Posted 11:56 pm Sunday, May 13, 2012
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Taylor Follows Dream, Opens Beauty Bar Hair Salon In Tyler
By CASEY MURPHY
Business Editor
Business Editor
Shelly Taylor always wanted to be like her aunt and do hair for a living.
As a child, her aunt, Suzy Young, cut her hair and she knew what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said. But her parents pushed her to go into the ultrasound industry.
Mrs. Taylor, 33, moved from her hometown of Daingerfield to attend Tyler Junior College and become an Apache Belle. But after about a year and a half she changed her mind and followed her dream -- attending cosmetology school at Kilgore College.
While in school she began an apprenticeship with Toni & Guy, getting hands-on training in cutting and color.
"I actually got the best of both worlds," she said, adding that most students have to pick one specialty and she got to study both.
After working there two years, she went on to work at Mane Essentials in Tyler for seven years before going out on her own. She continued doing hair for her friends and family out of her home so she could stay with her children Chase, 4, and Caige, 17 months. She and her husband Calvin Taylor have been married for six years.
Last August Mrs. Taylor started planning to open her own salon.
"I was ready to expand and grow my business again like it was before," she said.
On March 8 she opened Beauty Bar Hair Salon.
"I wanted something modern," Mrs. Taylor said about her salon while coloring a client's hair Thursday. "I wanted something that didn't look like anything else in Tyler."
The shop is painted a rich purple with dark brown woods, a black chandelier and modern black and cream chairs. There is a television in the waiting room and clients are offered complimentary wine or non-alcoholic beverages.
When thinking of a name, she said she thought about what would look good in rhinestones on a T-shirt.
Beauty Bar offers haircuts, highlights, full color and Keratin straightening treatments and takes children, men and women as clients.
"We stay up to date on new techniques ... and the latest trends," she said, adding that they attend trainings and educational courses.
Mrs. Taylor said they have all the latest, up-to-date equipment, such as infrared heat lamps that decrease the processing time for color and are more comfortable than regular dryers.
Mrs. Taylor has a lot of clients who have followed her throughout the years and still does hair for some people she gained as customers at Toni & Guy. She also has clientele that come from as far away as Dallas, Houston, Mount Pleasant and Dangerfield, she said.
Mrs. Shelly said she chose the location, 7924 S. Broadway Ave., Suite 500, by The Diner, and XTC Fitness in the Cumberland Pass shopping center, because people can go to one place to work out, tan, and get their hair and nails done at all of the businesses there.
She also chose the location because everything is moving south, she said, and the spot is convenient for people living in south Tyler, as well as Flint, Jacksonville and Bullard.
Right now, Mrs. Taylor has only one independent contractor working with her out of her salon but she expects three more to join soon. She said she has more stations available.
"We're staying busy so we need people to come in here and work for walk-ins," she said.
