This is where I worked for a little over 8 years. They are closing their doors this coming week because the property managers would prefer to put in ANOTHER chain restaurant. Dinkytown used to be about small business and now it is beginning to look like someone picked up a dinky suburb and plopped it next to campus! I am sad about this turn of events for many reasons but on a more personal note… it feels like the final end of my hair industry days. An industry that I loved very much and always wondered if I would someday go back to.
When you are a hair stylist, you get to know people in a very personal and unique way. After doing hair for almost 15 years, I had a very full and amazing clientele. I got to know them through their college years, I was honored to be a small part of their weddings, and towards the end I started seeing my clients with beautiful pregnant bellies, even giving their little ones their first haircuts. People put so much trust in you when you are a stylist… secrets to keep, knowledge of their true selves and helping them show to the world who they are. I used to tell people that when you see someone for a long time, it is like a never ending conversation. It gets picked up where we left off at the end of the last haircut. I loved having the opportunity to meet and know so many awesome people.
When you are a hair stylist, if you are lucky, you get to join a “hair family”. This family changes through the years like any other, but you know that you can cross any of those bridges that you have built and be greeted with a welcoming smile and maybe a hug. It is a very fun and creative profession that typically draws open, imaginative and loving caretakers to it. I was blessed to have had two wonderful hair families in my career.
Often a salon is filled with very strong personalities…. if you are lucky, as I was, you will find yourself in a salon home where those strong personalities are cohesive and celebrated. I loved my time at HCX, I loved the people that I had the opportunity to work with. We celebrated weddings, babies, new beginnings and mourned together loss and frustration. I met some of my best friends in this industry. I have known many people that I look forward to greeting again with a smile and a hug. Goodbye HCX… thanks for the memories!
Yoga Mama in Minneapolis 