Meet Berwyn’s Entrepreneurs: Cynthia Citro of Goldiloxx Hair Studio

From musicians to crafters, small business owners to dedicated team members, Berwyn is home to a remarkable group of movers and shakers who keep our community vibrant. This segment gives us a chance to get to know what makes our local leaders tick! Enjoy!

Cynthia Citro

Berwyn, IL

I am the daughter of two entrepreneurs, Tony and Susan Citro. We are a Berwyn born and raised family straight out of MacNeal Hospital. My older siblings, William and Michelle, and I all graduated from Havlicek Grade School, Lincoln Jr. High School and J. Sterling Morton West High School. Growing up in a neighborhood like Berwyn really gives you a great childhood experience.

I remember sitting on my porch with my friends waiting for the ice cream man, riding my bike to and from our houses and walking to Freddie’s Pizza once a week! There is something to be said about Berwyn Bungalows; classic, chic and solid. I had the privilege of spending my early youth in one located on 16th and Cuyler. Our block had some of the best families around that we still keep in contact with to this day. The memories in that house live on every day in my heart and soul.

After leaving Mia’s in 2006, I then went on to work for some of the biggest names in Chicago from Hinsdale to the Gold Coast. Catering to clients all over the Chicagoland area, including Chicago socialites, celebrities and your local neighbor, I truly have the skills to achieve any look you desire.

I like to think of myself as goal-oriented. Once I set my mind on something, I will do whatever it takes to reach that goal. Even if it takes days, months or years, I have that goal in the back of my mind, like a little voice that keeps me grounded and focused to dominate that next step.

I am extremely passionate. Whether it be my family, career or relationships, I am all in with both feet. If you have true passion for something, I feel it will bring you success.

Being uninhibited is one of my favorite attributes. If you know me well, you know that I am not afraid to say what I feel, I stand up for right over wrong and I’m always excited to take a last minute trip anywhere in the world at any time.

My parents. The relationship I have with my parents has helped form me into the woman I am today. I am so blessed to have two people in my life who love me as much as my parents do. Ever since I was a little girl, I have seen my father work hard at success and my mother, as a wonderful housewife, go on to open her own successful business in Berwyn. The dedication, passion and hard work I have been instilled with by my parents has given me the drive I need every day to get up, get dressed and get hustling.

People may not know this, but I have always had more than one job at a time since I was 16 years old. I always “did hair” but I also had a waitressing job, or some form of service job on the side. I love people. I am a people person. I bartended for 11 years, 7 of which were in Forest Park, IL. Bartending was a great way to build my suburb hair clientele from Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, La Grange, Riverside and the surrounding areas. Bartenders and hairdressers seem to get a misconstrued reputation from some, but I am a true example that the hustle is real. Every bartender has a dream or goal they are working towards, every hairdresser has the ability to make another human happy just by making them look good—those are two of the most rewarding careers if you ask me.

I would love to visit Italy/Sicily. My grandparents would often go to Italy when they were alive. I never got to experience those memories. Now, that I am an adult, I would love to see where my family is from and truly see what the motherland is like.

Becoming a business owner is not a walk in the park for many. Being a successful business owner is a constant hustle. I used the word hustle often because “to hustle” means “to obtain by forceful action or persuasion, busy movement and activity.” It is constant, day in and day out, never stopping. This new life adventure has made me realize nothing comes to those who wait, if you want something you have to go after it, both feet in.

If I am having a rough day, I think about my clients. I see them more than my family, so much so that they almost become my family. When I am down and out, if the salon is a mess, or things are not going right, I stop. I stop my mind from turning negative. I think of all the positive I have in my life, the people who love and support me, how grateful I am to have another day to succeed and my clients. When I get a text from a client hours and days after I do their hair telling me how much they love it, that gets me through. When they tell me I have changed their life, that gets me through. When they come back to me because I have connected with them on a level only a hairdresser can, that gets me through. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for them.