Space of Dreams: They Will Come

By Lucy M. Pritchett

Sometimes, with a little nudge, a good idea turns into a great idea.


   After working as a stylist for 10 years in an open floor salon, Jasma Kinard felt the time had come to, as she says, “step beyond the chair” and open her own business.

That was the good idea. The great idea came when Jasma looked at a small salon space for rent in the historic Heyburn Building at Fourth and Broadway and the manager showed her a much larger suite of offices that had housed a medical practice.

“She asked me, ‘What could you do with this? What if you took this space and brought people with you?’”

Jasma says she decided to take the opportunity at hand to think bigger. That nudge was what inspired Be Unique Salon Suites, an upscale salon offering space to other women to start and grow their own independent businesses.

Jasma and her husband and business partner Freeman Kinard totally renovated the area and promoted the suites on Facebook, its website, and by word of mouth.

“We started with five business owners in April 2016 and now there are 14 independent owners including mostly beauty professionals, but we also have a caterer, travel agency, and a gift boutique.”

Photos by Patti Hartog 

Jasma, who still works as a stylist and manages the suites, says her entrepreneurial dreams turned into something bigger than she ever thought. So much bigger, in fact, that a second location at 6th and Main opened this month with 11 independent business owners.

“As we expand, I can help more and more women see their dreams come true. I love the quote by entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker who said, ‘Give yourself a start by giving yourself a start.’ That is what Be Unique Salon Suites offers women: a start.”

The suites share a common waiting area decorated in red, black, and white, and the walls feature photos of glamorous and successful women: Lucille Ball, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, Audrey Hepburn. Each business owner has 24-hour access to her private space. The offices run from 90 square feet to 120 square feet at the Heyburn Building location and from 90 square feet to 324 square feet at the new 609 W. Main St. location. Each business owner has the freedom to decorate her area as she wishes, Jasma says.

“We give you the space to do what you love,” Jasma says. “We are a place for women to grow and learn their business and hope they will expand.”