Self-support successes: Family affair in hair
| Friday, Jul 24 2009 06:58 PM
Last Updated Friday, Jul 24 2009 06:58 PM
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Jenn Ireland / The Californian Natasha Sam, Donna Sam and Jennifer Eguao stand in the salon portion of Lift-U-Up while Zaleone Kadossiyi, Fitzgerald Graves and Matthew Sam hang out on barber shop side in the Sam family's new downtown business that is a full service salon, make-up studio and barber shop all-in-one.
Family teamwork almost defines Lift-U-Up, a new hair and makeup studio in downtown Bakersfield.
The company’s entrepreneurial know-how originates with owner Donna Sam, a 30-year veteran of the hair trade who owned three salons in Southern California before moving to Bakersfield around 2001.
Her team includes son Matthew, the salon’s barber; daughter and makeup specialist Natasha; and Donna’s husband, Joe, a construction worker who with Matthew transformed a 1,600-square-foot warehouse next to Guthrie’s Alley Cat bar into a cozy complex. Launched without a business loan, Lift-U-Up’s challenge now, Donna said, is to build a steady clientele through word-of-mouth
marketing and specialization like hair loss treatment and private service.
Faith is a cornerstone of the business, and Donna is not shy about offering to pray for customers.
She holds to a certainty that work will always be there.
“People will always get their hair done,” she said with smile.
