Click the images to see the photos and read the stories of our finalists. Then link over to our voting page to select the entrant you think best deserves the prize - $25,000 in furnishings and design services from Takara Belmont. Voting remains open from April 5-8, 2005.
STEPS
My salon owner, Lynn Wong, has been in business for 7 1/2 years and has created one of the most successful, if not the most successful, salons in our town. The atmosphere is professional yet friendly and employs 4 of the most talented hair designers in the area, as is evidenced by a large salon clientele.
Lynn is one of the most generous business owners in the area. She regularly sponsors many local organizations and has built an unsurpassed reputation. She is dedicated to her team and goes above and beyond making both her team members and her clientele feel they are special and she fosters an atmosphere of family. Strange things have happened to the salon over the last two years -- a car being pursued by police ran into the salon's windows (thankfully in the middle of the night) which cost a great deal to repair. She has also lost her mother and her brother in the last two years, adding strain and unhappiness to her life -- yet she puts on a professional attitude despite it all.
She has invested much in the way of education for our stylists, in our retail product, and pays a generous commission, which has left little money to revamp the salon as she would so love to do. In fact, she has remarked that there should be an "Extreme Salon Makeover" show in the style of the popular television series "Extreme Home Makeover". I speak for my team members that I feel there is no more deserving woman. She is truly one of a kind and a true "mensch"
My sister and I are the third generation in our family to own our salon, which was started 48 years ago by our grandmother. Being in business for 48 years is a fabulous achievement that we are extremely proud of; however, it also creates challenges. One such challenge is that the 30 and younger market remembers that their grandmother and mom get their hair done here and they're apprehensive to go where grandma goes. They’’re looking for something fresh.
Another issue is that our equipment has been around a long time. We have been at our existing location for 30 years. The hydraulic chairs, dryers and styling stations were new then but they’re definitely showing their age now. The hydraulic bases have been painted and are now chipping, the seats have been recovered once but the fabric is now stained and torn. The Formica on the styling stations is faded and chipping and they’re coming apart. The flooring, which is probably 15 years old, looks outdated, stained and has several patches. Our backbar is over 30 years old and doesn’t meet our needs. My sister and I are partners and share a vision for what our salon could look like and how we could improve our services by having a state-of-the art salon.
Since we took over in January 2004, we’ve changed the name from Rana’s Hair Fashions to Rana’s New Generation, as part of our plan to service clients of all ages. We have 4 stylists who have been with us over 25 years, one for over 10 years, and we’ve added a new experienced stylist and a young, attractive new graduate to our staff. We’ve added 4 tanning units, air brush tanning, massage and pedicures to our services since we took over the salon a year ago. We’ve also added fresh talent to our reception desk. Hopefully, you can see that we have made real strides to become a full service salon/day spa that is attractive and appealing to all generations of clients. We have fallen short on updating our facility and equipment, primarily because we are short on funds to do so after the investments in tanning, massage and pedicure equipment.
Winning this salon make-over would go a long way in helping us achieve our goals to provide customer service that exceeds our client’s expectations because our equipment and facility would exceed their expectations the moment they walk in the door.
I would really love to win this make over. I am a 39 year old who dropped out in the 9th grade, got married and had a baby. I was a poster child for dissfunctional families. I always enjoyed working with hair, so one day I walked into school and took my G.E.D. test, and by the skin on my teeth I actually passed! So then I went to school to be a cosmetologist! I have been working behind the chair for 18 years and moved from salon to salon, looking for the right fit. I finally came to realize that I needed to be on my own, but wasn't satisfied with just renting a chair. So I went into debt and opened my salon.
I really want to be the top of the Class with the best salon, and so far things are going pretty good. But they could always be better. I would love to be able to afford new shampoo bowls that fit my clients much more comfortably. and electric styling chairs for my staff, it would be so nice not to trash the body by always pumping up the chairs! I would be greatly honored and appreciative if I won this make over! I hope you choose me for this great gift.
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In the summer of 1998, I went to my parents home to pick up my 3 year old daughter, Madison. My mother had finished her employment with the DoD the previous December to take care of Madison while I worked. I was in tears because the hair salon I worked for was experiencing financial problems and they were planning to abscond into the night. Here I was, a single mother who had a certificate in cosmetology, suddenly unemployed. Mom and Dad asked me if I would be willing to manage the salon, if they put up the money. Within a week we were the owners of a dying, understaffed beauty salon.
The previous owners let most of their top producers go a few weeks before this transfer took place. We inherited a staff of approximately 10 employees. We got busy advertizing, recruiting and implemented fantastic benefits for employees. With hard work and determination, a substantial financial investment and by mostly ''trial and error'', we slowly rebuilt our salon. (In hindsite, we should have changed the name of the salon since its reputation left much to be desired.) We expanded to a full-service salon in March of 2002 and relocated within the same mall to bigger spaces. In November of 2004 we again expanded, separating the spa side from the salon side. We now employ almost 50 individuals and are in the process of opening another salon in Towson, Maryland. My parents supported me when I was down and now I would like to help them.
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We are opening a second spa location in Shipshewana, Indiana. This is a tourist hotspot in the Midwest. Our plans are to put a dayspa in action for the millions of people who visit the area. It has been said that upwards of 25,000 people per day visit the Crystal Valley area in peak season. My husband & I (grown & raised here) have purchased a commercial property that was originally a Cape Cod style home built in 1940. The interior was totally gutted... removing old paneling & plaster. We want to keep the feel and are up in arms with the best way to start completing it in dayspa, high trend salon style on the inside. New windows are in, siding is being replaced as I type.
This email came to me and I stopped everything to fill this out because it would be more than a dream come true. Everyone in the community stops my husband and I to ask when we will be up and running... they just can''t wait. And we truly need the help. We are involved in professional organizations that are also behind us if you need references: Redken, KRS Salon Consulting, Randy Fry CPA, Wells Fargo Financial, and Maly's. It is our mission to bring the best level of customer satisfaction along with a spa environment to this area. They are currently working on a new convention center to house even more tourist action. These people need a place to get away from the chaos, a place where it is "All About You" in every sense of the words. Please consider choosing our situation for your contest, I promise there is an awesome story here in the works.
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