Fall is Here!

Happy Fall Y’all!

We love all of the shifts in color that we see on the trees, fashion and decor. Warm tones that remind you of your favorite coffee drink or autumn leaves…… all great inspiration for hair color changes. What are your favorite activities that you look forward to during this Autumn season? Hiking, pumpkin patches, bonfires?

We have only a few Fall announcements, one being our annual price increase and two is a warm introduction to our current New Talent Team Members. AND a special shout out at the end to Madison on her upcoming promotion from New Talent to full time Stylist!

Price Increase

Every few years we implement a price increase. This happens after we analyze inflation costs on all of the supplies needed to offer the services that we do, along with the increase in costs to offer the benefits that we do for our team. This year we will have an increase across the board on all services including our New Talent Services, Intermediate Stylist and Senior Stylist services. This increase will take place on 10/15/21, with haircuts increasing by $5 and color/chemical services increasing by $10-$30 (cost depending on the amount of product used and time needed). We always like to offer this information to our guests for planning and budgeting through sources like this as well as conversations in the salon. Do not hesitate to speak with your regular stylists about all of options that we offer.

For questions, feel free to call us at (812)360-1860 or email us at royalehairparlor@gmail.com

Spotlight on our New Talent Team Members

We would love to take a little time to talk about our New Talent Training systems and Team Members. At Royale we have an advanced training program that every team member goes through for 6 months to a year. In that time they complete all of our Skillset 1 training including: advanced formulations, modern coloring techniques like balayage, corrective coloring, precision cutting as well as more creative cutting options like razor cutting and cutting curly hair, and more. They take the classes online, practice at home and in the salon and receive mentoring from our senior team members. During this development of their advanced skills, we offer their services at a lower price point. What is great about this is that we can offer an open learning environment as well as budget conscious offerings to our clientele. We currently have two New Talent Team Members, Haven Fulk and Gracie Rosebloom.

Haven Fulk is a beaming light of creativity. She excels at connecting with all clients in such a warm and welcoming way. She has been at the salon now for over 5 months and has created so many beautiful looks for clients in that time. She has completed courses including Haircutting with Shears, Deva Cuts, Clipper Cuts and Fades, Foil Highlighting, Balayage, and Advanced Formulations.

Gracie Rosebloom is the newest to Royale and to Bloomington. She has been here for 3months and has just finished her Advanced Formulations and Color Applications courses. She is currently taking our advanced cutting courses and creating such beautiful work. She is a natural at styling and finishing hair and a true natural at haircutting. Gracie does a great job at connecting with guests through assisting senior team members, performing gloss and single color services and blowouts. Though she is our newest, she inspires us all through her kind nature and her super cute sense of style.

Gracie Rosebloom

Stylist Focus

Speaking of our New Talent Program……… announcement, drum roll…….

Madison is moving up from our New Talent Program to a full time stylist! Madison came to us as our first new hire after reopening after the pandemic shut down. She has worked so hard over this past year as we rebuilt our training systems and it has been awesome to watch her bloom. She is so creative, excelling in all things haircolor and has a special added interest in modern perming. Her haircutting skills have really accelerated over the past 6 months with a true passion for razor cutting, shags, and curly hair cutting. Congrats Madison!

Madison Anderson

Things to Come

As we head into the holiday season Steph and I are excited to be planning our time over the Thanksgiving Holiday. The salon will be closed 11/25-11/29 for us to do a mini remodel. The team will have lots of time to rest and be creative and Steph and I plan on being immersed in our own creativity through this project. We recently gave up our second space in the Wicks Building to downsize a bit to focus on the needs of the team for sustainability and long term growth. We are excited for new neighbors in the space(Bloomington Yoga Collective opening 10/11!!!) and to give the salon space this mini lift. We can’t wait to share the new look!

Speaking of the holidays, we are already booking into December so click on the link to book now to secure your spot. Sorry clients of mine(Bridgett’s), because of my limited schedule and not taking new clients, I do not offer online booking for my time. Also as of the start of the year my schedule is shifting to seeing client’s only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Please reach out for a referral on other days of the week.

Thanks for all of your continued support. Happy Fall!

~ Bridgett

Nine Years of Royale

Nine Years! Can you believe it?!

Hello again and thank you for taking the time to open and read this newsletter. We have a lot to be grateful for as a team and at the foundation of this gratitude is all of the love we feel, reflecting on 9 years of business. In nine years we have built great connections in the community, hosted many events to promote local artists and developed many talented stylists. We have also fully focused on how we “do” business, from the systems that we have implemented to pay structure and our training and education focus. It’s been a wild ride and we are here to say thank you to those that have supported us through these developmental years of the business. 

We celebrated our anniversary last week by closing the salon early on Friday and heading to Lake Monroe. There we hosted a party for the team on a pontoon boat. It was small and intimate and full of heart. We tried to make it more about the experience, just being together, but had to start the festivities with a few important announcements. Along with the usual sharing of gratitude from the lead team, and then individual team members, we had exciting news to share regarding a couple of promotions. We only announce  promotions at our anniversary party in August and our holiday gathering in January. 

This year we had two team members getting promoted, Shayna to Skillset two and Sydney to Skillset 4! Shout out & big congrats to them both!

Shayna: Skillset 2

Getting promoted to Skillset 2 is a pretty big deal at the salon. The first 1-2 years at Royale we have a very thorough training program to get newcomers up to speed on how we do things. We first begin by training in areas of communication, customer service, salon software, team leading/assisting the rest of the team, then we move into behind the chair advanced training in areas like precision cutting, razor cutting, barbering skills, hair coloring techniques, foiling, balayage, modern perming, blowouts and more. In that time you work closely with Syd and Cory to formulate your personalized 1-2 year training and mentorship. Moving up to Skillset two takes a lot of focus and Shayna had a very different experience because her first year had major effects from the shut down. Great job persevering Shayna! On September 18 at 6pm, we celebrate Shayna’s accomplishments by way of her Soiree. Shayna’s Soiree will include food and beverages and the big excitement is a hair show created by Shayna. The entire team supports her in this great experience. This is the first one since the pandemic and we are all so excited!

Great job Shayna!

Sydney Skillset 4

Sydney has been promoted this year to Skillset 4, this is a great accomplishment because no one in the history of Royale has been promoted past Skillset 3. Syd took on a leadership/management position alongside Cory at the start of the year and the goal was to get her to this new skillset as soon as possible. In this skillset she will continue to learn leadership skills, communication and additional skills behind the chair. Along with these skills that she began to develop in her prior skillset, she will begin to learn the process of long range planning both financially and creatively. Syd has really excelled at lifting our new team members up by teaching them skills to find ultimate success at Royale. She is a master of systems by way of being organized, efficient, and thoughtful of both the client and the team. Great job Syd, you have worked so hard over the past 5 years!

Go Syd! Go Syd! Go Syd!

Months to come!

As of next week we will be consolidating our two spaces into one. We just signed on for another 2 years in the Wicks Building. Yay!!! To offer more for our team members in terms of the educations that they love, higher wages, and flexibility, we feel so good about this decision. Over the next few moths you will notice some renovations to refresh the space and to feel some new creative vibes. As for the temporary suite we were using to space out the team…… there will be a surprise new business opening and we cannot wait to welcome them as neighbors.

Cheers to many more years as a team with a focus on caring for our unique community. Thank you for the love and support for 9 years!

Spring at Royale

Hi Everybody! Spring is in the air at Royale. We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves, but what a shift we are feeling! With the rise in availability of vaccines, the space feels a little more like it did a few years ago- busy and full of life.

Over the past year we have navigated so much in terms of maintaining safety protocols, constant covid testing to ensure that we all felt that we were offering safe services at all times, and working closely on our budget’s to sustain the financial hardship that everyone has faced. We feel so humbled by the amount of support that we have felt from the community, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU!

Exciting Changes

The past year has allowed us to reflect & discover how we can evolve Royale. We are happy to share these with you all! One big change is that Syd and Cory have been promoted to our Managing Stylist positions. As a lot of my regular client’s know, Steph and I have taken on responsibility of my parent’s health and financial management needs. With that, plus Steph’s new chapter in her life as a realtor (I am so happy and proud of her for pursuing her dreams!), we decided that it is best for Syd and Cory to take over the operations in the salon. Steph and I will still be in the salon 2-3 days per week to support Syd and Cory and for me to continue to see clients behind the chair. I am also currently taking online classes through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to continue to develop my skills in health and wellness. These classes were a gift that I gave to myself last year and it is really lighting me up in so many ways!

Areas of focus for Syd and Cory are training and mentoring, monthly reports, scheduling and time off, recruiting and hiring, systems control and development, performance reviews, staff meetings, and of course the everyday problem solving that any leader takes on. They both have been an integral part of our new training systems that we have developed on the Teachable App for our team members in skillsets 1 and 2. Syd and Cory went through our two year long in house training program years ago and, though we were not sure if we could get the results we wanted from an online platform, the outcome has actually been phenomenal. Having these courses available to new team members in a way that does not take senior team members (or my own) time away from clients will save the salon thousands of dollars each year moving forward! This training option has also been amazing for me and Steph to begin developing our online Managers Course, so that Syd and Cory have ongoing references and to allow for ease in these transitions. I have learned a lot over the years in terms of the need for support when team members take over the difficult, yet rewarding task of management.

Both Syd and Cory have a huge amount of passion for education, professionalism and all things team, which is why I know that they will continue to move Royale forward in terms of growth. Give a big congratulations to Sydney and Cory!

Sydney Jaeger, photo by Sam McGranahan, UNVEILED

Cory Gregory, photo by Sam McGranahan, UNVEILED

We are BUSY!

We do not know what “the new norm” will be in months to come, but what we do know is that our focus will continue to offer safe services for all in the salon.

Masks will continue at Royale, as well as distanced stylist stations. We will also continue to have a staff member whose focus is on sanitation throughout the day at all hours when there are more than two stylists working. This team member is called our Team Leader and they help expedite services, sanitize every hour, as well as a number of other tasks. We are beginning to allow more clients into the salon but we have not made the decision to operate at full capacity yet. With that, we are currently VERY full. Our New Talent team members are booked through mid-April and our senior stylists are fully booked until mid-May. Yay!

We are now offering to get on a waitlist and have been able to call clients as soon as an appointment time opens up. If you are having a hard time getting the spot you would prefer, just ask to be put on our waitlist!

More Exciting News!

One more exciting announcement: As of April our New Talent Stylist Kenzie Law will be promoted to full time Stylist! With this she will have a price increase and is fully certified in all hair color and cutting services! This accomplishment comes after eight months of giving her all with our online courses , as well as her years of experience.

Great job Kenzie! Check out her talent on Instagram @hairbykenz.sue

New Talent, Kenzie Law

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this and all of the continued support! Cheers to more sunshine, being outdoors and reconnecting with friends and family!

-Bridgett

Stylist Spotlight on Shayna!

This month’s team member spotlight is on Shayna! I have wanted to start monthly spotlight posts for a while now, and being that Shayna is celebrating her 1 year salon anniversary(and I finally got it together) , we felt it fitting to feature her! Thank you Shayna for really moving yourself to that next level as a new stylist at Royale!

Congratulations Shayna!

Shayna is in her final stages of her Skillset 1 Advanced Training at Royale. She has taken classes and pushed herself to excellence in areas like foil highlighting, precision cutting, razor cuts and advanced color formulations. She is currently finishing up her balayage training and seeking models. Call the salon at (812)360-1860 for details on our upcoming New Talent offerings!

3 Questions we asked Shayna:

Q1. What have been your biggest challenges to overcome since starting your career behind the chair? 

Answer: Building onto my base of knowledge, and in the process gaining confidence. A part of that confidence is learning to take charge as a stylist and really communicate what I am seeing with the client's hair. 

Also really pushing myself to learn highlighting has been a BIG hurdle to overcome. I wasn't getting the results that I wanted and my mentor Syd helped me build a strong foundation. 

Oooooh, formulations. I am really proud of all of the knowledge I have attained in the past year with this!

Q2. If you could hang out with any celebrity, who would it be and why?

Answer: Jim Carrey. I have loved him since I was a kid. I would love to sit and talk with him about all kinds of stuff. I wanna know about his life struggles and successes but also about life in general, spirituality, his views on things. His humor amazes me and he also has this ability to occasionally do more serious roles and I am hooked on all of them. I especially like movies where we see him sad or depressed, I feel like I can feel his sadness projecting off the screen and I find that to be a great thing about an actor or actress. Especially when they can make you laugh as well like he can. In general I find him to be an interesting person and I think that we have similar interests and views!

Q3. If you could give a new stylist any advice for coming into a professional salon, what wuld that advice be?

Spend quality time building those interpersonal relationships both with clients and with your team members. Relationships are so, so important for growing as a stylist and as a supportive team member. 

Soak up all of the education that you can and be open to jump into whatever area of work that you need to perfect. These first few years are your foundational years and just be open to learning!

Shayna will be offering New Talent pricing for just two more weeks, starting in October her Stylist pricing is as follows:

• Clipper cuts and short haircuts: $35

• Medium length cuts(chin to top of shoulder) $45

• Longer haircuts start at $55

• Highlighting Services $75-$120

• Single Process Colors and Retouches start at $55

Please join us in congratulating Shayna!

September Newsletter

September is here!

September is here and I cannot believe it. We have been open 3 full months since the Covid shut downs. What a mess and a learning experience!

Through it all I really feel that our team has honed in on the importance of the relationships that we have built over the past 8 years. Oh yeah, RHP had it’s 8th anniversary last month! Here is some info on some of the changes happening around the salon!

Stronger than ever as individuals, as life partners, and as co-owners! Top photo from our grand opening party 8 years ago and bottom taken last month celebrating our anniversary week.

What’s goin on:

As I said, we are going into our 4th month since reopening and we (collectively) have learned a lot. Who ever thought that we would be going through this?!

Safety First, Covid Style.

Sanitation has stayed the same since day one of reopening and we are dedicated to this level of safety for months to come. We still ask that all clients and team members wear masks & we are also still taking temperatures upon entering. We ask that you contact us and cancel if you have had any symptoms or if you have been around anyone with symptoms. We have added time to every single appointment to ensure that added measures of sanitation are kept up. We are also still limiting blow drys to diffusers or with our smoothing treatments(these are done in an area that is at least 10 feet away from other guests and extensive cleaning is done after the service). We really miss our conventional blowouts, but I am so proud of our team and the beautiful work that continues to walk out the door even with these restrictions. 

Our original space reimagined after the re-open. Only every other station is being used at a time to distance our guests even more and new artwork displaying the teams pictures from past soirees.

Prices

Our prices across the board went up a little bit. Why?! As with everything right now, we are doing our part to ensure higher safety measures. We are seeing (on average) about 8-10 less people per day. The added time across the board for additional cleaning and sanitation and turn around time adds up. We are a small business, with 10 employees. All 10 employees are full time & most take part in the salon’s health insurance, 401k, ongoing paid education, PTO and more. It is very important that we stay strong as a little company that takes care of our salon family members. One thing to know too is that with these changes in seeing less clients, our team members are a lot happier. There is more time to breathe a little(literally, we go outside) and to not feel so tight with our schedule. It is a time to really shift the way that we do things. 

Clean-ups and Bang Trims

We have offered complimentary clean ups and bang trims (in between full price services) since day one and this is something that has needed a little shift. We are still offering them complimentary, but only with our New Talent stylists. With less time for our senior team members to offer guests for full services, this was a decision that had to be made. If you would like one of these services with a senior team member, they are $20. When you book your next one, just indicate that you would like a complimentary clean up and our guest services team will help you find a time with a New Talent! And don’t worry, your senior team member can give them some pointers on your hair as well!

Education

Wow, our training and education systems have shifted. One thing that has kept me out of total Covid darkness was the HUGE project of shifting our training from in-salon education to online courses. When a stylist starts their position at Royale they go through about 25 foundational classes in areas from styling, advanced color and cutting, to communication skills and team building courses. Every time that a new hire would come on board (pre-covid), it was such a big task to schedule senior team members to train them, plus planning the budget for paying all involved, not to mention time taken away from our guests on days that classes were scheduled. We are now are slowly creating each class in an online format through Teachable. They observe video content, take tests through the app, and submit videos of their work from home.  In the videos they present what they learned and then the mentor that they are working with can assign additional practice in a certain area, depending on the outcome. So far we have released 5 online courses and have collected over 20 videos featuring team members including Brandon, Cory, Sydney, Jade, Steph, and myself sharing our knowledge in areas like balayage, communication, team systems, haircutting, and foil highlighting. These video shoots take a lot of time filming on our “off” days with editing and creating the course content/layout. I want to shout out a big thank you to our lead team members for stepping up and making this a reality! 

Check out our beautiful new space! Now we have 2 spaces on the main floor of the Wicks Building. Schedule your next appointment and check it out!

My schedule!

I have had quite a few people in my chair that once were clients of mine and the salon’s and have come back. They have said to me, “I didn’t know that you were doing hair again.” I haven’t shared a lot online about my journey back behind the chair, but now seems like the right time! First off, I want to share that my time “away from seeing clients” was so valuable for me in many ways, but it has been nice to slowly get back into the game and slowly add hours. When we opened the salon I had big dreams of slaying behind the chair full time, educating and mentoring my team full time,  being an entrepreneur/business owner, and doing business coaching on the side. Guess what? It was just too much. I was searching for a while to figure out what I truly wanted as I grew into my new role as a business owner.

Now I have been able to ease into this chapter where I have really realigned with my original vision of having an innovative salon space that offers opportunities in training and education, like what I had at my favorite salons in Chicago and Cinci. My hours now are down to about 15-20  hours a week seeing clients, 10-15 hours working with my lead team on education, and then decision making and operational strategy with Steph the rest of the time. Having Steph to oversee operations has provided me with a sense of calm and allowed me to feel like I can just be creative on my days behind the chair. It has also been great to see her develop skills as an owner. She is so skilled in areas that I am not like budgeting, inventory, and simplifying operations. These are skills that I am happy that I had the time to learn and understand, but they do not bring me the same joy that I feel when I am doing hair and teaching. I didn’t realize until she stepped into this position how much I needed someone at the top with me sharing that same vision and long term goals. 

For anyone that wishes to see me as a stylist: space is limited, I only see guests at the start of the week and some Saturdays. I do not work on Thursdays and Fridays. My prices have shifted higher and range between $50-$80 for haircuts and $80-$200 for coloring services. It has been an amazing transition back now knowing my unique needs to maintain balance. This year also marks 24 years as a hairstylist!

Cha, Cha, Cha Changes

And last on our list of changes to go over is the introduction of our new space in the Wicks building. After multiple issues in the months of reopening, we had to make a decision to give up the space that was at one time the RHP Bridal Suite/Royale Collective. We put a lot of time and love into making that space great, but unfortunately we has ongoing issues with plumbing and air conditioning that were adding to the already stressful time. We needed to know that we could have a well functioning space that would not get in the way of us working as smoothly as possible. So, (to those of you that have not seen it) we are now in the suite directly to the right of the salon (behind VIP Nails) as well as our original space. This space is beautiful with a ton of natural light and you can just feel the creative vibes of this space. We can now all spread out and offer 4 services at a time in each suite! The natural light has made it an excellent location to film our new online classes, too!

Thank you to everyone that continues to support us! I am so grateful to be a part of this community, now more than ever!

Happy New Year 2020 From Royale!

Happy New Year from all of us at Royale!

Wow! 2019 was a very full year for us. We hosted over 30 in-salon classes, 2 amazing soirees, our biggest ever charitable event, Lumiere Ball (watch out for Lumiere Ball 2020!) , and had a whole lot of fun connecting with our great clients daily! Thank you for an amazing year, our hearts are very full.



What is new in 2020? Well, a lot and we will be sharing more very soon! But first, we are starting the New Year off with a really exciting shift at Royale. Two years ago, we expanded into the basement suite in the Wicks Building and began using the space as a unique experience for wedding party clients. We have loved doing wedding hair & makeup, but with a growing number of regular guests relying on Saturday appointments, we knew that we had to innovate. 

Starting January 1 the Royale Bridal Suite will become Royale Collective. This will be a space for stylists that grow to a place of wanting to work independently and operate their own schedule to do so (all the while staying a part of the Royale Family). We will also be using this space for weekly training sessions led by me! Our first team member to take the plunge to start her own mini business and branch out is Ali Elmore. This is something that she has been planning for over 6 months now and we are excited to be support as she spreads her wings! Bridgett sat down and asked Ali a few questions about her transition and here is what she had to say:

B: You have been at RHP for 3.5 years and have been a part of our growth and company changes. What shaped your decision to become an independent contractor at our new Royale Collective? 

Ali: What shaped my decisions were the habits I built in the last 3.5 years learning. I feel like I can use what I’ve learned and apply it to my own business. I never thought i would want to take this journey, but with the support I have I feel like this is the best time to give it my shot! Being able to have ultimate flexibility for me and my guests is a top priority. I also love the idea of having some private one on one time with my clients, which this space offers. 

B:What are you most excited about as an entrepreneur/independent stylist?

Ali: I’m most excited to create a new experience more boutique style. I’m excited to work for my self and support myself I feel like that’s going to be hard and exciting! I also love the idea of devoting more time to my brand as a balayage artist, I have spent a lot of time focusing on these skills over the past three years and I know that there is so much more for me to offer in terms of the balayage craft!

Ali Elmore, Balayage Expert, and Royale Collective Independent Stylist.

The Royale Collective will work very different than the space on the main level. Our main space (RHP) will always function as a team based salon, the Collective is completely opposite. When you would like to schedule with a Stylist at our main salon, call the salon at (812)360-1860 or go online at royalehairparlor.com. When you would like to schedule with an independent stylist at Royale Collective, you will call or text them directly.

To schedule an appointment with Ali in our new space, call or text her at (812)276-8911.

Thank you to all of our clients that have made 2019 great, there are so many possibilities for 2020!

Bridgett

Lumiere Ball 4/13/2019

On April 13th, 2019 I have the honor of co-producing an event that is close to my heart, Lumiere Ball. The idea for this evening of art, entertainment, and conversation began over a year ago through my connection with fellow local entrepreneur, Chelsea Sanders. I truly cannot wait to experience it with local artists and supporters. My main contribution will be the featured presentation of the night, an avante garde hair show. More than a runway show, this is a story told through 26 models wearing sculptures made out of hair,  found objects, and beautiful clothing by designer Kelvin Burzon and Mirth. We will also offer multiple art installation experiences with themes that coincide with the hair show. This event is a celebration of life and an offering to acknowledge the stigma that surrounds mental health.

Sketch of look for “Darkness.” Inspired by team members Jade & Cory’s vision

To fuse my love for all things art with my strong feelings about giving back to the community has really offered a lot of fulfillment! Below I explain what the scenes are about and some insight to what you will experience.

When it came to conceptualizing what the hair show would be, Chelsea said to me, “Think big and tell a story” and ideas began to percolate. Initially we were brainstorming body image as the inspiration, but my mind went from body and image to well, our mind. I realized that in order to give myself over to anything at this point in my life, outside of my company and my family, it had to represent a passion…something that I could be very vulnerable with artistically and also offer support to others. Based on personal experiences, as well as that of other loved ones, the shame and stigma that surrounds any illness related to mental health have been very bothersome to me.

Jade working on a model from the Lumiere preview at UNVEILED

Events like this don’t just happen. It takes community and support. If Chelsea hadn’t come to me with the idea to create a moving experience that is also a charitable event, I don’t know if these ideas would have ever been dreamt, let alone realized. We would not have the resources to create this experience if we didn’t have friends, fellow artists, and local businesses that care about our community and individuals that have suffered with any mental illness or disorder. I am very grateful to be a part of this community and to have the help that I have had.

The Royale team will be presenting a five part showcase.  Scene 1, Darkness, explores depression, sadness, grief through clothing and hair using blacks, blues, and purples.  Scene 2, Ties that Bind, will depict feelings related to anxiety, control, addiction through red, black, and grey. The 3rd scene, Warrior, depicts the battle with one’s self and adversity through natural tones. Some of the looks created remind you more  of warriors that you see in stories and in movies(think viking bad-ass warriors) , the idea was actually a thought based on tools that I have found to help me through times of adversity. More specifically Pema Chodron’s books that use the term Bodhichitta:

 “ Those who train wholeheartedly in awakening unconditional and relative bodhichitta are called bodhisattvas or warriors—not warriors who kill and harm but warriors of nonaggression who hear the cries of the world.”     “ The central question of a warrior’s training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear, but how we relate to discomfort. How do we practice with difficulty, with our emotions, with the unpredictable encounters of an ordinary day?”~ Pema Chödrön   

A Lumiere Sneak Peak!

The more that I thought about this idea for the middle scene and talked to others about experiences, I found that a lot of people have found ways or tools to use to work through their adversity, ways to “fight” through these times and get to a better place. It has been an overwhelmingly moving experience to connect with folks in the salon and in our community to bring this to life. Scene 4 is called Lumiere  and the colors are pastels and white. This scene is about inner light, self love, forgiveness, and all things healing. Hair sculptures in the shape of wings, and depictions of nature including flowers and clouds. The final scene, scene 5 is called Nous (french for “us” or “we”), this scene is all about connection and support. The love and support through community, the resources that we have and the need for education and knowledge. The colors for this scene are all things bright. Red, blue, orange, green, purple, and yellow. There will be a big finale that represents our celebration of life!

Wardrobe for scenes 2 and 3 wardrobe by Mirth

Wardrobe in scene 5 features local designer Kelvin Burzon

Scenes 1 and 4 styled by Bridgett DiVohl

What do you wear to Lumiere Ball? Though we want it to feel like a “Ball” and grand, what is the most important to us is that people come out and support the event. So wear what makes you feel your best self! You know I will be wearing a ball gown though, because I love a reason to get dressed up and experience something new!

Cory working on a piece during a workshop at the Monroe County Library Teen Center showcasing alternative sculpture materials

Join us by buying tickets at www.LumiereBall.com! All proceeds from this event will go to Mental Health America of Monroe County & Amethyst House. We can’t wait!!

Happy Holidays from Royale!

This year has brought a ton of growth for Royale Hair Parlor. We have lifted our training program to new levels and the outcome has been that we are able to offer the best customer service possible to our guests. I was able to step away from seeing clients for a long period of time and really focus on what Royale needs for growth for years to come. I became a certified Strategies Salon Business Coach. The year of training was so amazing and I learned so much. After trying it out for 6 months, I decided that the travel and time developing a new career path would be difficult to engage locally as a business owner and it would be difficult to find time to help my family as needed. I now spend every Tuesday helping my mom babysit my nieces plus other tasks and it has been so rewarding. I realized this year that with new opportunities you also have the option to really look at your life and decide how you want to shape your future. I turned 40 and felt the need to do some soul searching!

AND …… I missed doing hair! I feel like it is a part of me and my passion for this craft is stronger than ever. I only do hair now six to eight days a month because my long list of duties as salon owner. I am grateful for this time to step away and reflect. After 22 years of doing something (full time in overdrive) you are bound to get a little burnt out. I owed it to myself, my team, and our clients to figure out how to be my best self again.

Bridgett & Steph DiVohl photo by Martin Boling

This year my wife, Steph DiVohl stepped away from her corporate job with Cosmoprof and into a full time position at Royale as Operations Manager.  With that title she works alongside me to manage schedules for both Front Desk and Service Providers, company budgets, inventory management, social media content, and more. I am so grateful to work alongside my wife. It has its challenges at times, but more than anything I feel more creative than ever!

The Royale Leadership Team in Austin, TX

Other roles that have shifted in the company are that Sydney Jaeger and Jade Tuper took on roles as our  in-salon educators. Syd’s focus is on precision cutting, razor cutting and smoothing treatments. Jade’s focus is on all things haircolor including corrective colors, single colors, retouches, and balayage.

Ali Elmore stepped into the role as Managing Team Leader. On days when I am away, she is support to Steph and overall flow of the salon. This is a difficult role and Ali has risen to the occasion! I am excited to see her grow more in 2019.
Chelsea May celebrated her 5th year at Royale and most importantly, brought sweet Sienna May into the world! Sienna is Chelsea’s first child and she is handling new mamma-hood like a pro.

Drew, Chelsea, & baby Sienna

Other exciting things that Royale Hair Parlor has implemented: A FULL benefits package!! It was a goal of ours to offer Health, Vision, and Dental insurance to our team and in 2018 we made it happen. Along with that, our benefits package included more travel education than ever. Shelby and Jade flew to NYC to Temptu for an advanced airbrush makeup course. Ali went to Anaheim, California to learn from  one of her balayage heros, Lacy Whirl. Rachel and Jade traveled with me to Chicago for an R + Co Men’s cutting workshop(held at former salon home, Sine Qua Non) , and Sydney and Shelby studied modern cutting techniques at Arrojo in NYC. I am proud of all of the career development we offer and so grateful for team members who value learning as much as I do.

Sydney & Shelby in NYC (left), Jade, Rachel, Bridgett, & Sine Qua Non Owner, Laura (right)

Our proudest moment of 2018 came in October when our team traveled to San Antonio, TX to be awarded No Compromise Leadership Business of the Year at the Strategies Team Based Pay Awards. Having No Compromise Leadership in our company means never backing down from of our overall vision and values, having relentless communication, and always seeking to improve ourselves . The application took our leadership team over 12 hours to complete, but the hard work paid off. Steph, Chelsea, Ali, Jade, and Syd all included essay type answers telling the stories of challenges and successes that we have encountered over the past 5 years. The best part about this award, from my standpoint as a business owner and leader, is that I did not fill out any of the entry. It was all our leadership team, collectively and they brought their heart and soul to it. The pride I felt while standing in front of 300 people with my team is an experience that words can’t explain. Steph delivered a speech that had the crowd in tears. Chelsea offered insight from her standpoint as a woman in the workforce and as a new mom. It was a truly awesome experience.

I cannot wait to share the exciting events and education we’ll be offering in Bloomington in 2019.

Thank you so for all the support!

Happy Holidays,

Bridgett

(From Left to Right) Chelsea, Jade, Steph, Melanie Laboda(our Leadership Team Business Coach), Bridgett, Ali & Sydney