No Turning Back Now

No turning back now!  

We are in full demo mode at the salon, and needless to say, I have been hit with a flood of different emotions!

What began as anticipation, quickly shifted to nostalga as I reminisced about all the memories of this quaint green house.  From the day I received the key, and was able to call it my own, to present day- I have in a way grown up in this house.  I have met friends that are now family in my team, guests and community.  I have managed to raise my sweet kiddos without missing the big stuff in each of their lives. (If you remember, this is why the venture began).
And SERIOUSLY!!!!!! The lessons I have learned throughout this journey have been invaluable.  There were hard lessons along the way, with tears of both joy and sadness, frustration and pride.  I had no choice but to rely on my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who gave me peace in the midst of the shit.  I also learned to create balance by feeding my mind, body and soul what it needed to thrive.  I have refered to this as my "mid-life-crisis" - we will discuss that another day ;-)

Watching the demo happen is kinda like I was saying goodbye to an old friend. Our crazy green house, whose walls were eroding, with wires all askew, leaky plumbing and squeaky stairs….I had to take pause to mourn the loss of my dear friend.  And in true form my team was there,  I wasn’t alone in this mourning process.  Turns out, we were all struggling with the same emotions.  To ease the pain, we took lots of pictures!  And we will always remember all of the stories, we may even share a few!!!

BUT!!!!  As amazing as this little green house has been, THERE IS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT-to refresh, make new and restore its glory! (Besides its going to fall down if we don’t) 

The little green house can actually be a metaphor for life. Who doesn’t need a little maintenance, nip and tuck and a possible face lift from time to time- metaphorically!  We all need to take the time to invest in our well-being, growth-both spiritual and physical and from time to time DETOX-body, mind and spirit!

So, as the pipes are cleaned, the floors are leveled, the paint is refreshed and the salon made new- I want to take the opportunity to thank my TEAM-for their tireless effort to provide extraordinary care to our guests.

And to our friend the little green house, as Kid Rock would say-“we never met a mothafucka quite like you!”   THANK YOU!

Don’t be afraid to give up the good and go for the GREAT!

Don’t be afraid to give up the good and go for the GREAT!

Fixer Upper, Property Brothers, oh my gosh…..Renovation is everywhere! Why or why do they make it look so easy?My dream had always been to own a salon.  There was a darling green house that was located right off the main drag in East Grand Rapids-The Coiffeteria Salon. I heard through one of my besties that the owners were looking to sell.  This was so incredibly timely and had been a needed answer to prayer.  At the time, my career with Aveda took me on the road and away from the 3 most important peeps in my life- my husband and 2 kiddos. I went in like “WHOHOO”…Wish that had worked the way I had expected.  Change is hard for people, and I found that to be particularly true when it came to trying to manage the old, while creating the new.  I had the business acumen and the  street cred at Aveda, but when it came to my new team…not so much. I tried to implement the Aveda business model that I was so aligned with, but as someone that wanted to be liked, it wasn’t fun or easy.  For anyone-team included. Over the years, I began to realize that my own insecurities led to my wishy washy-ness. I had been  confident and secure in my role at Aveda and the direction I gave on behalf of them.  This was all new to me! I made changes to the Coiff…some well received and others not as much. 11 years have passed, and now it’s time to reinvent again.   This time, I am healthy-physically, mentally and spiritually, where as before I couldn’t say that.  I had been trying to pay homage to the old owners and their vision of what they had created. I began to really ask myself- what is MY vision. What do I want the salon to look like, and feel like for my team and guests. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am colorful, loud, sparkly and a bit quirky. HOWEVER….that said, I also am sophisticated, and chic, if I do say so myself. I want the salon to have that same sass, with a huge helping of class! 

I thought-how hard could this be?  I know exactly what I what to do for the first time EVER!  Every possible hiccup, setback and road block I assure you, I have encountered.  There were times where I thought-SERIOUSLY?  There has been rezoning challenges, unhappy neighbors, tons of delays- and this is the best one-NO ONE TO DO THE JOB!  It was enough to drive any sane person CRAZY!  Fortunately, I have the BEST team ever-they kept encouraging me to keep moving forward, no matter how slow the pace. Listen, I use the analogy of running because its so fitting-this is a flipping marathon.Although I hate running, I do it- the feeling at the finish line trumps it ALL! Tonight I sit here, Finally confident and ready to share this journey with you. PRAYERS APPRECIATED AND WELCOMED!