We were lucky to catch up with Maranda Pell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maranda , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

My parents never bought me a lot. They provided me with what I needed, outside of that I had to work for what I wanted. It taught me to work hard and budget my money. I learned that going to a beautiful boutique and buying something nice with your own money was such a great feeling. But also that thrifting and going to garage sales was sometimes more rewarding. This lesson helped me get my businesses going and taught me to improvise. I started out with mismatched salon chairs and now I am selling repurposed clothing in my own boutique.
My parents also taught me to fight my own battles and believe in myself. I remember a neighborhood mom yelling at me when I was younger. I could see my dad looking out the window at us and I was so frustrated that he didn’t come out and get involved. When I went inside I asked him why he didn’t come out he said “Well you did just fine, you need to learn to fight your own battles.”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started Xscape Salon in 1999 in my home town Rockford Michigan. I was looking for a challenge and there weren’t a lot of salons in the area. I loved being a hairdresser! Being creative, social, and dressing to impress was fun for me. I found myself working lots of hours, sometimes seven days a week. I loved it all. I would stay at the salon after my clients into the night hours making sure it was cleaned and perfect again for the next day.
Fifteen years later I opened Studio Monroe which is pretty much everything but hair – anything from nails and makeup, to waxing and facials. The Studio was a bigger challenge as I had kids at this time and forgot just how many hours it took to get a business up and running. Working around the clock wasn’t an option with kids, so I took time off from doing hair. Just as Studio Monroe was stable and I was planning to get back into hair, the building connected to mine burned down, Studio Monroe was damaged and I had to restart.
Then in 2019 I had the opportunity to purchase a big building in the middle of these two businesses. My intention was to combine the salon and studio into one space. Like most of us, I didn’t see covid coming and afterwards I was too scared to mess with two businesses that were still standing. So now I had to come up with what I wanted to do with this big old building. And of course thought it would be a fabulous idea to sell some of my thrifted pieces and clothes that I have sewn and reworked over the years. I opened ERA in 2021. I wanted to share my love for new and old things. Share things I love today and things that bring you back to your favorite era. If you look at pictures of my childhood bedroom, you can see how much of my personality is really put into the store. For someone who isn’t tech savvy, and can’t take a selfie without twitching, starting a brick and mortar store like Era in a digital age has been my biggest challenge yet.

Any advice for managing a team?

I like to tell my staff that there is something good in everyone. If someone is bothering you then you need to remind yourself of that good thing over and over again. And we are a working Family, we are after the same thing. Lets do it together instead of alone.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The salon and studio have really grown by word of mouth. I have a very talented staff and they all keep busy with constant referrals. Having the two businesses with loyal clients has helped grow Era from the beginning. But I am learning that a retail space is much different from a hair salon or nail studio. Social media and having an online presence has been great for showing the variety of products Era carries. I’ve been pushing myself to embrace social media because I know Era has so much more potential.

Contact Info:

• Website: xscapesalonrockford.com Studiomonroerockford.com
• Instagram: @erarockford @xscapesalonrockford @studiomonroerockford

Image Credits

I took my own pictures. lol