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 The ribbon cut will take place at noon with the
open house running from noon to 3 p.m.
While the name is new, some will recognize the address as that of
the Hair Plus Salon owned by Diana Pickett. The owner is the same,
the location is the same, but inside and out, the business has
‘evolved’ into something completely new and special.
According to Nichole Cutshall, director of operations for the
business, Pickett chose the name as a reflection of the goal of the
business to be ever changing, ever growing and always offering the
highest quality of goods and services.
The group working with Pickett includes esthetician Sara Richards
and licensed cosmetologists Nichole Cutshall, Grace Kuhlman, and
Danielle Glover. All these ladies are highly trained and experienced
so that the work they do and the advice they offer is the best in
the business.
The level of training and experience within the salon helps the team
to adhere to their new “Unique value proposition.” That proposition
states, “Educated artists creating confident beauty through
personalized hair and skin care experiences.”
Many will recognize Diana Pickett as a local stylist for the past
several years in the Lincoln community. In fact, in 2019 Pickett
will celebrate 45 years as a cosmetologist. For those who know
Pickett, that may seem unreasonable, but the fact is Pickett began
working with hair when she was a teenager. She was only 14 years old
when she enrolled in cosmetology school, taking classes during her
summer vacations from high school as well as studying and practicing
her craft during school holidays.
Pickett’s first job in the salon business was working for her mother
“Sandy” who owned a salon in Lincoln for many, many years. Diana,
along with her two sisters Vicki and Tina worked in the salon, but
Diana was the one who developed a great love for that type of career
and chose to continue growing her own reputation by opening a shop
of her own in Elkhart.
Pickett owned and operated that shop in a small building rented from
her then boyfriend and now husband’s parents. She kept that shop
going until she and her husband decided it was time to start a
family. Pickett then closed the shop and became a stay-at-home mom.
When the children were all in school. Pickett decided it was time to
get back into the profession she loved.
Pickett had sold her business in Elkhart, but after a few short
years she bought it back and went back to work full time. In 1989,
she then sold the Elkhart business again and took over her mother’s
salon in Lincoln as Sandy prepared to retire.
Sandy’s shop had been called Cinderella Salon and Diana decided to
change the name to Hair Plus as it better defined that she was more
than a stylist, that there were other offerings.
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Over the years, working with hair had changed and
Diana changed with it. She learned new techniques and tackling the
then new on the scene use of curling irons.
In addition to managing her business, Diana also became an educator
for skin care as well as hair color and has traveled all around the
United States offering her expertise on those topics.
“My approach to working in and running a salon has evolved through
the years. I was trained in a very classical, precision oriented set
of techniques.
“Style and perceptions of beauty shift from 180 to 340 – not quite
all the way around – almost every year. Constant training and
preparation seems to be the only way to keep up and not get left
behind. So it is in business as well, what used to work is now
old-fashioned and then, before you know it, old school is cool!”
said Pickett.
As Pickett and her staff have prepared for this new branding, the
interior of the salon has been refreshed with new colors, a new logo
has been designed and the old Hair Plus sign outside the business
has been taken down. At the ribbon cut on January 5th, Pickett
hopes, weather permitting, to reveal her new logo outside with a new
sign.
The salon offers skin care and skin care products. They specialize
with color treatments and styling and also offer a full line of hair
care products. In addition, the shop offers a mini-boutique of
unique accessory items including but not limited to purses, jewelry
and sunglasses.
Cutshall noted that the business, though it has evolved, still has
some deep roots and connections to Pickett’s mom, Sandy. Those who
knew Sandy know that she was a hoot to spend time with, and Cutshall
said that she did things in her business that were new and innovate,
and in her personal life she dared to do things that some thought
were inappropriate for a lady. Sandy knew no bounds, and she has
left that as her legacy to all of her daughters.
Pickett noted that there is one bit of trivia that she has to share
with LDN readers. When Sandy opened her business in 1952 in Lincoln
her phone number was the single digit “6.” When telephone numbers
were converted to seven digits, the new number for the shop became
732-2206, keeping the original ‘6’ in the number, and that is still
the number today.
Pickett and her staff are hoping for good weather on Saturday and
hope to see a lot of folks come out to help them celebrate as they
begin a new chapter in their personal business history.
[Nila Smith] |
