"The Lofty Team"
Clothing provided by White House | Black Market
Fairfax Corner shopping center"
I am often asked, “what does Lofty mean?” The answer to that is a bit of a long story. Please read on as I recount it for you.
From the beginning, I have been a hair designer with a wide imagination. When I started over 30 years ago, I would spend my spare time between clients, dreaming about one day owning my own salon. By the way, I started very, very, young. I imagined how it would look both inside and out, and I even saw myself planting the flowers in front of my shop. Remarkably, one day when I was feeling very frustrated with my work situation, I happened to run across this building that looked very sad and neglected. It was in a great location with plenty of parking and immediately I began to see my vision of a hair salon.
My quest to lease the building started a chain of events that would ultimately take a year to complete. It seemed nobody was interested in talking to me about the building. I tried meeting with the owner and found that he was not interested either. Finally, I found where his office was located, and walked into his office unannounced. He just happened to walk in behind me. Following a brief introduction, I said, “Joe, I want to lease your building.” “Your tenants keep promising to meet with me but they never show up.” Joe informed me that the man did not have a lease to sell because he was there month to month. Then he asked me if I wanted to buy the old equipment as well? “Of course not,” I replied! “I called you a year ago about leasing but you said it was rented. Would you be interest in talking to me about a lease now?” He said, “Don’t you want to see it first? It needs a lot of work. If you have time, I can take you to see it now, but I can only show you the 2nd Floor.” We left his office and proceeded to the building.
As Joe opened the door, we were greeted by hopping crickets. There were so many, they needed a traffic light. Joe passed it off by saying that the 2nd Floor had been vacant for a few years. “By the way, what are you going to do with the building,” he asked? What I had in mind was to fix up the salon on the 1st Floor and rent the upstairs. However, I blurted out that I wanted to make the 2nd Floor into a Wellness Center. I surprised myself by saying this because I had never really thought about it before. Given the layout of the rooms, it just made perfect sense to me. Anyway, we went back to Joe’s office and scheduled a meeting with his brother, who was the co-owner, two days later.
I went home and talked with my husband about it that night. He told me I had nothing to lose but that I better hope they don’t ask for a financial statement in the terms of the lease. He was afraid they might get mad at me for wasting their time. We met again two days later and Joe and his brother agreed to lease the building for the next 20 years. I told them that we would take care of everything that needs fixing. Joe agreed to cut down the large tree that was in front of the building, but I was responsible for the rest.
The next three months came and went as my lawyer negotiated all the terms of the lease with the listing agent who was mad at me because I had gone straight to Joe and not through him. Had I known the building was listed, I would have. Anyway, the leasing agent emailed me one day asking what I was going to call this “joint?” I replied, “Because it has two floors, I was thinking of ‘The Beauty Loft’.” He said, “Ohhh, so Lofty!” Ironically, I liked his name better, so we started going back and forth using the name Lofty in our correspondence. Every time I opened my email and saw the name “Lofty”, it put a smile on my face.
Then the time came to finalize everything. It occurred to me that if I was going to use this name, I had to find out what it meant. So, I looked it up and found it was exactly “me.” I had lots and lots of “lofty” dreams and no money. Only 35,000 in savings, empty credit cards, and three months free rent to get the building ready. So with my phone, a mirror, chair, and sink, I set to work while the construction was underway. What I earned on any given day, I spent on furniture and equipment. I bought one hair color at a time because I couldn’t afford to have a stock room. Slowly, slowly, I started growing and expanding. That was four years ago now and I feel that my ‘lofty dreams’ have come true and are now a reality. I am blessed with a wonderful staff, lots of wonderful guests and friends, and a great community that I am proud to be a part of.
I hope you enjoyed reading my story and I hope it will inspire other women out there who love to dream like me. To them I say, “Go ahead and dream, you just never know.”
~ Mona Harb
About Lofty Salon & Wellness Center
Lofty Salon and Wellness Center is located in the eclectic suburb of Vienna, VA just two miles south of the Tysons Corner area in Northern Virginia outside Washington DC. From it’s inception, Lofty has provided it’s clientele with a warm and inviting atmosphere where they are treated to the highest caliber of salon services in the area. The décor is smartly appointed with a combination of antiques and worldly furnishing reminiscent of what one might find in an elegant home. Each member of our staff is an expert in his or her field and comes with years of professional experience to back up their credentials. You can rest assured that each one of our professionals has completed the latest training in their respective fields to complement their expertise.
Lofty Salon and Wellness Center offers a broad range of services to pamper your every whim including Professional Hair Color and Design, Massage Therapy, Nail Care, and a full time Esthetician who is supervised by a Board Certified Cosmetic Surgeon. Our 20’ x 25’ studio within the wellness center is also host to a diverse group of exercise and dance classes to help you maintain your fitness goals. We also offer the convenience of online booking in order to provide the ultimate in flexibility to our busy clients.
Dear Mona,
 You and Lofty Salon are very special to me because you give me a “super” haircut, but more importantly, you are “super” because you care about me and the causes that I represent, namely the Down Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia. You care about people with intellectual disabilities and you have shown your support in meaningful ways by helping the DSANV raise funds to create awareness about our abilities.
In the past two years, you opened the doors of your elegant salon in the evenings to host the young adults Advocacy educational seminars. We had two successful seminars to discuss friendship and relationships, money issues, and a fun holiday party with delicious food, camaraderie, and dance. You also provided the setting for our wine tasting fundraising, meetings for parents of adults with Down Syndrome to share experiences and learn about financial issues for adults with disabilities. I also know that you also gave my brother and sisters as well as other siblings the venue to share their personal experiences growing up with a sibling with Down Syndrome. All in all, you did not only support one or two events, but you made it clear to me that you are proud of me and you want others to have the opportunities to succeed. You are an ally for causes that improve our world, you believe that we all should be respected and given a chance to reach our potential and have a happy life.
I am writing to thank you but also to ask you to help me raise funds for my Buddy Walk in October. At the same time, I would like to meet members of the Chamber of Commerce to have them support our cause. I would like to share with them my success story and ask them to join me in the Buddy Walk. Could you please invite them to your Salon? My goal is to raise awareness about people with disabilities and let them know that I am committed to opening doors for people with disabilities to getting jobs and helping me make the dream of many a reality.
Sincerely,
David Egan
Click to read a thank you letter from
Anthony K. Sudler, President and CEO of Alzheimer's Association
|
