Health businesses reflect on 2020
Spas, salons and yoga
studios faced challenges
BY SARAH DOYLE
Amy Chadwick’s business, Azure Salon
& Spa, has weathered catastrophes before
but not like the coronavirus pandemic.
The spa is one of many regional health
businesses that faced challenges to continue
operating during 2020.
“None of us ever thought that we would
be closed down out of a state mandate or
a national mandate,” Chadwick said. “We
were shut down for two and a half months.”
Staff stayed in contact during the shut-
down, checking in on each other through
Zoom calls.
“We actually took advantage of that clo-
sure time to make some changes inside
the salon,” Chadwick said. “We replaced
fl ooring and replaced some equipment and
repainted, which was really awesome and
offered us a fresh start.”
Chadwick started Azure Salon & Spa
in 2005, with two other hairdressers, a nail
artist and a massage therapist. She bought
their current business location at the peak
of the 2008 fi nancial crisis, when the busi-
ness was doing well. They were looking
at potentially growing to accommodate a
few more hairdressers and a nail artist but
then everything changed when the market
turned. The business went from seven peo-
ple, to two.
Chadwick found an opportunity to sup-
port the business through the Washing-
ton State Cosmetology Apprenticeship pro-
gram, a pilot program that they partnered
with to teach cosmetology students. They
were one of the fi rst salons to participate in
the program.
Since 2009, the business had slow,
steady growth and continued to build strong
roots in the community. They are back to
seven people at the salon.
See Page 13
Dave Stevens, left, Peggy Stevens and Kimberley Gibbs run RiversZen Yoga.
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