From left, Patty Sandbo, Lakyn Sathoff and Vivian Denton provide a variety of cosmetology services at Hair Etc. in Fairmont.<\/p>\n
Vivian Denton, Patty (Johnston) Sandbo and Lakyn Sathoff share a combined 102 years of cosmetology experience.<\/p>\n
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Denton has worked in the field for 53 years, and Sandbo has been at the job 47 years. Sathoff quickly adds that she has been \u201cout of school two whole years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIronically, it is the newcomer Sathoff who owns Hair Etc., the salon at 214 N. Park St., where the trio showcases their talents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just getting out of college in Jackson,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff recalls. \u201cI stopped in here, and they had a conversation with me. I stopped in again a couple of weeks later, and they told me I could come work here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDenton remembers her business partner, Bev Korolewski, sitting at the reception desk the day two years ago when Sathoff initially stopped in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when Bev was real sick,\u201d<\/span> she said.<\/p>\nKorolewski had been battling cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day that I was moving my stuff in, that was Bev\u2019s last day here,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said. \u201cWhen I visited her in the hospital, she asked me to help Viv take care of the shop. After Bev passed away, Vivian said there was no point in her taking ownership of the salon, and she offered to help pay with licensing if I would take ownership. It\u2019s bittersweet. It\u2019s not the way you want to start owning a salon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe cost of changing licensing and publishing the appropriate legal notices for such a change can run into hundreds of dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we put Lakyn on as owner, and I stayed on as manager,\u201d<\/span> Denton said.<\/p>\nCosmetologists must have at least 1,550 hours of education, followed by at least 2,700 hours working under the direction of a manager in order to obtain their own manager\/operator license, which allows them to work independently.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Vivian being here, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to work here,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said. \u201cI could own the shop, but I couldn\u2019t work here without a manager present.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nPatty (Johnston) Sandbo also provided managerial guidance for Sathoff during the time. Sandbo met Korolewski in 1986 when they both were working at the salon in Wallace\u2019s Department Store. They later worked together at Michael\u2019s in the mall and then First Choice Stylists, which was located near Gunther\u2019s Foods, until five of the stylists from there opened Main Image on Main Street. After about 10 years at Main Image, several of the stylists were going their separate ways so Sandbo and Korolewski started Hair Etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hustled around and got some used equipment here and there, painted and got it all set up,\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said. \u201cI went to the Cities and picked up our license. I came back, and we opened. That was in 2002.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDenton joined Hair Etc. five years later, in 2007. After she finished cosmetology school, she worked in Windom, then with another stylist for 15 years before spending the next 30 years working in a salon at her home.<\/p>\n
When Denton started at the shop, Sandbo had gotten married and was living in Sherburn. She works at Contemporary Styles in Sherburn but drives to Fairmont two days per week for clients at Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center and to take care of some long-time clients at Hair Etc.<\/p>\n
While people will change their doctor or dentist for easier access, some folks, especially women, will follow their stylist regardless of the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done some ladies for over 50 years,\u201d<\/span> Denton said.<\/p>\n\u201cI had a client move to Mankato, but she comes back here to get her hair done,\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve had people that followed me here from college,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said. \u201cI have one weekly customer that I hug every time she comes in. I get so excited to see her. I just love her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou get to know your customers so well, and they just can\u2019t wait to come back and see you because they need your advice or they want to talk something over,\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said. \u201cOverall, this profession is really rewarding. Just to put a smile on somebody\u2019s face, like at the nursing home. That\u2019s the highlight of their day. They\u2019re always smiling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI wanted to go to school to be a counselor,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said.<\/p>\n\u201cYou kind of are one,\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said.<\/p>\nSathoff said she was turned off by the amount of paperwork involved with counseling, and her secondary choice of business management also involved paperwork and a lot of sitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a cosmetologist, I can listen to people,\u201d<\/span> she said. \u201cI can make them feel good about themselves. What better job is there than that? To help people smile on a daily basis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBut not all aspects of the job are enjoyable. One of the most dreaded situations occurs when a client has unreasonable expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they bring in a picture and say make me look like this,\u201d<\/span> Denton said.<\/p>\n\u201cI try to tell them that it might not be possible,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said. \u201cTheir hair isn\u2019t as thick. Their face is different. If they insist, I tell them that I\u2019ll do the best that I can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI put my hand over the face in the picture and have them look at the hairdo,\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said. \u201cThen I tell them to put their face in there. I let them know that I can do a version of that, but they are not going to look like the picture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nLike other independent small businesses, paying the bills is a constant struggle. When faced with a cost increase in rent, utilities or even hair products they use, the resulting necessary price increase in services can result in a loss of a customer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we bring in here is not free and clear,\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said.<\/p>\n\u201cWe have to put money away to pay for our own taxes and Social Security,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said. \u201cWe have to replace dryers. We have to replace chairs.<\/p>\n\u201cAnd if people don\u2019t come in the door \u2026\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said, trailing her thought.<\/p>\n\u201cYou sit here, and you don\u2019t make any money,\u201d<\/span> Denton finished.<\/p>\nOngoing changes in rules and regulations governing the cosmetology industry also create budgetary strains. While they wholeheartedly support strong safety and sanitation rules, they hope for a little consistency and common sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was coming in, there were 500 state law and rule changes,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said. <\/p>\nShe soon will have to remove the carpeting in the salon due to changes in safety and sanitation regulations.<\/p>\n
When Sandbo started her career, dirty towels were required to be kept in a closed metal container, but a rule change called for a plastic container with ventilation holes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow this year, they said you can\u2019t have the holes in the container anymore,\u201d<\/span> she said. \u201cYou have to have a covered top one so we had to get new containers again for the dirty towels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nA salon must have certain vents, and goggles and tongs are now required for some procedures.<\/p>\n
\u201cSanitation is a big thing now,\u201d<\/span> Denton said.<\/p>\n\u201cI get it, but some of it is ridiculous,\u201d<\/span> Sandbo said.<\/p>\n\u201cThey don\u2019t have to change it back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said.<\/p>\nIn spite of it all, Denton, Sandbo and Sathoff love the versatility of their chosen career.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want it? We have it, or we do it,\u201d<\/span> said Sathoff, rattling off the various services the salon offers: cuts, styles, perms, colors, wigs, tanning, waxing, manicures, pedicures, hair extensions, chemical straightening.<\/p>\n\u201cI can do a haircut, then a set of nails, then a color. I\u2019m doing something different all day long. It\u2019s so fun,\u201d<\/span> Sathoff said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n