Copyright Forbes
Jenna Perry isn’t just coloring hair; she’s rewriting the rules of color, creativity, and risk-taking. From Kendall Jenner’s redhead debut for Prada to Kaia Gerber’s Valentino ad, celebrity colorist and entrepreneur Jenna Perry has mastered the art of transformation — treating hair color as the ultimate accessory. Perry’s story is one of hustle, instincts, and a fiery desire to bet on yourself. (And if this inspires you to take bold action heading into 2026, consider this your permission slip to go all in.) Perry moved to New York City from Rhode Island 20 years ago and did anything that would get her behind the chair – from assisting on shoots to doing hair for weddings and everything in between, but it was the precision and magic of hair color that drew her in. She recalls one pivotal moment early on: coloring Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s hair, which led her to meet meg entrepreneur Jen Atkin and eventually Bella Hadid. “I’m always saying thank you, Bella, because she really put me on the map.” Soon after, her chair became a destination for names like Chloë Sevigny, Kaia Gerber and Emily Ratajkowski. Then came the call from Kendall Jenner’s team to fly out the next day to color Jenner’s hair red ahead of the Prada show in Paris – and she dropped everything to transform Jenner’s now iconic hair color. “I didn’t even remember where I was, I just knew I had to go,” she recalls. “That’s the root of who I am: a colorist first. That’s what drives the business. That’s what feeds me creatively.” Opening a salon? “That wasn’t part of the plan,” she says. Still, as her name and Instagram following grew, so did her vision: “I wanted to create a girly barbershop in the East Village.” That space opened up in 2019, six months before the pandemic, and it ended up becoming the beginning of something bigger. “My business survived in a global pandemic when I didn’t even really know what I was doing in the first place,” she says. “I learned to trust my gut.” By 2021, Perry and her team of colorists, stylists and specialists had outgrown the original East Village space. A much larger salon in Soho became the new home of Jenna Perry Hair: a cool-girl beauty headquarters with her name on the window. “That was a holy shit moment,” she says. “I used to come to Soho as a kid, go to Patricia Field’s store on Bowery, obsess over Sex and the City. Having a business here? Surreal.” Still, she kept the lease on the 9th Street salon. It became a blank-slate rental space for brands and beauty friends, until something started calling her back. This summer, she circled back to where it all began. Tucked into the East Village, Jenna’s on 9th isn’t just a salon relaunch: it signals a return to her roots, both literally and spiritually. “I built Jenna’s on 9th because I wanted to create a space for self-care,” she says. “A ritual-inspired hair space that’s indulgent but also really easy. A place where you leave feeling put together again, and maybe walk out with a new favorite cleanser, balm or candle to spice up your life.” There’s a discovery component to Jenna’s on 9th, with a lineup of female-founded beauty brands. Perry curated a retail experience to match the energy, with products from brands like Rōz, Summer Fridays, Le Bonne Brosse, Sidia, Snow Fox, Crown Affair, and more. “I get sent so many products and new brands as an expert,” she says. “I wanted to highlight what I actually love — my real favorites.” (In an interview with Into The Gloss, Perry mentioned plans to eventually offer same-day delivery through Uber Eats — a testament to her focus on accessibility and innovation.) In September, Perry co-hosted a Crown Affair event at Jenna’s on 9th with Dianna Cohen, complete with tarot readings, boba in Crown Affair’s signature green, and a space to hang with friends – both new and old. (This outlines what a true community event looks like: it’s not a shopping event, but the venue serves more as a third space to connect and chat about mutual love for hair and ritual, making new friends in the process.) Friendship is a key theme for Perry, who teamed up with her best friend and Chief of Staff, Jenna Bess, to reimagine the space. The concept of Jenna’s on 9th is somewhere between a blow dry bar and a scalp spa, with more intimacy and intentionality. “Jenna (Bess) and I were always getting foot massages, couples treatments, ASMR scalp spas. So we created our own version of that.” The menu includes three treatments: Trust Detox with Olaplex to remove metals and minerals, Moisturize Me to revive heat-damaged strands, and Jenna’s Signature, which blends massage, scalp scrub and steam. Every service ends with a finished blowout, unlike traditional scalp spas. “You leave looking good and feeling even better.” This was a key element for Perry. “It’s like a facial for your hair,” she laughs cheekily. If Perry has a signature, it’s her palette: shades of lavender, pink, and red that appear throughout her outfits and branding.“I gravitate toward pink and purple,” she says. “It’s just my signature, I don’t even mean to do it.” Her now-iconic red lighter has become a business card of sorts, and has an ”IYKYK" quality to it. “I saw a guy the other day who said, ‘Are you Jenna Perry? I stole your lighter from my ex.’ That’s exactly what I wanted – a conversation piece, something that literally sparks.” Still, even with the cult status, Perry remains rooted in her purpose. “I’m a colorist first,” she says. “That’s the painting. That’s the art.” Her business has always been bootstrapped. “Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. The spiral is real. But you just have to go for it and play ball,” she says. “There are big ‘yes’es and easy ‘yes’es. And if it doesn’t work? I’ll pick myself back up.” She credits her resilience to an “invisible advisory board”: her network of fellow women entrepreneurs, mentors and friends. “I’m never afraid to ask for help. You need those five people at your table.” In the back room of her Soho flagship, there’s a vintage sign that reads: “Nothing is forever, bitch.” It’s not her personal mantra, but it serves as a strong reminder that you need to keep going to maintain momentum and to pause and reflect with gratitude. “My real mantra is: set your intentions and be true to yourself,” Perry says. And by the looks of what she’s built, she’s doing just that.
