THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406070133
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940608 LENGTH: Medium
Weeks after the ad stopped running, the right person did call and that was Betty Dodd.
{REST} ``I was perfectly happy where I was. Perfectly secure. After I saw this ad, I felt led to go to this salon. And I definitely don't attribute that to luck,'' said Dodd, 31. ``I feel 100 percent that the Lord has led me to this.''
Dodd was relaxing with her husband, Mark, one evening in their Ocean Lakes North home. She was nonchalantly thumbing through an old newspaper when she happened upon the ad.
After calling the owner and hearing that she had been praying for the right buyer, Dodd said to her husband, ``Mark, this is really weird. You just watch. I don't know how I'm going to do it but this'll work out.''
Almost four months later, Dodd opened the doors to her new salon, Hair Sculpture, in the Larkspur Square Shoppes on South Independence Boulevard.
Nearly every success she's seen, from having the place remodeled to paying for equipment, has been a success due to faith, she said.
``Most people are scared to get into a business because of that fear of financial failure,'' Dodd said. ``I definitely had my trials along the way, but it's that faith that keeps me going.''
Dodd and her husband had to come up with about $2,000 for deposits and such. She didn't approach a bank for the money, instead, she used credit cards.
She was able to work out a payment plan with the previous owner for the salon equipment. She was also able to work out paying for the remodeling with the building's owners.
Dodd had been working in different aspects of the salon world for 10 years - as a salaried worker, a booth renter and as a worker paid by commission.
When she opened her salon, she decided that her success would also mean success for others.
She decided to rent booths to stylists in the salon for $25 a day so that they could have their own business inside her business and make more money, she said. And also, the stylists only pay for the days they want to work, or rent the booth.
``I want everyone within my salon to prosper,'' said Dodd. ``I don't want to be the only one making money. This way they feel like they're working for themselves.''
Each of the stylists treat their booth as their business, including keeping their own records. Dodd is paid weekly for rentals.
Dodd also invited a nail technician, a masseuse, and two women who sell their own jewelry to join the group.
``Each little part of this (business) fell together,'' she said. ``It was like they were led that way - each and every one of them. Each of them has different denominations but they all have that faith, too.''
The salon provides many services that mirror other salons - haircuts, massages, pedicures, manicures, facials, perms, etc.
Dodd also offers ``pick your pleasure'' packages which can include several items. For instance, for $75 a person could pick one process from a list that includes a perm or color treatment, relaxer, body massage, a full set of nails, haircut, blow dry and style. In addition, the person picks two choices from a list that includes a manicure, partial massage, honey facial, full makeover, pedicure, manicure, shampoo and style.
The salon also offers a Father's Day gift package for $50 that includes a shampoo, style and cut, massage and mystery gift. A bride and mother of the bride package is also available.
Dodd, a Nebraska native, was raised around the business. Her mother was a hair stylist who worked out of her home cutting the hair of friends and family.
There was no doubt in Dodd's mind when she graduated high school that she wanted to be a beautician.
Dodd came to Virginia Beach in 1982 to attend Virginia Beach Beauty Academy and live with an older sister.
She met her husband Mark, a military man, and has since had three daughters ages 6, 7 and 9.
The biggest thing Dodd pushes, aside from having faith, is a book she purchased right before she bought the business. The book, ``Treasury of Joy and Enthusiasm,'' by Norman Vincent Peale is her constant companion.
by CNB