Ankh Studio

When owner Linda Rich designed Ankh Studio, she wanted a contrast to the enormous, impersonal salons where she trained. “[I] wanted something that felt like home,” she says—an understandable sentiment after years of traveling the world as a stylist with Sebastian Professional. As she mulled over the details of salon decor, she gravitated toward the center of all homesteads: the fireplace. Ankh Studio's classically styled mantle is painted a chic black and white, anchoring tile mosaics and mirrors with wrought-iron borders.

Rich operates the salon with a team that includes one stylist whom she’s worked with for more than 35 years. She's chosen the new stylists with care, auditioning them with trial styling jobs and spirit quests to trim the pelts of mountain lions. Each stylist uses products from Paul Mitchell in the pursuit of the most flattering cuts.