Bravo Salon

Tabatha Coffey lives a busy lifestyle. After starring in a cable television series, running a village hair salon, and interacting with local and national media outlets—like this one—she barely has time to eat lunch.

"I love what I do, so it's OK. Everyone has a busy schedule. I'm not different," she says while her rumbling stomach reminds her not to skip dinner, too.

Bravo began airing the second season of Tabatha's Salon Takeover, staring who but Coffey, earlier this month. She's also into her 15th year running her village shop Industrie Hair Gurus.

"I've loved Ridgewood. It's a great town, and it has so much to offer," Coffey says. "I've always tried to support it, whether through the schools or whatever."

Coffey, a native Australian, hosts a reality program where she helps ailing hair salons reform.

"My hairdresser business tips really are for people in all sorts of businesses," she says. "Making people realize they should say hello to clients or be nicer on the phone is great. The vehicle is hairdressing, but there's a lot of sound business advice there."

Problems vary from shop to shop. Sometimes Coffey says there's marketing dilemmas, leadership woes, or, in other cases, problems arise from a lack of business experience.

Her expertise comes from her Godwin Avenue shop's success.

"Any service industry is about the personal relationships you make with the clients…" she says. "When people come here, it's like they're walking into my house. They need to leave here feeling like that had a good time."

It's cyclical as her successful salon led to a successful television show, which naturally helps increase her clients back at the salon. She said people drive down from upstate New York, and that she even had Arizona customers last week.

Being famous has its perks, too. Although she hasn't met fellow Bravo host James Lipton (yet), her celebrity has allowed her to hobnob with Judith Light of Ugly Betty and Lisa Kudrow from Friends.

A self-described "bitch," Coffey often adopts a hard-nosed tone with shop owners on her show.

"These salons have issues, and I don't have a lot of time with them. I have to be very honest to solve their problems," Coffey says. "I don't have time for fun and messing around, and I'm passionate and serious about this business."

After her stint on Bravo's Shear Genius and two seasons into her show, Coffey has become a leading figure in the hair care industry. She takes her role seriously.

"I get hundreds of e-mails weekly from hairdressers asking for advice."

She described shopping in Cliffside Park recently to find an upset nail salon owner beseeching her for wisdom.

"I'd like to elevate the industry," she says. "Hairdressers mean a lot to me—I try to mean a lot to them. I'm proud of my work."

With the season's second episode debuting last night, Coffey says this season definitely sees hairdressers' economic dilemmas.

"There are so many layers to this season," she says. "The episodes are definitely filled with different issues."

Back in the Ridgewood, Coffey stays plugged in with local news. Although she didn't sign the parking meter petition, she said she would have if presented with it. "I know it's hard. I'm lucky that we have a parking lot here, but I would have signed it."

She credits her Ridgewood colleagues with allowing Industrie Gurus to flourish in her five-month absence, "I have a great staff, and my clientele was so supportive."

Now that she's back in the village, she works Tuesday through Saturday managing the business that made her famous. In between occasional promotional appearances (next Tuesday, she'll be on ABC's The Biggest Loser and has also done The Today Show and Good Day, New York recently), she collects herself with a cup a coffee and a bite to eat.

What’s for dinner tonight? The lunch she never ate.

Tabatha's Salon Takeover airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on Bravo.