Visible Changes Salon celebrating 25 years

Visible Changes Salon is celebrating 25 years in business, and owner Kerrie Kennedy said she can’t begin to put into words how much it means to reach this milestone.

“It’s amazing. It hasn’t always been easy, that’s for sure, but now at this point of 25 years, it actually feels great because the amount of girls we have working together,” Kennedy said.

“We all just kind of feed off of each other. We help each other. There’s no competition. We’re constantly pumping each other up, and making sure the clients are always taken care of.”

Kennedy said that Visible Changes is one of the oldest salons in Downtown Lodi, and she has watched other salons come along over the years.

Despite the fact that there is now a salon on almost every corner, she is proud to say that her salon is full and she doesn’t have any open stations.

“The salon was already Visible Changes when I came, and I’ve only owned it for 14 years. However, I’ve been working as a hair dresser here for a little over 20 years,”

Kennedy, who’s been in the cosmetology industry since the age of 18, said she always knew she wanted to own a salon. After seven years of working for Visible Changes, she and her husband Patrick bought the salon from a fellow hair stylist.

“Back then I ended up remodeling the whole thing at that point, and now we just remodeled the whole entire salon again for the 25year anniversary,” she said.

Besides the remodels, Kennedy said nothing much has changed with the salon over the years. Her biggest challenge has been that many stylists have wanted to own their own salons.

“That was maybe a challenge in the sense of trying to keep the salon full,” she said. “It’s not always easy, people would come and go, but now, at this point, it’s so rewarding that it’s the 25th anniversary, and I have 25 girls in the salon and the salon is completely filled with amazing talent.”

She said some of the fondest memories have been the various gatherings held with other stylists during holidays and other special occasions.

“Our little Christmas parties or things like that where all of the girls actually get together on more of a personal level ... We get to bond in a different way than just doing hair together.”

She said the salon’s biggest accomplishment over the years is being able to help women feel better about themselves, and that it’s made it to the 25-year milestone.

“I think every day is an accomplishment because you’re doing something that’s important to women in general. Women love getting their hair done and feeling good about themselves,” Kennedy said.

The salon currently employs 25 stylists including two who are nail technicians, one who is an esthetician and another who does eye lash extensions.

The salon will hold an open house today to commemorate this milestone from 4 to 6 p.m.

The event will include a collage of what the shop used to look like back in the day. There will also be cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. The salon is located at 19 Downtown Mall, Lodi.