By Jessica O. Swink
Editor, Small Business Insight
Photo by Paul Chin, Jr.
A few years ago, Audrey Brown and Suzanne Garcia went out to lunch after being quite frustrated with business. Gas prices were up, business was slow and the two owners of Natural Elements Spa and Salon needed to vent to each other.
“Then, we came up with this idea, and by the end of lunch, we had it all figured out,” Brown says.
The idea was to close for business on Veteran’s Day and dedicate the day to the area’s veterans, providing free salon services – manicures, pedicures, massages, hair services and facials – for more than 200 vets in just one day. With the help of massage therapy and hair schools, the event was a success. They called it Operation Veteran Appreciation Day.
“We were upset that day, and we turned it into something good,” Garcia explains. “The event was an unbelievably rewarding experience. There are no words.”
The event made national news in the industry, ranking Top Promotion of 2010 in Day Spa Magazine.
This illustration is one of the many reasons Brown and Garcia view their working relationship as a good marriage, working together to help build and grow not only a top-of-the-line spa and salon, but the only spa in Hampton Roads that is a Certified Academy by the National Certification board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork to be an education provider.
“We have a very open and honest communication,” Brown explains. “There are great days, days that will take you to your knees and everything in between.” In addition to leaning on each other for help and guidance, the two women are also involved in women membership groups: The Noblewomen and the Southeastern Virginia chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
“NAWBO is a chance to be with other women and see things I’m about to go through,” Garcia explains. “It’s an extended family where I can see an outcome prior to having it.” On the agenda in the next few years for Garcia and Brown are to grow the salon and focus on its aesthetics.
“We want our salon to be a spa-like experience,” Brown says.
- Who were the other 2011 SBI Minerva Award Honorees? Click here to find out!
