So, we open in 2 days -er.. less. Today was another whirlwind day. At 6a I received a call from my landlord; the contractors we're at the salon and wanted to finish everything. The issue? They couldn't get to the walls because of all of the boxes and items leaving only a small path through our entire space. [The wood floors had to be stained, meaning everything in the large portion of our space was crammed into the carpeted area overnight.] By 7:30a the girls; Carly, Thy, Alisa & Caitlin were busting their butts next to Jd and I carrying everything upstairs, getting it all unwrapped and began setting up for the holiday party.
Today we had our holiday gift exchange and brunch. I have to say, my artists are amazing. I am lucky to have each and every one of them on my team. Not only we're they patient about our party; having it in a small portion of our space. [since the rest was covered in stuff] A large majority stayed after and helped to build furniture. Yes, immediately following their holiday party they we're helping to build out our salon. As the saying goes, many hands make light work. I have absolutely no idea what I have done karmatically to attract such an amazing group of women. The coolest part? They all genuinely like each other.
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Construction wise, we made real progress. The lighting was completed, two of the cabinets with built in sinks were installed, the flooring was completed, the painting is almost done and the majority of the furniture was built. The insane thing? Each and every item in our space was ordered from a catalog or the internet. Meaning that each item came in a box. I'm disappointed we don't have a photo of it, but we had a trash pile that was over a story tall. The pile took over over 3 parking spaces. I am not kidding. -You don't think about these things. I called my brother, between Jd and his truck we were able to haul it all out.
Construction wise, we made real progress. The lighting was completed, two of the cabinets with built in sinks were installed, the flooring was completed, the painting is almost done and the majority of the furniture was built. The insane thing? Each and every item in our space was ordered from a catalog or the internet. Meaning that each item came in a box. I'm disappointed we don't have a photo of it, but we had a trash pile that was over a story tall. The pile took over over 3 parking spaces. I am not kidding. -You don't think about these things. I called my brother, between Jd and his truck we were able to haul it all out.
In addition to a quick bank run, a product meeting, and all the other fun stuff today; I also had the Laurel Historic Commission meeting. Since we are in a historic district we have to get all of our signage approved by the city. They are super tough, allowing only a certain amount of signage with very specific rules. I totally respect that they want to keep this area quaint. I do too, but it is really nerve racking as a business. Ultimately if they did not approve of my design; we would have to redesign it, submit it for approval to go before the board next month. That would have delayed our awning by another month and a half. Lucky for us, they unanimously approved our request; a victory for us!
This isn't my photo. [My phone is dead and I left it at the salon] This is the room and the board that I had to present to. Very nerve racking. Baby steps. I still have a lot of design work ahead of me. I ended up researching POS systems and ensuring that we are EMV ready. Now we are so it's back to design work. While Jd is currenty at the salon painting [yes at midnight] I am about to design menu cards. The menu has to be at the printers by 9a tomorrow morning to ensure we get it on time; so I've got some work ahead of me. Tomorrow the team is showing up and its build out day! I am really starting to get tired, we're so close to the finish line. I keep telling myself that I can sleep for 3 days once we're open. Keep us in your thoughts!
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