ist magazine October 2022

Salon of Distinction

The Shady SUN – SPRAY – SPA – STYLE MOBILE, AL A labama – home of college football, great comfort food, longleaf pines, tons of wild life, country music and bordered by four states (try to name them). And it’s home to The Shady Palm, an Alabama tanning facility chosen as this month’s Salon of Distinction. I had a delightful chat with Co-Owner, Debra Cary. Let’s dig in. T

IST: The pandemic certainly impacted many small businesses. How did you survive over the last year? DC: Once COVID was running wide open, I just closed the salon and really took advantage of that down time. I added services to the menu, upgraded our software and increased my retail offerings and took several online courses to help systemize the housecleaning busi ness that my husband was operating. IST: Well done – you definitely made some lemonade out of lemons! So, did COVID change your salon sanitization standards? If so, how? DC: We always maintained a very clean and sanitized salon; we just closed for several months until a vaccine was approved for our own personal safety. In Alabama, a lot of people were anti-vaxxers and mask-wearers so we didn’t want to risk it. During that time,

IST: Debra, everyone has a story of how they ended up in the tan biz – always of interest to our readers. How did you get your start? DC: I left a long-term intermittent position with FEMA after 9/11. I decided that I no longer wished to travel and with my husband in agreement, we went for it and became business owners. I had tanned indoors each year to get a base tan and prepare for the many hours of fun in the summer sun. I had always thought a salon would be an awesome business to own since I was an entrepreneur at heart. We went to our first ITA Tanning Expo in 2002 and have remained in the industry in one aspect or another. In 2014, we closed our former salon (Sundaze Tanning Studio) after the building we were leasing was sold. I opened a boutique and added Norvell Sunless spray-tanning. I was in the very first group of master certified graduates at the ITA Expo in Nashville and have been spraying customers ever since.

Carolina Jaramillo / stock.adobe.com

• Teeth-whitening • Oxygen Bar • Cocoon Wellness Fitness Pod LOTION BRANDS • New Sunshine Exclusive BEST SELLING LOTION • Designer Skin SuperNova

MOST POPULAR SERVICE PACKAGE • “Shady AF” — an EFT membership that includes all services SOFTWARE • Tan-Link

OWNERS • Patrick & Debra Cary YEARS IN BUSINESS 11 STAFF 4 (plus owners)

UV TANNING UNITS • 2 stand-ups

16 Salon Bio October 2022 istmagazine.com

DISTRIBUTOR PARTNER • Four Seasons

OTHER SERVICES • Boutique • Spray-tans (booth & custom airbrush)