Cordial rivals turn into partners
The owners of two competing salons have teamed up to open Florida's first Redken cosmetology school.
By SHERYL KAY
Published September 23, 2005
CARROLLWOOD - They met. They competed. Then they courted.
Now Chris Pearson and Joanne Powers have entered a joint business venture that they hope will take them well into the future.
The two have opened the Salon Professional Academy, the first Redken cosmetology school in Florida.
It's not that opening a business is that unusual, save for the fact that Pearson, 46, the owner of the Salon and Spa at Mystic Hair, and Powers, 51, the owner of Shear Art Salon & Day Spa, have been direct competitors in a tight market for more than a decade, running high-end salons less than a mile from each other on N Dale Mabry Highway.
Yet, surprisingly, there has never been that cutthroat battle that often occurs between rival businesses, they said.
"I always felt Chris was just this very easygoing, likable guy," Powers said. "You wouldn't not enjoy his company. He just has a presence that's very comforting.
Pearson echoed Powers' warm assessment, recalling the first time he met her.
"I looked around the room and I said to myself, "I want to be her friend,"' he said. "I've always felt if she could run a successful salon right across the street, then she had to be bright."
Powers acknowledged always wondering what was really going on inside Mystic. But she and Pearson thought that if each did a good job, there were enough customers for both.
Still, neither had ever contemplated partnership. In fact, each had hired a leading salon industry consulting firm to provide expansion advice. And each was advised the same thing: Open a Redken school.
When the consulting firm brought them together as partners, "I just about fell out of my chair," Pearson said. "I didn't want it to be someone I'd have to pull on my coattails, so when he said it was Shear Art, I was excited."
There were the typical trepidations about opening each one's financial reports to the other. In that respect, Pearson said, it has been just like a courtship - getting to know each other a little bit more, and trusting each other a little bit more, every day.
For now, classes are held in a vacant office next to the school at 4802 Gunn Highway. Heather Bagby, who is Powers' sister, and Pearson's wife, Marylynn, are also part owners.
The 12,000-square-foot facility will open at the end of October. It will include four classrooms, 50 styling stations, 12 shampoo bowls, eight pedicure thrones, eight nail tables, and computers throughout the school, all designed and decorated with a New York theme.
"New York represents fashion, and we're all about fashion," Pearson said.
The 10-month program costs students $13,800, including books, a stylist's kit and training in everything from basic cutting styles to coloring, perms and relaxers.
The end result?
A career that can pay anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000 after 10 years at a top-notch salon.
Student Heather Goodman, a Wesley Chapel receptionist, was so intrigued by the school that she chose hairstyling over a career in education.
"I have a passion for people, especially children, and I felt my best qualities would work best as a teacher," said Goodman, 25. "But there's so much more freedom as a hairstylist. You can travel around, you get out of school much quicker, and you make more money."
Perhaps, Powers said, "but we don't really talk a lot about the money. If your heart is in it, the money will come."
For more information about the Salon Professional Academy, call the school at 813 908-8020. To contact reporter Sheryl Kay, send e-mail to skreporter@hotmail.com