“Can you see my gray hair?” “Of course! It’s my job, ” Mariam Baldi laughs, as usual.
I am listening to Tigi Salon Manager Mariam talking to a client. Her people skills are impeccable and laughter is frequently heard throughout the salon. Tigi Salon is a very laid back salon, sometimes clients bring their small dogs, other times they bring presents for the staff. Mariam has even gone on vacation with one client to Hawaii.
One day decades ago, Mariam’s mother was exiting a bus and a handsome man approached her. The two started dating, eventually marrying and giving birth to their first child Mariam. As early as age thirteen, Mariam would spend her free time in the local hair salons. Due to her age, she was only allowed to wash and set hair with those now unfashionable very large rollers.
After her parents separated, her father moved to the United States. Mariam stayed with her mother in Tunisia but left to be with her father as soon as she graduated from high school. Mariam loved growing up near the ocean in Tunisia but her desire to see the world was stronger than her love for her home country. Once she arrived in America, she wanted to work in the hospitality industry, specifically at a hotel so she enrolled in computer classes. (Knowing Mariam today it is hard to imagine her sitting still for any period of time.) Eventually she realized that she needed to be working with her hands and enrolled in beauty school in Tenleytown. Her instructor advised her to go to Tigi Salon because they thought the owner was also Tunisian. The Owner Tahere Kahel in fact is from Libya but nonetheless, the two hit it off and Mariam has been with Tigi Salon ever since.
In addition to her professional job, she is the mother of a ninth grader at Jackson Reed. Her son is a soft spoken young man and nearly taller than Mariam, he frequently comes to Tigi after school. Mariam loves her job and takes it very seriously to make sure people leave happy and feeling beautiful after their service with her. To have your hair styled by Mariam feels exciting as if the two of you are on a road trip together, laughing and singing together to the radio, exploring unknown parts of the world. Of course on this road trip, you aren’t in a convertible or else you would mess up your hair.
Visit Tigi Salon today!
3509 Connecticut Ave NW 20008, Washington DC
202-244-5200