We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Fay Kimbrell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Fay, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is to elevate the status of women in our city and across the world. We believe it will be the inherent ability and power of women that will deliver this planet safely into the 22nd century (the 22 in Salon22) and we are playing the long game. We know that when women are fully tapped in and standing in their own clarity and purpose, there is nothing we cannot do. This world needs the type of leadership women provide – inclusive, empathetic, intuitive, diplomatic, strong.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am born and raised New Orleans and my family roots are deep here. This town means a lot to me. In all the ways it is amazing as well as difficult.

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was a stay at home mom for 15 years, 10 fully in the trenches of child rearing and marriage maintenance and 5 driving myself crazy trying to know who I was and what I was meant for. It was during this time that I read the quote from Sylvia Plath where she describes her character sitting beneath a fig tree. If you know the quote you know the decision paralysis it describes. Through that passage I realize it didn’t matter which path I chose. The important thing was to simply pick and get into the flow of life. Opportunity can’t find you sitting on the sidelines. You have to put yourself in the way of it all.

I knew I wanted a Master’s Degree and social work seemed versatile and interesting and it’s time commitment brief. I went back to school at 40. My first job was working as a case manager for a local organization. All my clients were high needs dealing with homelessness, addiction, HIV, job insecurity and more. I loved the work and enjoyed my clients very much. Their stories and humanity were inspiring and grounding. However, it didn’t take long to feel the drain. I was giving my life force to putting band aids on huge systemic problems. I could get someone an apartment and help with first months rent, but I could not provide the tools and skills needed to keep the apartment. I could help get someone into treatment, but not undo the early childhood trauma they were trying to mask.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to step back from that work. I used the healing time to do my personal work of figuring out what I’m good at, what lights me up, who I want to serve, and how I can contribute to bettering the planet. I realized that what I love is watching people wake up to who and what they really are, I’m good at seeing the unseen and unspoken, I want to serve women, and I want to contribute to more peaceful and abundant future. So I started two businesses at the same time. I do not recommend that, lol.

I started a private social work practice with my mother seeing client’s on an individual basis and I started conceptualizing Salon22. I did a lot of research on the women’s movements throughout history – what they did well and where they went wrong. Predominantly leaving out the voices of BIPOC communities. I knew that having a physical space would be key. A container for all the energy created and a place to come back to to remember what the work is about. Not just for me but for anyone who felt called to come. I shopped the idea of salon around for about a year before finding someone who said “hell yeah, let’s do it!” And we launched. We held our first pop-up event Wednesday, March 11th, 2020. 2 days later we were in full covid shut down.

We used the time to build our founding team and brought in two more women to co-create the business. The founding team is 2 women of color and 2 white women. We spent a lot of time just getting to know each other. We wanted to make sure that the community we were building was authentic from the core. That we trusted each other, that we were ok to have difficult conversations, and that we could say anything to each other. That time has proven to be one of our biggest assets. We hear women who come to our events say over and over again that it is refreshing to be in a diverse crowd that feels authentic. Women feel a sense of belonging and trust that I truly believe stems from our work together those early months.

The meta problem we are trying to solve is the violence, distrust, fear and lack mentality that seems to plague our world right now. Women leaders are the answer. Of course we need the male perspective and of course we need our male allies, but it is time for the inherent powers of the female to be the guiding light of this world. I recognize that could sounds unachievable if not out right delusional. But I do believe we can get there and we’re playing the long game.

What can I do right now, today, within my personal sphere of influence to get closer to a future that I am proud to pass on? I can create a container, I can do my best to open hearts and minds with connection or inspiration or learning. I can help women one on one, understand and clear out their past and help guide them into a future they want for themselves.

That’s the work. That’s what I’m up to. It doesn’t look like whole lot from the outside, but it’s big stuff.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

After we signed the lease on our space new information came to light about nuances we had not been aware of. It was complicated and not really a great deal for us. It was extraordinarily stressful. We had a lot of money in the building and we were making big, expensive decisions very quickly. I leaned hard into my meditation and spiritual practices, namely my program, to find grounding and trust in moving forward. I also found great strength in my co-founders and understood why it was so important to have built this amazing team of women. I still have no idea if we made the “right” decision in moving forward but we did and here we are, one year later with a growing membership and expanding brand awareness.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Life is a pivot. Stable ground beneath us is the human fallacy we all grasp for and I love a good reinvention. My most recent pivot was getting sober in 2020. It’ll be 4 years in October and has been among the best decisions I’ve ever made. I had known for a long time that my relationship with alcohol needed to be examined, but imagining a life without it was not something I was ready for. Covid, and the social quiet that came with it, gave me the space to look at that relationship more clearly. It was also the time I was working diligently on launching this business and I knew alcohol was getting in my way. I called a local outpatient treatment center and used the shutdown to really look at my addictive behaviors. It has been life changing in the best possible way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://salon22nola.com
• Instagram: @salon22nola
• Facebook: salon22nola
• Linkedin: salon22nola

Image Credits

A-List Cover – Chris Granger @cgranger
3 women in front of bar – Anthony LaMothe @anthonylamothephotography
all others Ashley Lorraine @iamashleylorraine, @sheshoots_

I have permission provided I credit the photographers