I’m a Mahomet native born and raised. My husband and I starting dating my freshman year in high school and are currently married and raising our two kids Ellie and her little brother Leo. I’m so excited for them to be Bulldogs just like their parents! After high school I planned to go directly to beauty school however had a full ride for soccer to play at Parkland College. I got an associates degree in Business Management. After my two years at Parkland I had another offer to continue my soccer career but I just didn’t want to wait any longer to get my career started so I chose to go to beauty school. I graduated from Regency School of Cosmetology in 2013. I started my career in Champaign at a salon I truly loved but was ready to go booth rental which forced me to move salons. I ended up booth renting in Mahomet for a few years before taking the leap of faith to open Salon 105.

My dad found the space for the salon and it was a wreck. Completely run down and disgusting. My dad was pretty excited and said “this is perfect we can make it EXACTLY what you want.”

I sure didn’t see the potential and was hesitant and nervous, but trusted my dad and we moved forward. After 6 months of working at home during the day, then going to the salon space in the evenings and working until sometimes midnight or later the salon was done. Between my dad, husband, mom, in-laws and close friends and family we made my dream a reality. It took a village.

I can look at a certain board in the salon and remember my dad putting it on backwards, getting frustrated and sharing a few choice words before yanking it off and reapplying it the correct way. At the time it wasn’t funny and seemed as if the salon was never going to get finished, but now it is a memory I’ll cherish forever. I can remember my husband spending his evenings after working all day installing my floors while Ellie who was two at the time ran around like crazy just so he could finish them for me so my dad could finish the plumbing. Every nail in this building was hammered in with a little bit of blood sweat and tears and a lot of love.

From day one my dad has always been my biggest cheerleader. He has always encouraged me to be the best I can be and to advance my career. He was the push I needed to open the salon, even though he had pushed me to open a salon the day I graduated beauty school. He never doubted me for a second, even though at times I doubted myself. I believe the way my parents raised me and held me to high standards my whole life has led to me to be the successful yet humble business woman I am today.

My drive for the salon to be the best that it can be is fueled by my passion to make people feel seen and beautiful. I believe I share this passion with my stylists as they have all helped me make Salon 105 what it is today. Not only do I want all our clients to feel important and special but I want my stylists to feel that way also. We are who we are because of our team. I will never stop improving myself or the salon, the possibilities are endless!

When I opened Salon 105 a little over 5 years ago I never had the intention of out growing the space or even ever leaving it. The building means a lot to me as my family put everything we had into it & a lot of heart. But my team kept organically growing and next thing I knew we didn’t have enough space. I then realized it was time for a bigger salon. I had my eyes set on a location for a while but had a reservation about pulling the trigger. I looked at several other locations as possible opportunities but decided to go forward with my original plan. I met with the landlord and was finalizing details and planning to sign the lease within the next few days, when on a Friday I got a phone call that he decided to go with a different tenant. I was so bummed. I felt like I was letting my team down because we desperately needed a bigger space and fast. The next day I was doing a good clients hair and filling her in about what had happened and she said “you should talk to my boyfriend, him and his dad own commercial land in Mahomet and are contractors, they might be able to hook you up.”

Next thing I know I’m chatting with a development company about designing my own building and salon and bringing my vision to life. Not only did I get to design it but I also was given the opportunity to own the location as well, which is ideal instead of renting. This situation was a dream come true, and what I thought was a bummer of losing out of that first location turned into the biggest blessing. One door closing led to the right door opening.

For about a year we carefully customized our schedules so that 10 stylists could work in my tiny but mighty 5 chair salon. The 10 of us worked so well together and got so close. I can honestly say they’re my family and I love them all dearly. We’ve been very cramped and at times inconvenienced but not one of the stylists complained. My team is the most deserving of this beautiful space we’re about to enter. It’s been built around patience, grace, love, laughter, and a whole lot of excitement. I cannot wait for our first day together in the new salon space and years and years ahead.

xoxo Kelsie