Our Story:
Every business begins with a dream. A dream to make a difference, a dream to fulfill one’s purpose for being, or a dream to make a living. This was no different for me and my business partner, Diane Lindo. Our business opened in February 2004 and one of our business’s primary visions is to provide the highest level of education for an affordable price. To educate individuals with emplo
yable skills and give them a reason for being “Helping them to Become the Best they Can Be”. My business partner and I began construction of our dream in July 2003. We started with a hammer, drill, passion, and the desire to change lives. As our finances were very limited, Diane and I made the decision to be our own General Contractors. We spent many months researching companies to bid out our project and finally decided on an electrician, construction company, flooring company, and plumber. Diane’s background consisted of finishing off her basement and I had never used a drill before (which I am really good at now), therefore we enlisted a friend of Diane’s (Brad) to help with the drywall, taping, mudding. The building lease was signed July 21, 2003, and once we met with the bank, city council and planning commission, we were given the green light to begin construction on our dream. It was the last week of August when we held our “Contractors meeting”. Everyone who attended was instructed to pass our their business card to everyone else, so that if any communication needed to happen between them it could be done more efficiently. We were asked if we had obtained the building permit. We looked at each other and said, ‘Don’t worry about it; we will have it by Monday.’ The contractors all chuckled and said to us, “Good luck, it usually takes 2 weeks to get one.’ Knowing that we didn’t have that kind of time, Diane and I visited the city, and begged them to help us out. Monday came, and we had our building permit. The original build out took less than a month to complete. Our first project included turning a 9,000 square foot health and fitness center into a beauty school. We utilized everything we could that the previous tenants had left behind. The large mirrors were moved from the old training area into the new large classroom and 30 of the lockers located in the former men’s locker room found a new home in the student break room. We added walls in the former women’s and men’s locker rooms, so the respective restrooms were no longer adjoined to the old locker rooms. We were also very excited when we found a 450 gallon water heater on the premises; this meant hot water for everyone. We utilized the small office and turned that into our dispensary. The old day care area was transformed into the new owner’s offices, and the old reception desk was perfect for what our plans called for. We also turned the old tanning rooms into wonderful, complete with soothing music, facial rooms. The previous men’s shower area is the new home for our inventory supplies and the former men’s locker room is now our staff lounge, complete with lockers. To compete this transformation we added a student resource room, financial aid office, admissions office, school manager’s office, pedicure area (complete with thrones), and a theory classroom. As the build out neared completion we began the process of designing equipment and finding equipment financing. This process took about 6 weeks, but we were finally approved. Our original first class start date was November 1, 2003, however due to major delays caused by equipment financing and equipment manufacturing problems we were forced to push that class start date out to February 2004. On February 21, 2004 we held an Open House for prospective students, curious community members, and to thank all the people involved with helping Diane and I make our dream become a reality. We invited friends, family, industry mentors, all the project contractors, our landlord, community leaders, and the general public to help with our celebration. On February 23, 2004 we started our first class of cosmetology. We are proud to say after fifteen(15) years in business we have 786 graduates and have performed over 80,000 clinic services. The motto of Minnesota School of Beauty is ‘Helping You To Become The Best You Can Be’. In 2005 we created a local high school program with Farmington, which allows high school seniors to attend our school for 1.5 hours per day. Their goal is to complete our Basics program (this takes 10 weeks for a full time student to complete) while they are finishing their senior year of high school. This program has continued to be very successful and has helped many students get a jump start on their careers in the cosmetology field and those who choose not to do this as a career received wonderful life skills and post secondary business skills to help them on the journey. This program also has helped each student achieve better grades and attendance, communication, life skills and personal development skills. In 2013 we added Lakeville to this awesome program too! During 2006 the school went through an expansion of an additional 1200 square feet. In 2007 Diane and I started guest speaking in the area high schools by presenting our business plan, along with our success story, as part of career development and business classes. This has been very successful for both Diane and I, and the students we interact with. In the spring of 2016 Diane and I ventured out on a new project. The name: Face 4 Your Future. We both wanted to do more and help more people succeed. In 5 months we were able to create the 501 (c)(3). The fall of 2016 brought our first opportunity. We raised funds to help 25 students finish their education! We are currently seeking donations for our Scholarship program with more details to come. Over the years we have helped students gain employable skills along with personal development, esteem building, professional development and life lessons. We have always been different then all the competitors in the beauty industry and knew this day would come! Along with this new beginning also comes much anticipation and more changes. Stay tuned as we continue to grow.....
