Two friends have opened a hair salon in Cwmbran that they want to be affordable and be good for their work-life balance.
Bonita Davies and Grace Blackwood are the entrepreneurs behind Twist & Tone at Oakfield Shops.
I popped in today to meet the pair and hear why they decided to become business owners.
Bonita said: “Me and Grace have been talking about it for years, because we trained together.”
They found out the unit was empty and swung into action.
She said: “I messaged Grace. We came to view it and thought ‘yes, let’s give it a go’ to open our own salon as we’ve been speaking about it for years.
“It’s a bit overwhelming really. We’ve been a lot busier than we both thought we would be.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the community so that’s been really lovely. It’s a nice area as well, so yes, so far so good I think.”
They first met in a salon around ten years ago where they were training and stayed friends.
Work-life balance
Grace, a mum of two-year-old twin daughters, said starting a business had helped her “work- life balance”.
She said: “It’s been hectic, but it’s been so freeing having your own place and being able to do what you want to do and what you’re passionate about as well, which is really nice.
“We’ve had a lot of family and a lot of friends as well that like you know, have popped in and you know sort of got us started.
“I think the way we want to come across when people see our work and our Facebook page and all that, is that we want be like an affordable salon as everything is so expensive at the moment.”
She added: “For me it’s work-life balance, so I’ve got time off with the girls, and you’ve [Bonita is a mum of three] got time off with your kids. We’re just trying to have a nice happy place.”
Back-to-school discount at Twist & Tone
The pair are running a special back-to-school offer from 19 to 31 August, with 15% off children’s cuts.
Dry Cut – £11 (from £13)
Child Under ten – £8.50 (from £10)
Cut & Blowdry – £21 (from £25)