
Enter Moo Chats: a podcast offering ‘authentic conversations from inside the Herd’.
Episodes are recorded in-salon, drawing from the buzz of clients and staff who make the business what it is. Topics range from ‘mental health and burnout to beauty industry realities, confidence, leadership, motherhood and grief’.
So far, guests have included long-standing salon managers, in-house specialists, the brand’s operations team and a local aesthetics nurse prescriber. Future episodes are set to feature ‘franchise partners, more clients and voices from across the industry’.
“The podcast is my way of staying close to the team, the clients and the everyday salon conversations that built Mooeys in the first place,” Amy says. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we take what we do seriously, and the podcast had to reflect that.”
New episodes are released regularly and can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
