Seeing the light
Salon owner embraces reopening, thankful for support of family
Maria Ortega started doing hair at her current location in Mellor Park Mall 28 years ago, as an employee at Twiggy’s. Twiggy’s is now Maria’s Hair Stop, and she has been the owner since 2000.
There’s been a lot of hair and a lot of history in that shop over that period. All of it, it seemed, would be swept away when the coronavirus pandemic was in full bloom.
Maria’s Hair Stop, and all other beauty salons, were ordered to shut down. She was closed from March 11 and didn’t reopen until May 4.
Six weeks with no income? In her 28 years as a hairdresser, the days never got much darker for Ortega.
“The first two weeks, especially that first week, I was very depressed. I’d been working since I was 14 and I’m 56. I’d been working for 42 years, non-stop. And then from one day to another, not to work, that was crazy for that first week,” Ortega said. “And then I was depressed that second week because I thought I’d have to shut everything down, sell my house, go back to Houston.”
Ortega said she called her parents and her sister in Houston, who tried to cheer her up. Even with the help of a small business loan and the stimulus check, she wasn’t sure if she’d survive.
“At first I thought it was just going to be two weeks and then the bills kept coming in,” she said. “But God is good. The financing companies and the creditors, they were nice enough to give you credit and to wait.”
To make matters worse, she couldn’t travel to see her parents, missing her mother’s birthday and Mother’s Day. Her father’s birthday was last week. She connected with them through Zoom, but the whole situation took a toll.
Her daughter, Sharen, who works with her at the salon, and her grandchildren saved the day.
“The first week when I was depressed, I was crying like I am right now. I told them, ‘I have to file for bankruptcy, and I have to go back to Houston.’ They came to my house - my daughter Sharen and my grandkids,” said Ortega, who started to cry as she talked about it. “They brought me flowers and they brought me a box of wine. I’ve never been a wine drinker in my life, but that box of wine did it. I said, ‘Wow, I’m blessed.’ I had my grandkids and I had my daughter. We did a big meal. We cooked every day. We got together every day. They would stay with me. That was a lot of help.”
Ortega credited the online service at Wyatt Baptist Church with helping to maintain her sanity. She also took solace that she was not alone as every beauty salon owner was in the same predicament.
But it was family that pulled her through.
“Especially my grandkids and my daughter. We work together every day, but that bonding was like more closer. I would cook for them. We’d talk and they’d stay until 10 o’clock at night. That kept my sanity,” she said.
And, of course, nothing cheers a person up like a box of wine.
“That was the only box of wine. Only one box of wine they bought me,” Ortega said with a laugh.
“But it was like, yeah, I’m happy because they care for me and love me. That was the message that I got. I wasn’t alone. Knowing I had their back and they had my back. It was like, ‘yeah, I can make it.’ If I lose what I have, I know I can start somewhere else.”
And, through the darkness, light returned on May 4 when the quarantine was lifted on beauty salons. Ortega said the shop was always sanitized, although wearing the mask is different. Customers also have to sign-in and answer COVID-19 screening questions.
“Finally, when we reopened, God, I was so happy. I didn’t care what we had to do. I didn’t care if we had to wear a mask. I didn’t care if I had to take my temperatures. I didn’t care any of that. As long as I was able to work. God sent me a lot of angels. I’ve been busy. I’ve been staying busy,” she said.
“The first two weeks we were swamped. We were doing my regular customers and then I was doing new customers. I’m still busy, especially the weekends. God is good because I’ve been doing a lot of new customers. They find me on the internet or on Facebook.”
Ortega even said the tips from customers have been better.
“God was good. I had a lot of angels that helped me.”
Through it all, Ortega believes she’s in a better place now than before the pandemic.
“Spiritually, yes. Spiritually, I can overcome anything,” she said. “God is not going to leave me alone. God has my hand. I can do anything and He’s not going to give me more than I can bear.”
Her message to others struggling through this ordeal is simple:
“Keep the faith. There’s always a rainbow on the other side of the storm.”