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By Lauren Johnson

After 20 years as a hair stylist, Ashley Weaver recently decided to open her own salon downtown on The Square called Salon 80. While she is the owner, she is also continuing to do what she loves as a stylist.

“I’ve always been interested in hair,” said Weaver. “Growing up, I was always fixing my friends or my family’s hair, and I would also hang out at a salon to watch and learn. It’s all I really wanted to do.”

To start her career, she worked from home for a time, and later started working at another salon here in Troy. “I never wanted to open my own salon, but I guess God had a different plan for me,” she said. “You have to take that leap of faith sometimes, and I did. I took it.”

Weaver explained that Covid was one of the things that affected her decision to open a salon as well as her idea of the type of salon environment she wanted for her clients, her co-workers, and for herself.

“It was scary opening a salon during the Covid pandemic, but it’s definitely been a blessing,” she said. “I think that it was meant to be and I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

While Weaver was concerned about the economy and the possibility of being shut down with another stay-at-home order, she has had a lot of support from her family and her staff. Weaver’s husband has helped to build, paint, and repair different things as well as hair stylist Lydia Adams and her husband.

Weaver and Adams have been close friends and have worked together for about 13 years, and they plan on continuing their journey together. Adams has been working as a stylist for about 17 years and shares a passion for it with Weaver.

“We’re very close friends. In fact when Ashley let me know she was thinking about opening a salon, I didn’t hesitate to join her,” Adams said. “We have a common interest with hair, but we also have the same goals we want to reach with this salon.”

Studio 80 currently has two stylists and a nail tech, Brandy Sunday. “She’s been a big asset to our team, and we’re really glad to have her with us,” Weaver said. 

Sunday has enjoyed working as a nail artist for twenty-two years. “I love everything about what I do,” she said. “I love my clients, I love making my own schedule, and I enjoy the peace, calmness, and friendliness of working here.”

One of Weaver’s main goals for the salon is to create a relaxed, clean, classy, and enjoyable environment for her clients. She wants her clients to have a good experience and to leave the salon happy.

For her staff, Weaver doesn’t see herself as their boss, but sees them as her teammates. “We work well together and I include them in all of my decisions. I enjoy coming to work with them every day, and it’s just been a blessing,” she said.

Weaver explained that another big part of their line of work is therapy as they are there to talk and listen to clients. With the Covid pandemic, this has been more important than ever.

“Clients come to us to have somebody to talk to. With Covid, a lot of people haven’t been outside their homes as much, and I’ve had a lot of clients say they’ve been depressed,” Weaver said. “I think coming to get their hair done and talking to somebody has helped.”

Weaver also makes it a priority to sanitize hourly, to follow the rules and guidelines, and to make sure clients feel safe and comfortable when they come in. Weaver explained there is not one thing that she would change about the salon, and she hopes to be here for a long time.

Salon 80 is located at 80 N. Court Square in Troy and is open from 9:00 to 5:00.