written in partnership with Jon Stojan
Alina Zarzycki, the owner of Wildstylez Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina, believes in combining beauty and wellness in order to help her clients feel as beautiful as they look. This belief comes from the idea that when we look good, we feel good, and when we feel good, we put good energy back into the world.
Because of this vision, Alina also believes that we always have the power to change or create our story, no matter where we come from. This reality cannot be further from the truth, especially for Zarzycki herself, who faced tumultuous hardship before the founding of her salon.
Having battled drug and alcohol abuse since her teens, Zarzycki says that she was able to make it through college and worked her way through her studies in a high-end salon. She graduated in May of 2016. Less than a year later, her son was born in January 2017. However, this joy was dampened by an abusive relationship. As a result, she left North Carolina to live with her brother in Florida and started over with close to nothing: approximately $700 to her name and a dream to make something more of herself. She was quickly hired at a luxury salon in St. Augustine Beach, Florida, and could buy herself a new car.
However, the past continued to haunt Zarzycki, who was still silently struggling with addiction. Though her dependencies were a way to numb her pain, she battled incredible struggles, including being arrested and facing multiple health issues that left her hospitalized for a week. Moving back in with her parents, who were living in Savannah, Georgia at the time, in May of 2018 should have helped her regain her footing, but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that she began to turn her life around. By that time, she was living on her own again and was working at a prestigious salon in Savannah.
“I know that COVID was a really hard time for everyone,” she says, “but I really used it as an opportunity to heal myself. I had time to figure out what I enjoyed outside of partying and working.”
During these difficult times, she spent quality time with her son, quit using nicotine, improved her diet, and began taking fitness classes at an aerial gym. She met the man who would eventually become her husband in August 2020 and by April 2021, they moved to North Carolina as a family. In January 2022, she chose to get sober—and for Zarzycki, it is no coincidence that same year was when she launched and opened her salon, Wildstylez Asheville.
“Every service starts with a shoulder, neck, and scalp massage with an essential oil blend to help clients feel at ease and relaxed,” Zarzycki says. “We also only use high-quality, non-toxic hair products and hair color that is safe for humans and safe for the environment.”
Zarzycki’s goal for the next few years is to grow Wildstylez Ashville into a scalable, full-service luxury salon. She wants to step into a leadership and educator role, coach new stylists, and teach them things that cosmetologists don’t always learn in cosmetology school, such as business, marketing, overcoming mental blocks, and networking. She aims to create a safe space for stylists to learn their craft and nurture their growth.
Alina Zarzycki’s climb from what many would consider rock bottom is an inspiring testimony to how perseverance can help someone obtain their dreams. She has created her dream career through dedication and hard work, proving that anyone with a problematic past can rise to the top and make their dreams come true.
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