Business Briefs
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BUSINESS PROFILE
Salon caters to the 'Total Image'
By YVETTE N. FREEMAN
Chronicle Staff Writer
Althoughjiearly every corner in Winston-Salem
has either a beauty salon or barber shop on it, there
are not too many that offer a total image service.
One of the few is the Total Image Center, which
opened up for business in June of this year, at 1150
E. Sprague Street. Owned and operated by Vernell
Brown, a former USAir customer service representa
tive turned cosmetologist, the Total
Image Center provides not only the
usual hair care services, i.e. perms, hair
cuts, colorings, curls, etc., "for both men
and women, but also nail and skin care
treatments, image consulting and cos
metics.
"We try to cater to the total image,
from head to toe," says Brown, who i$
also a notary public.
Brown worked at USAir, formerly
Piedmont Airlines, for nearly five years,
and says that she decided to go into
cosmetology as a back up career.
"When USAir bought Piedmont, there
was an uncertainty about it. It was like
everything was up in the air. If you only had a few
years, then you felt threatened. And I was like, 'well,
at this point, I feel like I should try to get me some
thing to fall back on,* because all I had was clerical
e xpe rience " she said . ? ?
It was then that she decided to attend barber
school. She graduated in August of 1989 from Pyra
mid Barber School, and completed her one-year
apprenticeship at Comb's Barbershop from January
1990 until January of this year. She received her
t ?; -? ? ' ' ? ? :
The Total Image Center also provides skin and nail care as well as Image consulting.
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cosmetology license in Febru
ary and a month later, she
became an image consultant
for BeautiControl. "I didn't plan
-to go into- business. The
opportunity presented itself,
and I just jumped at it. It was
like things just started happen
ing and I went with the flow,"
said Brown, a Winston-Salem
native.
Today, as a result of the
hard work, patience and per
sistence, in addition to the love
and support of her family ?
husband Robert and their
three children ? Brown is
indeed in business for herself,
with a staff of six barbers and
cosmetologists, in a newly ren
ovated building, which sepa
rates the barber shop from the
.hair salon.
Brown started the salon
without the financial assistance
of a loan, and she says that
although she is barely making
ends meet, so far, business is
doing well, despite being the
new kid on the block. "It's
growing," she said.
?"I see new faces every
day. And every week, I see so
-many, like 15 different faces.
Like last week, I saw, I know,
15 new faces. But the weekly
customers have started com
ing. So it's going pretty good,
average."
? I? ? ? I
Varnall Brown works on a customer at the Total Imaga Canter, which
aha opanad In Juna of thla yaar.
? #
I think we're pretty and look forward to having a nice evening out. You
Once business gets to where she feels it is on
solid ground, though, Brown says she may possibly
be interested in going into yet another business ven
ture. "I don't have anything definite that I would want
to do right now, but I'm sure if I opened up something
else, it wouiont oe another salon. It would maybe be
something like a social entertainment club, or some
thing like that. Because really, I don't think Winston
Salem has any places that we can go and feel com
fortable at. I would like to have a membership only
club, where everybody could feel secure about going
know, maybe a dinner/social club; something like
that." *
But for now, Brown says she plans to concen
trate on making the Total Image Center a success
before moving on to other projects.
The hours for the Total Image Center are Mon
day through Saturday 8 a.m. until 6 p.m, The^center
will however, open on Mondays by appointment only,
as well as stay open until 8 p.m. during the week,
also only by appointment.
For more information about the Total linage
Center, call (919) 650-0100.
UJJ uniTGD AiRunes
Is ? The ? Proud ? Sponsor ? Of
Reinvestments Community
Students enrolled in the
course entitled, Using Humor to
FTCC receives $200,000 grant
I .
The Kate B. Reynolds Health sen/ices to underserved groups, agement theory and group
Care Trust has announced that it address the problems of health dynamics which contribute to the
will award Forsyth Technical Com- services in rural areas, reduce the development of a personal leader
munity College a $200,000 grant rate of infant mortality/morbidity, ' ship style and compares leader
for operating expenses of Forsyth as well as those that promote ship styles to the decision making
Tech's new health technology good health and prevent illness, process.
center, Bob H. Greene Hail. Also receiving special considera
Funding for the construction tion are well-conceived studies
of the facility was provided by a that clearly define health care
consortium of Carolina Medicorp, problems in North Carolina and
Inc.; North Carolina Baptist Hospi- will assist the trust and others in
tals, Inc.; Forsyth County; and developing viable solutions.
FTCC. Forsyth Tech's Management
The grant will be added to Development Program, offered
other challenge funds provided by through the Continuing Education
concerned industries, businesses, Division, has added several new
and foundations to offset operat- ^courses for the fall quarter.
ing expenses until the programs One of the new courses is
become self-supporting. Customer Service which is
It is projected that the new designed to give front-line
facility will enable Forsyth Tech to employees the skills necessaty to
double enrollment in its associate provide the quality of customer
degree nursing and practical nurs- service that encourages repeat
ing programs. It will also enable business.
the college to provide additional Executive Job Search is a
trained personnel for Forsyth course to assist professionals as
County's growing medical indus- they search for an appropriate Develop Creativity , will be taught
try. employment opportunity that is how to use humor to improve
The Kate B. Reynolds Health consistent with their skitts, expert- communication among co-work
Care Trust, a private foundation ence and interests. It prepares the ers as well as use it as a spring
located in Winston-Salem, was professional to conduct an effec- board for creativity. Situations will
created in 1946 through proyi- Jive Job search and to make be identified where humor can
jBHHHHttPlSfcM ?- * ^fcuild rapport, promote coopera
improving health care to the peo
ple of North Carolina. Approxi
mately $11 million is awarded
annually in grants to nonprofit
organizations throughout the
state.
Programs currently receiving
funding priority are those that
increase the availability of health
' ?' ?
Bob H. Greene
, ... .
will teach communication skills to
help employees identify communi
cation styles and learned behavior
patterns in order to communicate
effectively. It includes a discussion
of principJes developed through
transactional analysis.
The Leadership course
ejcplores the application of men
tion, and develop creativity in the
workplace.
Classes are offered quarterly
and usually meet once a week in
the evenings. Preregistration for
these and other courses begins
August 19.
For more information contact
Lori Denise Bryan or Kay Angell,
760-2373.
* V* . . .it*
"Reinvesim^iHo m nu.* v^umniuiiiiy is a weekly column appearing
inj\ Republications throughout the JJS/L
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