I wrote this a WHILE ago. But it still holds true and I still miss the salon so much. I hear from everybody and every time I talk to Amanda I ask about it. I am in the works of writing them a newsletter type update for everybody. I just need the time! (Don't worry Lauren, it is on the way!)
::Saying goodbye is never a fun thing to do for anyone. But this kind of goodbye is not the “thanks Amanda for filling in for me at the salon I’ll see everyone in two weeks” kind of goodbye. Five months is a pretty good chunk of time. For some salon background, the cliffnotes version is:
I’ve worked in a salon setting for three years. It started at Hair By Design and I worked there about two years. Then Daniela and Sandy were going to start a salon up past the train tracks right up the road. I was graduating and going to Italy for three weeks so a lot was going on but long story short they asked me to come with them as the shampoo tech! I said yes! Creative Edge opened May 26th and I started working right when I got back from Italy at the end of June. It has been an amazing year. A lot of people say they love their job but mine is like a second home. All the love and energy there has truly shaped me into who I am today. I could not have asked for better bosses or a better environment.
Saying goodbye to the salon was a work in progress. I say this because we have a lot of customers. A lot. And as I was telling customers about my internship it still wouldn’t really hit me that I would be leaving. It started to sink in about four weeks before I was leaving. A lot of our regular color clients come in every six weeks. So as I take their money, we make them another appointment, and when six weeks landed past August 14th that is when I started to feel the heaviness of saying goodbye to these dear people. I had so many well wishes and hugs and even a customer saying she wants to follow me to Florida just so I can keep shampooing her hair. We are really like a big family. I feel so honored and complimented all of the time and when the bribes start coming I know it is out of love and excitement for me deep down.
One story that truly stands out and will paint you a little picture of how great our client base is-It was a Saturday and we have a customer that comes in every four weeks for color and a cut. She just got back from Italy so we were all chatty about that as you can imagine! She is the sweetest lady and started to ask me about how my packing was going and about how I’m getting down to Florida and this and that. She was all done and I started to take her money and realizing that this would be the last time I saw her before I leave. I stood up from behind the desk to give her a hug goodbye and she handed me a twenty dollar bill looking right at me and said, “Michelle, you have a good time”. It took all I had not too loose it right then and there. I gave her another big hug and then went into the bathroom to cry. Not only sad tears but just such overwhelming tears of joy and how much of my life is invested into this salon. I love it dearly.
And that story is one of thousands just like it (not thousands of 20 dollar bills mind you. ha.). The salon has truly shaped me for the better and leaving it will be one of the hardest parts. I have never had to learn a new job and this will be the first time I will have new bosses, new customers, new co-workers, and a completely new work environment. I am nervous but I know that back in Woodbine, Maryland I have a whole salon cheering for me and that is such a blessing.
P.S. I have been training Amanda as my replacement, it’s like handing over a baby, but she is doing great and I have full confidence that she will hold down the fort till my return. OH! and I can’t leave the post without promoting the business!
Check out our website: http://creativeedgestyles.com/Creative_Edge_Salon,_Woodbine_MD.html
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