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Arkansas salon owner initially hesitant to reopen wins 'COVID readiness' award

A year ago today, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that certain salons and barbershops could re-open for business.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark — A year ago today, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that certain salons and barbershops would re-open for business.

The announcement included any type of cosmetology business, massage therapy, body art, and medical spa business. 

While a lot of salons were very vocal in support of the re-opening even with restrictions, Cheyenne Gibson, the owner of Southern Blond and Co., was hesitant about initially re-opening, so she didn't.

"People obviously don't like to be out of work in this industry, but the staff didn't feel safe and our clients didn't feel safe," said Gibson.

They've only been open since June of 2018. 

She and her team wanted to make sure they were educated and up-to-date on all health codes before reopening, so they took another month off to make sure they would be as safe as possible when they did.

"We really worked on protocol. What was expected by the board of health. I felt unprepared. We had a list of protocol and we followed them, but we were so scared to do anything wrong," said Gibson.

She says protocols meant they sanitized a lot with hand sanitizer everywhere.

The salon tasted and smelled like alcohol.

Financially, the business took a huge hit.

"That's not something that gets talked about a lot, but it's something important to understand that a regular appointment looks like 'I'm going to color your hair, and while that's processing I'm going to cut someone else's hair. Once your hair is processed, I'm going to come back to you,'" said Gibson.

With limited exposure being a top protocol, one customer at a time meant losing hours' worth of money with appointments.

She improvised by selling other products like facial kits to pay the rent.

Fast forward to today, and despite her team being fully vaccinated and Gov. Hutchinson declaring a no mask mandate, Gibson says she's still cautious which has won her awards.

"For following protocol, we won awards for COVID-friendliness and readiness. Which is cool. I can't believe that's something to brag about. That made us feel good because we weren't sure if we were doing everything right," said Gibson.

She says they've had 0% of clients and staff— as far as she knows— that haven't contracted the virus. 

Her team is still wearing masks and being patient.

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