Our Staff

Marina

Owner – Creative Stylist - Certified Bayalage Hair Artist – Master Colorist

Marina was born and raised in Kolomna, Russia.  She obtained her law degree from Moscow State University in 2000 and was a lieutenant police detective, (pursuing a career as a criminal defense attorney), prior to immigrating to the United States in 2005.  The beauty field was her passion from a young age, however, and she graduated from the Reuben Allen College of Cosmetology in Knoxville soon after her arrival. She quickly became quite the in-demand sylist at all three area salons in which she worked prior to her opening of The Hair Experience, LLC, in April of 2015.  One goal in opening her own “unique boutique” salon was to create something extremely different from any other in the region, and it shows!  The center of her philosophy is the creation of a strong team of experienced stylists that works together towards a common, customer-focused goal; always striving to master new techniques and working to duplicate Marina's proven results on each and every client while providing superb customer service.

 

Her inner-detective has never quite left her, and she spends much of her down-time studying current hair trends, (including European), cutting-edge products designed to improve the health of our guests’ hair, as well as advanced cutting and coloring techniques not found in other area salons.  She/we exclusively use the Pravana hair color line, and she is a Pravana-certified Master Colorist.  Most-importantly, Marina travels to train one-on-one with some of America’s top hair artists, and then brings that knowledge back to share with our team of stylists on a daily basis. To be the best, one has to learn from the best… and Marina has!

 

Another of Marina’s passions is teaching. She has decided to step away from the chair in order to instruct and assist our Hair Experience team.  While she is not able to currently accept new guests due to her teaching, training and salon schedule, you can be confident that when you are placed with one of our talented stylists after Marina’s personal consultation, your expectations will be exceeded.  (Marina is always available to do a personal and complimentary consultation for new guests in order to select the ideal color formulation, cutting technique, etc… and assign the guest to the member of our team she thinks is best-suited to their particular needs).

Moneta

Senior Stylist & Master Colorist

Moneta obtained her cosmetology education through Glemby International Academy and has 30+ years of experience behind the chair.  She relocated to area from Michigan in 1996 and has worked at several top Maryville salons over the years.  She joined The Hair Experience in December, 2015, as a Senior Stylist.

 

Moneta is certified in the Pravana color line, and is very experienced in traditional yet modern cut and color methods for our more-mature clientele and Baby Boomers, but she also seeks continual education to stay on top of the latest hair trends for all ages. Moneta commutes from Knoxville and works Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Whitney

Hair Stylist – Colorist – Balayage Hair Artist

Whitney, a native of Blount County, is a graduate of the Tennessee School of Beauty (TSB) in Knoxville and joined our staff in 2019.  Prior to graduating from TSB, she was involved in the cosmetology program at William Blount High School for two years.  Marina describes Whitney as a “natural-born hairdresser.” She possesses a real passion for the art of hairdressing, and is extremely talented!  Don’t believe us? Check our guest reviews for Whitney yourself!

 

Whitney trained directly with Marina in French Cutting, Balayage and current upstyles, as well as performing precision cut training at a level more advanced than most area veteran hairstylists. She thrives on learning from and collaborating with our more-experienced stylists as needed to ensure her guests leave extremely satisfied with the results!  Whitney works full time, Monday through Friday.

Bryden

Hair Stylist – Colorist – Highlighting Specialist

Bryden is also a native of Blount County and graduated from the Tennessee School of Beauty (TSB) in Knoxville.  She joined our staff in 2021.  Like Whitney, she was a student in the cosmetology program at William Blount High School for two years prior to attending TSB.

 

Bryden trains directly with Marina in advanced cutting techniques, (including French and Russian) as well as collaborating with Marina on the perfect color formula for each guest. She possesses a wealth of knowledge about our Aveda and Amika product lines and fits in perfectly with our team-based model.  Her specialties are foil highlighting and precision cuts.  Because we operate collaboratively and provide such advanced training, even our younger stylists obtain knowledge and training that already far exceeds the training many area veteran stylists received.  Bryden works full time, Monday through Friday.

Missy

Guest Services Coordinator

Missy joined the Hair Experience staff in 2019 and commutes from Lenoir City.  She served two decades in the medical office environment prior to taking a break from her career in the early 2000’s to devote to her family. Just as her son enrolled in college on a full athletic scholarship, she began working with us, and we are very glad she did!

 

Missy is extremely detail-oriented and goes above and beyond to ensure that our guests receive the ultimate hair experience. A little OCD never hurt anyone, and it serves Missy very well!  She is involved in all aspects of our guests’ experience, up to and including helping to design the space of our new salon expansion!  As a matter of fact, the reason our salon is the most functional, attractive, clean and organized in the entire region is directly related to Missy’s dedication to extreme Excellence.

Doug

Salon Manager

Doug received his bachelor's degree in Journalism from Emory & Henry College, Virginia, in 1991. During the 1990's he primarily worked in sales for a Fortune 100 plastics/rubber company, working with Japanese automotive customers based in the Ohio area. It was there that he learned many details about efficiency, organization, inventory management, etc… In 2000, he relocated to Maryville area and started his own business, Organization Systems. As a professional organizer for more than 10 years, he utilized his learned and innate skills to organize in some of the Knoxville area's finest homes as well as providing business organizational services.

 

In helping to create The Hair Experience with his wife, Marina, Doug has tapped into all of these prior experiences to fashion something truly unique among area salons. From personally designing the salon's fresh, modern interior, choosing the business model, creating a state-of-the-art inventory-control method and selecting the best salon technology platform, he designed a system that ensures all aspects of the overall customer experience run smoothly so that the salon's team of experienced stylists can simply focus on doing what they do best… your hair!