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As co-founder of Lunatic Fringe Salon, a luxury hair brand she built alongside her husband and business partner, Shawn Trujillo, Angie Katsanevas has spent nearly three decades building a career in the beauty industry\u2014long before the reality-television cameras started rolling. Currently operating nine locations across three states, the salon partners directly with K\u00e9rastase, and Katsanevas is also a Paul Mitchell franchise owner, giving her a hand in both an independent luxury brand and a major global franchise system.<\/p>\n
Now in her fifth season on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City<\/em>, Katsanevas says this chapter has felt different\u2014and she\u2019s ready to talk about why. Ahead, she talks about balancing motherhood with running a growing business, how her Greek heritage shapes her approach to hospitality and style and where she wants to take the Lunatic Fringe brand\u2014and her own name\u2014in the next five years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m just a lot more unfiltered and more confident. I know my place in the group now. I have stronger bonds with the women. I feel more supported. I have real friendships in the group, which makes it easy to show up authentically.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wake up at 6:30 a.m. every day and hit the ground running. I always start with a collagen and protein drink, and hydrate really well\u2014which is super important for my skin\u2014before heading to the gym. I\u2019m a very routine-oriented person\u2014I do the same things every day to stay healthy, including the same breakfast: eggs, avocado and berries. You can count on me ordering that even at a restaurant. My diet is very important to me.<\/p>\n Then, I get Elektra off to school. After drop-off, I come home and dive into my to-do list, which I keep on my kitchen table and have it divided into \u2018have-to-dos\u2019 and \u2018nice-to-dos.\u2019 I try to chip away at as many of my \u2018have-to-dos\u2019 as I can. There\u2019s actually something really satisfying about checking boxes\u2014studies show it releases endorphins\u2014so I have to check things off my list every day.<\/p>\n After that, I head to the salon, where there\u2019s always a lot of hustle and bustle. I\u2019m working, engaging with people and connecting with the team and guests. There are also always people reaching out, so I try to stay open to opportunities outside of the business\u2014brand deals, partnerships, collaborations, interviews; I do a lot of networking and connecting with people.<\/p>\n Once school lets out, Elektra has horseback-riding lessons about six days a week. Then we\u00a0eat dinner at home pretty much every night. I usually make fish\u2014probably five nights a week\u2014with a Greek salad or another salad. It\u2019s a really simple, healthy dinner. Then, of course, there\u2019s homework.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also very particular about taking good care of Elektra\u2019s clothes, so I do laundry and steam everything. I\u2019m a very clean and organized person, and in order for me to function the way I do, I need a healthy, home-cooked meal and a clean, organized home. I have a cleaning person, but there\u2019s still a lot to do to keep the house running.<\/p>\n We do a walk with our dogs every night, then our skin-care routine\u2014Elektra and I get into our SKIMS pajamas, do our skin care and go to bed.<\/p>\n Family is everything for me. It\u2019s really at the center of my life because before I had my daughter, all I did was work. I started working when I was 15, so I was raised to just work.<\/p>\n Having Elektra at age 37 completely changed my perspective. I now have a much better understanding of the people on our team who have children at home and need to balance work and family\u2014sometimes they need to leave early or start later. Becoming a mother helped me realize how I can better support the parents who work at our salon so they can have a thriving career while still being present for their families. I didn\u2019t really understand balance before Elektra.<\/p>\n I want the mothers and fathers on our team to have that balance\u2014to have longevity, enjoy their lives and not work themselves away.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGreeks are very hospitable people. You never meet a stranger. When I work with people, they feel like my family. When they walk into my business, our guests know me because I connect with them as if I were welcoming them into my home. I always offer a coffee or water or snack, and I\u2019ll always make that personal connection with eye contact and attention. That\u2019s really what\u2019s\u202fstrengthened the culture of Lunatic Fringe. I treat everyone like family, and I think I have that same connection with my team and guests.<\/p>\n My grandfather would always say: \u2018Your reputation is all you have.\u2019 Having a great reputation in business\u2014being honest, having integrity and caring about your people like family\u2014has been a huge part of my success, and something I was taught early on. Greeks are hardworking people, and I bring that work ethic everywhere I go, taking pride in everything I do.<\/p>\n Growing up Greek, we went to church on Sundays and always had events to attend within our community. We were taught to take pride in our appearance and manners. My daughter fought me on wearing dresses when she was little, and I had to teach her that there\u2019s a time and a place for everything\u2014we\u2019d have special shoes and dresses just for church. I think when you\u2019re raised by immigrants, there\u2019s a lot of pride there, so we were really taught to take pride in how we presented ourselves and how we looked.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes! Being in the beauty industry, we have a dress code in our salon, and it\u2019s black. But on the show, I can go as big as I want. I\u2019ve always loved fashion, and I\u2019ve always loved to take risks. We get to go to a lot of fun events with themes, so you really get to express yourself through fashion\u2014whether it\u2019s a themed event or just any event you show up to with the women.<\/p>\n Being Greek, I went to a lot of amazing events growing up\u2014weddings and things like that\u2014so I got to dress up a lot. Fashion has always been how I\u2019ve expressed myself; I was into it from an early age. I always had the most cutting-edge haircut, or platform shoes before anyone else had them, so I felt like a trendsetter\u2014I was never afraid to do something first. Now it\u2019s fun being around women who love fashion as much as I do. You can push the limits and go all out, and that\u2019s a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI absolutely love K\u00e9rastase\u2019s\u00a0Mousse Bouffante ($42). It\u2019s my go-to\u2014I\u2019ve been using it for 30 years because it gives you volume and hold, while still letting your hair move and stay soft. Fuller hair is coming back right now, and this creates shine, volume and hold without sacrificing movement. It\u2019s clearly the best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want Lunatic Fringe to continue to grow and expand and really become a household name. We currently have nine locations in three states, and I\u2019d love to see the brand continue to grow nationwide and be known for the super-premium, luxury salon experience it is. We\u2019ve received national recognition, including the Masters in Business award from the North American Hairstyling Awards in 2010, but I want to keep building on that and make Lunatic Fringe known as cutting-edge, world-class and one of the best salons in the world. Ultimately, I\u2019d love to see it scale nationwide and continue to evolve the Angie K brand in beauty.<\/p>\n I\u2019d also love to share my recipes for Greek food with the world! A dream of mine is to write a cookbook\u2026maybe Secret Recipes of a Real Greek Housewife<\/em>? I\u2019d want it to be more than just a collection of recipes. I\u2019d like to tell the story of my family and our history through food. My dream would be to travel to Greece, visit relatives and small villages and feature traditional recipes alongside their stories. It wouldn\u2019t just be my recipes\u2014it would include family recipes, highlighting the traditions and stories behind them, and celebrate the incredible food, people and culture I\u2019ve come to love throughout my life.<\/p>\n Beyond that, I\u2019m open to whatever life has in store for me! I\u2019m entering a new phase, and I can feel I\u2019m in a new state of becoming, so I\u2019m excited to see what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSeason 7 finds you in the middle of some real personal growth and finding your voice. What\u2019s different about how you\u2019re showing up for yourself this season compared to your first four seasons on RHOSLC?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Being a mom while running a growing salon franchise and filming a reality show is a lot on the schedule. What does your day look like, and what\u2019s one thing about motherhood that\u2019s changed how you run your business?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
You\u2019ve talked about your Greek heritage as part of what shaped your bold personality and style. How does that background show up in your day-to-day, as well as your beauty rituals?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Your personal style is glamorous and unapologetic. How would you describe your style philosophy right now, and has it evolved since you first joined the franchise?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
You\u2019re constantly around the best in hair care. What\u2019s one product that you\u2019re genuinely obsessed with?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
You started Lunatic Fringe from the ground up and have grown it into a franchise while also being a full-time television personality. What does \u2018life beyond Housewives\u2019 look like for you long-term, and where do you want the business\u2014and your own name\u2014to be in five years?<\/strong><\/h2>\n