A self-described small-town guy, Tony Lupo got his first taste of leadership early as student body president of his Essexville, Michigan high school. While attending the University of Michigan (he earned his degree in English in 2007) he met Jeniffer Hepler, a young stylist guru who was opening her own new salon in town. Lupo went to work for Jen in the spring of 2006 as part of a team that helped design what would soon become a destination business in Ann Arbor –
Salon Vox.
"It was a really cool experience because we could help do something that we were really passionate about while spending time downtown," recalls Lupo of his early days working in downtown Ann Arbor.
Yet by the time he graduated, Lupo was feeling the itch that just about every grad since the dawn of time has experienced: Where do I go from here? He was faced with similarly predictable impulses: The fear of being able to pay back his college student loans, and the desire to experience something outside the Mitten State – something big. Lupo had long cultivated his dream of moving out of Michigan and to a city like New York. When a choice opportunity in sales and marketing opened at New York's
Bumble and bumble, he took the position and headed east.
Big city, small return"New York and Bumble and bumble were a different world, but it made sense at the time. I also brought what I knew about founding a small business to a very corporate environment," says Lupo.
Lupo's work in New York took him around the country, working intimately with salon owners to help them create business and marketing plans, train employees and establish site-specific best practices. Meanwhile, back at headquarters, he was learning how to navigate a huge corporate setting – and its far less personalized avenues of communication.
"One day during my first few weeks, I had a question. Since I sat close to the VP's office, I asked the VP – it seemed to make sense." Yet a couple of days later Lupo's supervisor took him aside to explain that "that's not how it works" and that for all communications, a certain chain of command was to be followed. It was Lupo's first real taste of the dramatically different ways in which large companies operate, and the ways in which a single voice can be drowned.
During his time in New York, Lupo maintained his friendship with Hepler. When he was offered another choice position on the West Coast, he chatted with her about whether he should seize the opportunity. In his absence, Hepler explained, Salon Vox had continued to grow at warp speed. Client counts were up and retail and service sales had ballooned. There were more guest services employees and more stylists. Hepler needed someone to step in and take over the business end of the salon so that she could focus her energy on her passion – working behind the stylist's chair. She invited Lupo to try out Ann Arbor again, this time as director of sales and marketing at Vox.
Lupo points out that the genesis and success of Salon Vox are wholly attributable to Hepler's passion and dedication. Yet it is also an example of what happens when a passion is brought into existence via collaborative effort. Together, he and Jen implemented formalized marketing plans and devised marketing campaigns for the salon at large as well as individual stylists. In addition to traditional advertising, Lupo spearheaded
Twitter and
Facebook usage, and worked to update the website with the assistance of local firm
Zero Gravity Designs.
"I wanted to represent who we are, talk about our brand, convey the culture that we live in, make it beautiful but only do it through local businesses. Everything was sourced out of Michigan," Lupo explains.
Under Hepler and Lupo's tutelage the salon has been thriving. In 2009, Salon Vox was rated one of
America's Top Salons in
Elle Magazine. Long-term goals include more employees and possibly an additional location. According to Lupo, the reason Salon Vox has done so well in Ann Arbor, despite so many other salons, is its ability to bring big city sophistication together with small town values and customer service.
"It's the type of place where everyone knows your name but you could also walk in and forget you are in Ann Arbor entirely," he says. "The real achievement is remaining approachable to potential customers."
And the economy has not slowed down business. "A lot of people gave up things like vacation and cars, but continued or even stepped up things like getting highlights or nails done. It's been a compromise and we've benefited from it," he explains.
Becoming a localUpon his return from New York, Lupo instantly became involved in the local political and planning scene. He currently serves on the marketing committee for the
Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce and is also on the Board of the
Main Street Area Association.
"I undertook these duties because I wanted to network with other marketing professionals and to participate in idea sharing," he says. According to Lupo, it's also one of the best ways to get the leaders of Ann Arbor to recognize what the younger population wants out of a city that often forgets anyone older than 21 but younger than 55.
Lupo shares a downtown walk up apartment with his boyfriend Nick Hoffman, who also works downtown. The two habitually eat, shop, and go out in the downtown area. Lupo compares their lifestyle to that of certain neighborhoods in New York.
"In New York people don't have to venture far from the block they live on to get what they need – that's what's great about it. I have tried to recreate that feeling here: I live downtown; virtually all the bars and restaurants I go to are about a block away. That's the type of experience people think of when they think of downtown living. I think a lot of people don't know that it exists in Ann Arbor, and we need to encourage their curiosity about it."
With the exception of big box shopping, everything the couple does and needs is down town: They hardly ever use their cars. "Yet knowing we can use them is great," says Lupo.
Lupo also points out a trend he's witnessed in his demographic: Many people who like to visit Ann Arbor and go out in Ann Arbor don't actually live in the city. Lupo would like to change all that. He envisions a 24-hour downtown where many locals live, shop and work.
Although some have named him as a budding leader in the gay community, Lupo finds the label ill-fitting. "I'm into building relationships with anyone in our age group and beyond," he explains. Indeed, since his college years, Lupo has always held get-togethers at his homes for friends, coworkers and acquaintances, "to talk about the week and provide support to each other in a place that's not a bar."
Historically, everyone is welcome at such gatherings. Indeed, he feels that the thing outsiders call the "gay community" is less pronounced in Ann Arbor than in other communities. "I think one of the reasons that Ann Arbor does not have a huge noticeable gay presence is because it doesn't have to," he explains, citing the openness of the community at large.
When it comes to community involvement, says Lupo, "What I really strive to do is understand the issues and help communicate these to my friends and people I care about who may not be paying attention." Indeed, he sees his role in Ann Arbor as helping the downtown become a place where people will live, study, work and play.
Lupo agrees that more affordable downtown housing will make a difference, and he says a grocery store would be key in making the downtown more welcome to inhabitants. But what is really needed to catalyze change is for both the young segment of the community and the older guard to unify in their purpose. To do so, more young people like Lupo are going to have to participate in the political and planning aspects of the city.
"Perhaps then more students at the University would stay here when they are done with their studies," says Lupo.
"When I lived in New York, my community was in the corporate office in which I worked – not in the city or in my neighborhood. There aren't downtown associations that are very accessible in New York – not like there are in Ann Arbor. I want to know people on the street, and be part of the brainstorming that contributes to the way the city operates. In Ann Arbor you get to live in a place you love and also have your voice heard. It says a lot for this type of city."
Leia is a freelance writer in Ann Arbor. Her previous story was "Here, There, Then Back Again". Send feedback here.
Photos:
Tony Lupo Getting His Ears Lowered-Ann Arbor
Tony Lupo at Home-Ann Arbor
Tony Lupo is Up Front-Ann Arbor
Tony Lupo Gets Set-Ann Arbor
Tony Lupo Could be in Dwell-Ann Arbor
Tony Lupo at Home Yet Again-Ann Arbor
All Photos by Dave Lewinski