We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elyse Bertoletti . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elyse below.

Elyse, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

We began planning our dream to open up a holistic full service salon and spa about a year prior to the pandemic. Formally signing the lease of our brick and mortar only months prior. I vividly remember my husband asking our landlord if there was room to extend the start date of payment given the fact we were building out from the ground up.
Our landlords response was “I’ve been in this business 40 years, what could possibly happen that you would need more time?”
That was just the beginning of our journey. Everything that could have gone wrong did and more. From delays in the arrivals of our shampoo stations and styling chairs, to our contractor getting COVID and delaying the project for almost 2 months, we powered through and almost 2 years later finally opened our doors socially distanced, masked, and at 25% capacity on January 2nd 2021… probably one of the worst moments without a pandemic to open a salon. I don’t think there could have been any advice or preparation sufficient enough to help us power through those moments… perseverance that’s it.

Elyse, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been in the industry 15 years now and always took pride in my craft and brining confidence and beauty into the lives of women. It’s truly empowering! I met my husband about 7 years into my career and felt like something was missing…. I didn’t love the brands I was working with or what they stood by. It’s such a toxic industry in many ways… I thought I was done. He was the one who guided me into opening up Elysium. We didn’t have to follow the standards of our community to be successful so we decided to do it our way! Elysium Biodynamic Spa & Salon has cultivated a new era of service from the approach of holistic beauty professionals and optimal wellness standards.
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Our menu design and product selection have all been mindfully curated and inspired from the highest and most effective ingredients and modalities sourced from all over the world. We have established this environmental methodology in order to honor positive transformation within spa & salon standards and to create a truly individualized experience, unlike any other.

We take pride in our connection and influence within our community and strive to go beyond expectations. We are offering exclusive events, workshops, and the implementation of sustainability and support within our community.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

That’s more of a love story than a business story, but a beautiful one at that. We met in the town we opened our business in. Though he was from Italy and planned to make his US business endeavors a short term plan, he gave up everything to invest in our dreams!
About 5 years prior to even thinking about Elysium we took a stroll through town with our now 6 year old son, circled an abandoned restaurant, and joked that it would be amazing for that building to one day be our empire. Just proof than manifestations are no joke!! The rest is history.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think just surviving as a new business and support a family through COVID is enough to credit for resilience. Our beautiful clients support really kept our heads above water.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theelysiumsalon.us
• Instagram: @elysium190south