Snip, Clip, Style



“Chop, Chop, Chop” is a well-known sound heard on a daily basis in a small locally owned hair salon located in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. Some people are completely oblivious of the determination and dedication that goes into making sure hair is healthy and looks great. One of the women who take their cutting and styling extremely serious is the lovely and talented Michelle Swank. While mothering her eleven year old son Colton, Michelle has been able to operate a successful hair salon out of her small business in down town Shamokin. 

(Figure 1)

            Over the past seven years The Market Street Mane Salon has successfully made a name for itself. Starting out at an average of two clients a day, Michelle Swank has bumped her business up to an average of fifteen clients per day. She spends roughly twenty to thirty hours a week working diligently and professionally in her salon making sure she tends to the needs of any client. According to Darlene Harlow, she learned of the salon through one of her friends and decided to give her a try. “My friend Charlotte always told me stories about how great her experience was and I needed something new. Turns out this place was great!” As customers round the corner onto Market Street, they will notice a small, chic gray brick building with pink letters that read “The Market Street Mane Salon” (Figure 1).


(Figure 2)

From the moment the door opens the mood quickly changes from the rush and craziness of the small centralized city to a calm and elegant atmosphere. Once the customer is through the entrance they can detect two mixing scents. Sporadically placed on all four walls of the room are shelves aligned with a variety of hair care products from shampoo to hairspray that give off chemical odors (Figure 2). The second scent is a more pleasant lavender aroma coming from a vase of flowers located on a small shelf placed next to the styling station. In the back corner of the room a sound is slightly heard coming from a small television where the news is playing.

A high pitched voice comes from behind a room divider when out of nowhere a woman wearing a shirt with black and white polka dots and a black apron designed with stripes appears. She welcomes and waves the client to the washing station where it becomes visible that there is a small metal nametag on her apron that embroidered with the name “Michelle” (Figure 3). It’s a pretty basic routine for Michelle. When the client arrives, wash their hair and if they request it, wax their eye brows and lip. “We normally have basic conversations why I am washing their hair and waxing their face. It distracts the clients from the pain of having the waxing strip ripped off their face.”

(Figure 3)

Ever since Michelle Swank was a young girl she dreamed of styling hair. “The first time I realized that I wanted to style hair was when I started kindergarten. My mother would always wake me up extra early to fix my hair nice for school. She would do mainly braids and there would be a different braid every day. The kids at school thought my hair was always amazing. Eventually I learned to style my own hair and I wanted to do it all the time. I loved to play around and try new things and I would be styling everyone’s hair ranging from my friends to my dog. I tried to work for the hair salon “Holiday Hair” but it never really worked out for me so I decided to open my own salon.” Because she was never really taught how to manage her own business in technical school it was a major shift for Michelle. “You actually have to manage your own cliental and hours. There is nobody there to help you along the way. It’s all you and if you screw up, you need to fix the problem yourself.”

(Figure 4)

Michelle treats her customers as she would like to be treated. She loves to tell stories about her younger clients’ visits to her hair salon. She questions her client with the odd question of “Did you know I cut Princess Elsa’s hair from frozen?” The client just looked at her with a confused expression. “Well apparently I do (Figure 4). A little girl came into my shop with her older sister and mother. The older sister was getting her hair cut when the younger one remarked “Michelle, I’m not getting my hair cut today” and I commented “You’re not?” The little girl had curly platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyway, I’m in the middle of cutting her sisters hair when the little girls mom goes “tell Michelle what you got today," apparently she got Frozen underwear. Well, the mom was saying that the little girl needed her hair cut but she kept refusing. Finally, I had told her “You know, I cut Princess Elsa’s hair all the time and I could make you look like her.” Her eyes went big and bright like she had walked into a candy factory. After her haircut she was walking out the door when she turned and remarked in an innocent but demanding voice “Call me Princess Elsa!” It was hysterical.”
 Customer Emily Jenkins feels like she is part of the family when she goes for her monthly touch ups at The Market Street Mane Salon. “As a local college student, I am on a budget and look for the cheap but good places. Michelle does all that! Haircuts for women these days can cost an arm and a leg but Michelle gives me a nice haircut at an unbeatable price. I can get my eye brows waxed and my hair cut and styled for just twenty dollars.” Michelle Swank can do almost any hairstyle in the book. You name it, she can do it. Swank mentions that she does “prom and wedding up do’s, coloring and highlights, perming, and men and children haircuts.” She considers doing hair an art. “I really enjoy being able to socialize with my clients and not just cut their hair. I build relationships with my clients so that they will keep returning to my salon. Also, you get juicy gossip from some of the older cliental which always makes things interesting.”