Hair to stay

Othello salon under new management

OTHELLO — Even while she was a client, there was pressure on Lucy Rodriguez to buy Studio 7.

Owner Jill Fletcher was looking to sell the full-service salon, and thought Rodriguez would be the perfect person to take over the business — even though Rodriguez had very little experience in salons, having most recently operated a daycare for 13 years.

"Actually Jill kept telling me she thought I would be the ideal person to take over," Rodriguez said. "With my personality and stuff, she thought I would be a good person to run it and own it, because I don't do hair, so I just manage it."

Rodriguez, a 21-year resident of Othello, took over Studio 7 Nov. 1.

"I just thought it would be a good business and investment opportunity," she said. "It's been great. I'm enjoying it."

Rodriguez said she likes meeting new faces and interacting with the clients as they come in, trying to help out as much as she can.

"With daycare it was little kids, so now I get to actually interact with people who are a lot older and mature," she said with a chuckle, noting that she had ceased the daycare operation in March. "I needed to do something, but I just didn't know what that was going to be."

From April, Fletcher kept mentioning that she thought Rodriguez would be the perfect person to take over.

"Talented, classy, works with everybody, good communicator, very professional," Fletcher listed off Rodriguez's attributes. She owned the business for eight years prior to turning it over to Rodriguez and remains as a stylist within the studio.

"Very good," Fletcher said of how things have been since Rodriguez became owner. "I love it."

Rodriguez credited Fletcher with assisting her in turning over the business, and making the transition for them easier than it might have been.

"She's still here and she has been so helpful with everything," Rodriguez said, extending her thanks to the other workers. "She's helped us in a lot of ways that maybe she doesn't realize that she's helped us."

Being new to the salon world has presented challenges at times, Rodriguez admitted, but she finds a lot of help from the seven workers in Studio 7, several of whom rent space.

"I know that if I have a question on something, they're more than happy to help me out," she said. "That makes me feel a lot better, knowing that the girls do know their stuff."

Rodriguez said there have been a few additions, including a fountain and painting the tanning room. Who knows what the future might hold, she said.

"Things are going really good right now, so I just hope that they continue going the way that they are," she said.

Offerings at Studio 7 include hair color and highlights, ear piercing, waxing, manicures and pedicures.