Third-generation salon owner reflects on family legacy of taking care of customers
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BIZ BUZZ
REXBURG
Salon ownership is a family tradition for Rexburg woman
REXBURG – Always take care of the person in your chair, and you will always have money in your pocket.
That’s a mantra Tiffanie Judd lives by. The 45-year-old Rexburg woman is the owner of Studio 134, a hair salon that opened in June in the former Hair We Are building at 134 West Main Street in Rexburg.
Working in a hair salon is a life’s work that’s not only a passion, it’s in her blood. Her grandfather, Dale Evans (not to be confused with the 1950s actor of the same name) — who passed away on Dec. 4 at age 88 — attended a beauty college after high school and went on to own a salon. He later founded Evans Hairstyling College.
Her dad, Rick, launched the Rexburg location in 2005, and Tiffanie taught there part time for 16 years after running a salon out of her home. Today, her brother, Ryan Evans, owns the college.
As the proprietor of Studio 134, Tiffanie is a third-generation salon owner. Her daughter, Makaylie Perkins, works with her at the Rexburg salon and other extended family members work in the industry.
Tiffanie says that working in a salon was something she became accustomed to growing up and initially, it wasn’t something she wanted to do.
“Growing up, I didn’t want to be a hairdresser. That was what my dad did,” Tiffanie says.
But her grandfather’s legacy eventually won her over. He’s the one who gave her the mantra of taking care of the person in your chair, and it’s that aspect of the salon business that’s most rewarding to her.
“As soon as you start worrying about the money in your pocket, you’ll lose the client in your chair,” Dale always said, according to Tiffanie. “That legacy has taught us to take care of the people in our chair.”
How a family legacy began
Dale’s interest in the salon industry began many years ago as a farm boy in Richfield, Utah. He had no interest in farming after high school and wanted to make money. He told a local barber he wanted to do what he did.
“The guy said, ‘There’s no money in men’s haircuts. You need to go to beauty school and learn how to do women’s hair,'” Rick says.
He attended the now-defunct Excel Beauty College in Salt Lake City, where he met his wife, Carma, who passed away in 2020.
Dale later started a salon in his house. He eventually opened a brick-and-mortar location called Magic Mirror Salon and taught during the day at a beauty school.
He moved to Cedar City, Utah, and opened the first Evans Hairstyling College in 1974.
Like Tiffanie, Rick grew up smelling perm solution and was constantly exposed to the family business. His dad was busy all the time, and he wanted nothing to do with it.
He briefly looked into a career as an auto mechanic and a Fish and Game officer before reversing course.
“I looked at my dad’s profession and thought, ‘He works on people, he gets to laugh, and they smile when they pay their bill. What am I thinking?'” Rick says.
Rick’s decision to attend beauty school shocked Dale, Rick says, and every one of his siblings followed the same path. Rick graduated from Evans Hairstyling College in 1978.
Years later, as Tiffanie reflects on the reason why hairstyling is a family tradition, she says there’s something inherently appealing to them about talking to people.
“The Evans are really friendly. We say all the time there’s a genetic thing there. We just like talking to people,” says Tiffanie.
‘I see grandpa’s legacy … being carried on’
Dale was on his way to a company Christmas party earlier this month and was killed after being hit by a car. While most families would consider that a tragic death, Tiffanie and the rest of the family do not.
Tiffanie recalls what happened with smiles and laughter, not because she didn’t love her grandpa, but because that’s exactly the way he would’ve reacted.
Rick and Tiffanie describe Dale as a practical joker and have fond memories of the pranks he pulled on family members throughout his life. They also recall his giving nature and say there were many occasions when he’d pull a $100 bill out of his pocket and give it to someone in need.
They say Dale would’ve been the first one to find the humor in how he died and would have consoled the driver with a laugh and a hug.
“There’s just so much happiness that he brought into people’s lives, and his funeral was more of a celebration than it was a funeral,” says Rick. “A lot of people thought my dad was very wealthy. If you would’ve stood in the two viewing lines (at his funeral), you would’ve seen just how wealthy he was because of how many people showed up.”
“We know that he’s in a better place,” Tiffanie adds. “He would want us to be happy and so we’re going to enjoy the memories.”
Tiffanie is grateful that her grandpa was able to set foot in her new salon in Rexburg months before his passing.
Her daughter, Makaylie, hasn’t yet decided if cosmetology is her lifelong ambition, but it’s something she’s always been interested in. She also graduated from Evans Hairstyling College and is happy helping her mom at the salon.
Whether her daughter carries on the family tradition, Tiffanie says her grandpa’s legacy is a blessing to the entire family, and his influence will continue to play a role in their lives and in the business going forward.
“I see Grandpa’s legacy, that legacy of taking care of the customer, being carried on,” Tiffanie says. “The people that come to (the salon) become your friends (and that’s what makes it worthwhile).”
BIZ BITS
Local utility company pays customers over $2 million
ASHTON – Customers of Fall River Electric were collectively paid more than $2 million last week.
The payout was part of the company’s patronage capital program.
Since Fall River Electric operates as a nonprofit cooperative, it’s owned by the customers it serves. When revenues collected by the co-op exceed operating costs, those extra revenues become patronage capital, which is then disbursed to owner-members over an approximate 20-year cycle. This retirement cycle helps the cooperative achieve its ideal equity level. It also helps the co-op obtain loans at lower interest rates, which helps keep electric rates low.
The amount of cash a member receives is based on how much electricity they purchased during that period. This year, members are receiving patronage capital earned in 2006 through a portion of early 2007.
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