April 7 2009 - Features
2007 Salon of the Year: M&M Nails & Wellness Center
Different-toned woods help create a soothing, inviting atmosphere throughout the salon.
Salon: M&M Nails & Wellness Center, Silver Spring, Md.
Owner: Maisie Dunbar
Years of ownership: 12
Number of nail techs/employees: 5/10
Dunbar encourages her team members to take advanced education classes.
Specialties: Natural nail care, nail enhancements, pedicures, skin care, massage treatments, and facials
Maisie Dunbar
Future goals:
“To put up a website for my makeup line and to sell my makeup online. My line is called Bluffa Jo, which is a West African term for a beautiful lady who looks good from head to toe but doesn’t have a penny in her pocket. I’d also like to come out with motivational tapes.”
Different-toned woods help create a soothing, inviting atmosphere throughout the salon.
What is the salon’s mission?
“M&M Nails & Wellness Center’s goal is to achieve total guest satisfaction by striving for excellence in all areas of our business and to deliver unsurpassed guest treatment and outstanding ideas. Through our research and development, we strive to offer original innovations backed by strategic marketing and advertising of quality products.
“M&M maintains a stimulating work environment, which provides its team members opportunities for professional and individual growth in an atmosphere that fosters teamwork and mutual respect as well as commitment to advanced education.
The salon’s innovative approach to marketing includes e-mail ads, seasonal savings, and special celebrations.
“We achieve our mission through in-house training, field trips to other spas, cleanliness, and celebrating efforts on consistent basics and strategic management. We bring in manufacturer reps and give assessments to see if team members understand all our treatments and their protocol.
“When a guest enters the center, our first words are, ‘Welcome, how may we nurture you?’ If it is a new client, we have her fill out a guest profile card and give her a tour."
What makes the salon a winner:
• Providing a relaxing retreat for clients. Dunbar has created a salon atmosphere that combines quality nail care services with wellness treatments such as aromatherapy and massage. Her innovative approach offers clients an overall experience of well-being.
• Its dedication to the growth and satisfaction of team members. Besides offering employees a generous compensation package, room for development, and a motivating work environment, Dunbar established an education fund to encourage her team to advance its education.
Dunbar’s nail expertise is featured in various print work including O magazine, Belle magazine, and Washingtonian magazine.
• Dunbar’s involvement in the industry. Her impressive resume includes former educator for CND and Seche International; doing nails for segments on Black Entertainment Television and the Daytime Emmy Awards ; her knowledge and skills have been featured in O’ Magazine and Glamour magazine; she has consulted on nail care and wellness issues with the editors of Essence magazine and Ladies Home Journal; and she has worked with Def Jam Records and Revlon Cosmetics.
What does being a winner mean to you?
“It means a great deal to me and that all my hard work is getting ready to payoff. Everything is finally coming together as I enter a new phase in my career. Being a mentor and helping people build their nail business is really my passion. The pinnacle of my nail career is winning Salon of the Year."