Enchanting Salon Boutique

When I started at Regis Hair Stylists at Pembroke Lakes Mall in 1992, we accepted cash and checks, but not credit cards.

That affected more than how our clients paid. If someone came in with only enough cash for the service they planned, there might not be enough left for a tip or to add another service. Today, we don't think twice about adding something to a card, but back then that wasn't an option for us.

Checks had their own process. Businesses kept lists of checking accounts that had previously written bad checks to their particular store. At Regis, we referred to ours as “the blacklist.” Before accepting a check, we had to look through that list to make sure the account wasn't on it. Even then, there was no instant electronic approval telling us the payment was good.

Meanwhile, major retailers such as J.C. Penney were already using the sliding credit-card machine. The card was placed in the machine with a three-part carbon sales slip over it. You physically slid the machine across the card, imprinting the information onto the copies. The retailer kept its copy, and the customer received one for their records.

Eventually, Regis began accepting credit cards too. Those manual machines later gave way to registers that processed cards electronically, giving businesses an immediate approval or rejection instead of having to wait to find out whether a payment would go through.

Checks changed too. Machines eventually processed them electronically, and debit cards gave people access to their checking accounts without writing a check. Today, many businesses and major retailers no longer accept personal checks.

Now we insert a chip, tap a card, pay with our phones, or use Cash App, Venmo, Zelle and PayPal. There are even Buy Now, Pay Later services such as Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm and Zip that allow purchases to be divided into payments.

We went from carbon copies and handwritten checks to knowing within seconds whether a payment was approved.

I remember when simply being able to accept a credit card in the salon was something new.

And just writing this is probably telling my age a little bit. 😂

Chapter 4 — Page 16
The Woman Behind the Mirror

By this point in my life, I was a wife and a mother of four, and I had reached a place where my career could no longer always come first. There was a real possibility that everything I had built behind the chair might have to slow down, change direction, or even take a temporary setback.

But I did not completely step away from working. I was still able to remain in the corporate world, while also finding other ways to stay connected to the work I knew best behind the chair.

There is also a lesson in this part of my story, especially for other hairdressers. Sometimes life changes. You become a wife, a mother, you raise a family, and your career may have to step back for a while. But that does not mean the dream disappears. It does not mean the desire to succeed is gone, and it does not mean you have to lose sight of what you naturally love doing.

Sometimes the career simply has to take a different shape for a season.

And sometimes that season comes with very big decisions—life changes that have to be made because you are trying to do what is best for your family, while also figuring out whether and how you can get back into the routine of working again.

In my case, there would come a point when returning to work would no longer feel like just a choice. But that is a whole different part of the story.

ARE YOU CURRENTLY ENROLLED IN COSMETOLOGY SCHOOL?

Or maybe you’re the parent of a cosmetology student wondering what comes after the classroom.

Enchanting Salon Boutique would like to publicly introduce our Cosmetologist Mentorship Program—a complimentary, one-on-one mentorship opportunity for students who are actively enrolled in cosmetology school and want additional real-world salon exposure before graduation.

"This mentorship is not a replacement for cosmetology school, but an extension of the student’s current education."

With over 37 years behind the chair and celebrating my nine-year anniversary as a salon owner-operator this November 2026, our program is to help build upon and reinforce what students are learning in cosmetology school while providing one-on-one mentoring in an upscale salon environment. Students receive dedicated mentorship hours and the opportunity to shadow underneath me, Sabina, owner and Master Cosmetologist of Enchanting Salon Boutique, gaining exposure to the day-to-day realities of the professional salon industry.

This program requires commitment, consistency, communication, required hours, and a willingness to learn. This is not employment and there is no monetary payment exchanged. The complimentary mentorship concludes upon graduation.

If you are currently in cosmetology school with graduation approaching in the upcoming year, this may be an opportunity worth exploring—an extension of what you are learning in school, with additional hands-on experience designed to help increase your speed and build the confidence you will need behind the chair.

I’m willing to give you my time.
Are you willing to give your time to your success?

— Sabina
Owner • Master Cosmetologist • Mentor
Enchanting Salon Boutique

Call or Text: 912-438-6938
Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
EnchantingSalonBoutique.com

Location:
Liberty Square Plaza
117 West Hendry Street, #119
Hinesville, Georgia

Learn. Grow. Elevate.
Building Confidence. Creating Success.

Where the Mirror has 2 Faces
TRUST • VALUE • BELIEF

https://wa.me/19124386938

This is a Special Edition that I wanted to share because it was important to me that this piece of myself be brought into -The Woman Behind the Mirror.

I knew I had this photograph somewhere, but when I began writing my memoir, I couldn't find it. I wish I could have included it at the beginning of my story. This photograph has always stayed in my mind from the time I saw it back when I was 23 at my grandmother's.

And then, I finally found it.

I wanted to share it with everyone because this photograph is deeply personal to me. It actually brings me to tears. This is the beginning of my existence that I know. This is the very first and only thing I have from after I was an infant, and there are no earlier pictures of me that I'm aware of.

This is a piece of my history, a piece of where my story began, and a piece of me that I want to preserve—who I was, where I've been, and what I leave behind.

This is a continuous building of my memoir, page by page, with special segments of my life and the building of my career. It's inserts that take you back and forth from the present to the past.

If you are just joining me with my memoir, I would like to invite you to go back to the beginning. You can find -The Woman Behind the Mirror - on its personal Instagram page, or you can follow through my business Instagram and page, Enchanting Salon Boutique.

— Sabina

Sometimes a reflection from the past has a funny way of showing up in the present.

The limousine was never a joke.

Very early in my career, I had already recognized one of the realities of this business. You can have a full appointment book, but when clients cancel or don't show up, suddenly you don't.

My solution? Pick them up in a limousine.

I would know they were coming, they wouldn't miss their appointment, and what client wouldn't love being picked up in a limousine, brought to the salon, and taken back home?

How extravagant is that?

The limousine never became part of the business. But the instinct to make the experience feel extraordinary certainly did.

After all these years, to look back and think that I would have such an outlandish thought so early in my career, and then to now have the kind of salon I've eventually created.

What's extraordinary is after I opened my salon, I would now tell my guests about the thought from so many years ago. And I would say, “Look around. Here it is, my three-chair salon.”

Now how ironic is that?

I turned the funny into a major big reality.

HINESVILLE & SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES — I HAVE OPENINGS!

If you’ve been saying, “I need to do something with my hair,” this may be your opportunity.

My schedule has opened up, and I have availability for color, grey coverage, highlights, haircuts, transformations, and those “I need you to fix this” appointments.

If you’ve been watching my before & afters, reading the reviews, or thinking about giving Enchanting Salon Boutique a try — don’t wait until the book fills back up.

Over 37 years behind the chair.
One-on-one service.
No crowded salon.
No being passed from stylist to stylist.
Just dedicated time for you and your hair.

New guests are welcome.

Come see me at Enchanting Salon Boutique — where personalized service and experience meet.

Where the Mirror has 2 Faces