On January 4th, Valentino’s Grande Salon was recognized for outstanding staff development at the 100th Dale Carnegie awards celebration in Whitby. Founded in 1985 by brothers George and Vasile Tsinokas, the salon is the largest trainer of apprentice hairstylists and colourists in Ontario. “Where a lot of people finish training, we are just beginning,” says co-owner George Tsinokas. “We invest in our people continuously…we have invested more than $2.5 million in training alone since we opened and have an 80 percent retention rate among our staff.”

Even during the recession years of 2008-09, Valentino’s has experienced upward growth for 14 consecutive years because of its commitment to training.

The Tsinokas brothers entered the Dale Carnegie Training program more than twenty years ago, and have much to show since that time. In 2008, Valentino’s Grande Salon won the Salon Business Excellence Contessa award. In recent years, they also opened Valentino’s Training Academy next door to the salon to train even more hairstylists.

Congratulations to Valentino’s Grande Salon!