Today we’d like to introduce you to Patricia Devlin.
Patricia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I found my calling as a hair stylist at a salon in Shrewsbury, MA, 14 years ago. Michele and the girls at Madison Place Hair Salon took me under their wing and taught me most of what I know today. After working under Michele for 3 years, I began renting a chair from her and continued to do so until the summer of 2013. I had always dreamed of owning my own salon and decided that was the time to do it. I opened a small salon in a tanning salon here in Worcester with four chairs and 1 employee. With the effort of many long days and hard work, the salon was starting to grow rapidly. Three years later, my lease was up so, I decided to move and renovate a new space expanding and opening Avenue Fifty Salon and Spa. It was the absolute best move I ever could have made. We are going on our second year in my new location and I could not ask for a better following and employees. We are now a full spa offering everything from hair, to facials, to massage! I currently have 6 stylists, 3 aestheticians, a massage therapist and makeup artist! I’m so blessed to have the most amazing girls on my team and can not wait to see what the future holds for us!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I opened my first salon at 29 without any knowledge of how to run a business or how to manage employees. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing! I had to teach myself the basics from how to run a business, promote it and how to manage employees all while working behind the chair full time. It’s a 24 hour a day job so, it’s a great thing I love what I do! Everyday there is a new challenge but you have no choice but to face it head on and problem solve. Like every job it has it’s challenges but at the end of the day, making people feel beautiful and creating a fun and professional work environment is my top priority.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Avenue Fifty Salon & Spa – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
At my salon, I am HUGE on education. We are one of the top Balayage salons in the Worcester area. My staff and I are always attending classes on the latest trends and techniques. We go to the International Beauty Show every year in New York and take as many classes there as we can. We also all take great pride in our Instagram accounts. We feature a lot of before and afters including headshots of our beautiful clients to show our work and our style. Every stylist has their own style and way of doing things so it’s a great way for us to stand out and show off all of our work!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I have absolutely no idea what the future holds but I do know that this is only the beginning. I’d love to open at least one more salon within the next 5 years. I tend to get bored so when things are going smoothly, I’m looking for my next adventure. There’s nothing in the world I’m more passionate about than my work, my clients and building an amazing team around me. I’m lucky enough to have an amazing husband who understands that I don’t know how to sit still and will support what ever it is that I do decide to do next. I believe that’s what meant to happen will and in the meantime, I’m going to keep making Avenue Fifty the best salon it can be.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @pattypaintsworcester
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Avenue50Salon/about/
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/qTKq/zTBFShqUFJ
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