Brent Johnson realizes people are cutting back on vacations in this tight economy. Because of that, he wants his salon — Square One Salon and Spa — to provide its customers a few hours of relaxation.

A lot of companies talk about customer service, but Johnson said in the salon industry, even a minor service gaffe can cost customers and tarnish a salon’s reputation.

So Johnson and his fellow owners instituted numerous policies to ensure those gaffes or oversights don’t occur, leaving customer feeling their dollars are well spent.

As such, Square One — which operates a downtown Dayton salon and one in Centerville — continues to flourish with revenue growing 20 percent last year to $2.5 million.

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Ever wonder what it’s like to raise three young children, own and operate a business in Danville, and manage a second business — all at the same time?

Just ask Hillary and Jeff Gayler of rural Fithian and their three children, MaKenzie, 12, MaKayla, 10, and Gage, 7.

Jeff and Hillary have owned Escape hair and body spa for almost six years and Hillary is the full-time manager of the business. Jeff also has worked as general manager of Kelly Vault and Monument Co. in Danville for more than 15 years.

“It takes a lot of hard work and long hours on the job when you own your own business,” Hillary said, “but it definitely has some advantages. You can offer your customers the kind of quality services and products that you want. I can also set my own schedule to work around our children’s school and sports activities.”

“I think it’s more work to own and manage your own business than to work for someone else,” Jeff said. “But in our case it was a good move to open the spa when we did. We don’t have any regrets.”

Hillary got her license in cosmetology in 1994 and worked at a couple of different Danville hair salons before going on her own. “I got a taste of giving facials and other spa services and discovered that I really liked that part of the business,” she said.

“We decided we could fill a need in the Danville area by opening a spa that would offer all the services in one place,” she added, “so we started looking for a vacant building. When an 1,800-square-foot space became available in Towne Centre, we jumped at the opportunity. Jeff completely gutted and renovated the place.”

Getting started

“Plenty of people told us it was risky to open the spa in Danville,” Hillary said, “but even though we knew it was a gamble, we had confidence in our gut feelings.”

The day before the Gaylers planned to have their grand opening in April 2003, some of their essential equipment still had not arrived.

“Jeff drove all the way to Chicago and literally claimed our items off the dock,” Hillary said. “We were awake all that night assembling things before our opening the following morning.

“We were astounded at our immediate response. People were lined up out the door, and many wanted to buy gift cards for Mother’s Day. We didn’t have enough cards printed to meet the demand, so we had to hand write them for the customers.

“Our first year in business was great,” Hillary said, “and our best advertising was by word of mouth.”

They started out by offering full hair services, manicures, pedicures and massages. “We use and sell only Aveda products, which I truly believe in,” Hillary said.

The business grew so fast that the couple moved their spa to another location in Towne Centre within 14 months. The new area is twice the size of their original building.

The Gaylers are continually adding new services to keep their spa on the cutting edge — such as Mystic Tan (spray tanning), laser hair removal, permanent makeup, microdermabrasion, natural chemical peels and Foto Facials. Hillary attended special classes to become licensed in all the special services that Escape now offers.

Hillary still works many 12-hour days in her role as manager. Jeff does all the accounting and billing for the business, and is also the on-call maintenance man. Since they opened in 2003, the number of employees has grown from the original seven to 17.

Hillary said so far the sluggish economy hasn’t significantly hurt business at Escape.

“We were prepared for a downturn in business over the past few months, but I believe that people still feel it’s important to get the services that we offer,” she said. “Our services help people feel good about themselves.”

Both men and women of all ages come to Escape, Hillary said, adding, “We have little girls who come in with their mothers and grandmothers for manicures, just as we bring in women who are up in their 80s.”

Busy family

The Gaylers started dating when they were both at Covington (Ind.) High School. Jeff participated in many of the sports and Hillary was a cheerleader.

Busy parents usually have busy children, which is played out in the Gayler family. MaKenzie is in student council and volleyball, and is a cheerleader at Oakwood. MaKayla is in fifth grade, where she is also a cheerleader and plans to try out for the Scholastic Bowl competition. She also is a member of the Midwest Gymnastics team and competes statewide.

Gage plays Little League in the summer and is a member of the Peanuts football team. He also wants to play basketball.

Hillary coaches both of her daughters’ cheerleading teams, and Jeff is the coach for his son’s baseball and football teams. He also is board president of the Oakwood Youth Football Association.

The Gaylers’ physical activities don’t stop there. Hillary and Jeff run between 3 and 5 miles every day in preparation for a half marathon, which they plan to complete this April in Champaign. MaKayla will do the 5-K run and Gage will participate in the 1-K run.

Even though they usually forego sitting down to meals together during the weekdays, the Gaylers get their quality family time in other ways. They all try to attend each other’s sports events, and they take more than one family vacation every year. Their favorite destination is Disney World.

“When you own and manage your own business, you have to get away to really be on vacation,” Jeff said. “We have good people working for us, so we’re able to do that without worrying.”

“I admit we’ve had our hard times,” Hillary said. “But when you own your own business you can’t just quit and walk out the door. We take pride in providing services that we believe in, and that’s what keeps us going.”

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Facial services are the #2 revenue generator for Spa’s

Aging concerns are the #1 reason guests visit the Spa/Salon

Age treatment is the leading and fastest growing category in professional skincare

• +88% over past 5 years
• Projected to grow +34.5% to $2.4 billion over next 5 years

Green Science is clinically proven to perform in 4 weeks*

• 41% more lifted appearance
• 37% reduction in the appearance of lines and wrinkles

*Based on clinical testing of the 4-step Green Science™ Skin care system.

Find your balance with the new Chakra Balancing Massage

Grounded in Ayurveda—the Ancient healing art of India, this innovative treatment focuses on the centering of the chakras using a variety of massage techniques. They include deep tissue massage on the back and spinal muscles, chakra reflexology massage for the feet, and energy work for each of the chakras.

• Massage is the most requested and profitable service in the Spa
• As proven through the Aveda ABC technology, the new Chakra Balancing Massage combined with the Chakra Balancing Blends will help restore energy flow throughout the body
• Spa goers are increasingly looking for a physical and spiritual holistic wellness experience that goes beyond the traditional pampering to find their inner balance
• Through the practice of yoga the general audience is becoming more and more familiar with the healing powers of Ayurvedic medicine (”Ayurveda in America” by Francis C Assisi)

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Aveda Institute’s first cosmetology class begins hands-on learning.

Aveda Corp., the international beauty-products company with Aveda Spas and Salons Locations of thousands of hair salons, stores and spas, is bringing yet another of its marketing concepts to the Orlando area: a vocational-style school that teaches hair, skin and nail care.

The Aveda Institute, on the east side of Winter Park, is still undergoing renovations and isn’t accepting customers yet, but the first students already are four weeks into their studies. The school, Aveda’s third in Florida and 40th in the U.S., teaches cosmetology, which involves primarily hair styling and nail services, and “esthiology,” the study of skin care and hair removal. Eventually it will offer upscale haircuts for $12 — if you don’t mind a student chopping your locks.

Aveda Institute’s Florida headquarters is in St. Petersburg, where the business also offers massage-therapy courses. Tallahassee is home to the second Aveda Institute, and a fourth one is set to open soon in Fort Lauderdale.

” Orlando, to us, is going to be our largest market, we believe,” said Jim Petrillo, president of the Florida operation. “We look for a place where they [students] can travel and get inspiration — it’s a national travel city. . . . Orlando is a natural match for bringing in our advanced education as well as our [teacher-]instruction classes.”

The school, at Semoran Boulevard and Aloma Avenue, will include a retail store for Aveda products, 80 hair-cutting stations, 10 treatment rooms for facials and waxing, and classrooms that will be available for use by community groups on the school’s off days. It hopes to begin offering facials and haircuts by the end of June.

Central Florida already has a number of beauty schools, from Woody’s Hair Styling School near downtown Orlando to the Redken-affiliated Salon Professional Academy in The Villages ofLake County.

“I know that it will give people another choice. And competition, which some people will call it, is always good,” said Giulio Veglio, director and part-owner of the Paul Mitchell school in Casselberry. “It keeps everybody on their toes, and it keeps us being able to offer more and a better education and better quality. . . . I think it’s great that people are able to really shop around and see where they really belong.”

According to Petrillo, the Aveda school expects to attract about 85,000 salon customers annually. Aveda, a unit of New York-based Estee Lauder Cos., sees the school’s location as an advantage because it’s close to Full Sail University and not far from the University of Central Florida — and, like them, it attracts young, creative students.

“I decided to go into cosmetology — it’s something I’ve been passionate about my whole life,” said Sarah DeBelles, who earned a psychology degree from Stetson University in 2005. “After researching all the schools and things like that, Aveda isn’t just about beauty on the exterior, it’s about feeling good within as well. And having gone to college for psychology, it’s really struck a chord with me, and it’s what I love.”

Aveda is Este Lauder’s “natural” line of beauty products. The 30-year-old company, based in Blaine, Minn., makes plant-based products as part of an environmentally friendly mission to offer natural, but professional, beauty care.

Learning to become such a skin specialist or hair stylist doesn’t come cheaply, however: The four-month esthiology course costs $6,800, while the cosmetology course lasts 10 1/2 months and costs $14,000. “Audition” videos are required from prospective students, who once accepted learn about the company and its products as well as the skills needed to land a job. Cosmetology trainees start with mannequins and then practice on friends and family before working on actual clients.

“If anything, it’s going to set the bar higher,” said Lisa Maile, image consultant for Lisa Maile Executive Seminars & Coaching in Orlando. “We have lots of valid [beauty] schools in Central Florida, and the more good training we have, the more good people we attract to the area. . . . We’re growing in the entertainment business slowly . . . [and] Aveda is only going to be another step in that direction for fashion or beauty.” According to Aveda’s Web site, the average salary at a spa or salon is $48,000 a year, but the institute also encourages students to think beyond simply cutting hair. Aveda alumni elsewhere have gone on to open their own salons, to teach or to work in the fashion business on photo shoots and runway shows.

“The thing that I love about getting this education is that I can take this pretty much anywhere in the world with me,” said Derek Donovan, one of the students in the Winter Park school’s inaugural class. “I’d love to be a part of Fashion Week in New York or Paris. It’s the thing that attracts me most about getting this education — taking it anywhere with me and being able to provide for myself.”

For the most part, though, Aveda and other local beauty schools hope to keep the talent in Central Florida.

“Our desired outcome for Orlando is to raise the quality of the work through the training that we’re offering in the school, to populate the Central Florida salons and spas as well as hitting North [Florida],” Petrillo said. “In Florida, we have about 235 salons, and we definitely have a need to populate out of Orlando to those salons.”

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