Though Beau Toi may seem like just a salon to some, to the people who work there, it’s a family. Pictured are (back row, left to right) cosmetologist Jennifer Kennedy, owner Nichole Jellum, daughter Chloe Jellum (10), Emily Mortenson of Radiant You Skin Care, and (front row, left to right) hairstylist Shelby Green, hairstylist Matthew Ryan Thompson, and life coach and speaker Buthiana Hassan.
Though Beau Toi may seem like just a salon to some, to the people who work there, it’s a family. Pictured are (back row, left to right) cosmetologist Jennifer Kennedy, owner Nichole Jellum, daughter Chloe Jellum (10), Emily Mortenson of Radiant You Skin Care, and (front row, left to right) hairstylist Shelby Green, hairstylist Matthew Ryan Thompson, and life coach and speaker Buthiana Hassan.
Alana Lackner photo
Changes inspire ‘leap of faith’
Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and trust that the arms of your future self will catch you.
That’s what Nichole Jellum — current owner of Beau Toi (French for Beautiful You, pronounced bo-TWA) — did when the families she was nannying for moved. She had loved her job, especially the kids she was working with, but took their moving as a sign that it was time for change, time for a transition.
“My heart was so broken when the families left,” Jellum said. “I didn’t want to go through that again. I loved it, my experience was amazing, and I still love them so much. But I knew that with any new family I got, they were gonna grow up and go away. And so I thought, ‘Okay, this is it. This is the time to switch gears again. And try something else.’”
Jellum had been thinking about esthetics for a while, so she went back to school, to the Gorge Academy of Cosmetology and Massage. Throughout her time there, though, she realized that she didn’t want to graduate and work for someone else. She had gotten so used to being her own boss as a nanny that she wasn’t ready to let that go.
So Jellum decided she was going to start her own business. She and a group of her fellow graduates decided that she would start the business and then they would all join in. Excited, she started looking for a place to rent.
However, she started getting rejected by spaces. She kept trying, kept applying, but she was getting no’s left and right. Before long, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, and people found other opportunities and left. Jellum was still working on getting things put together and all of the sudden she was doing it on her own.
Finally though, she found a space. It had been Arrow Prints before and to say it was a fixer-upper would’ve been an understatement. Everything was black, the floors were sticky, it was a mess. No one could’ve looked at that and said, “Yes, this will be a salon.” But Jellum did.
It took work. She was there for hours on end at a time, working to get things put together, said Matthew Ryan Thompson, a hair stylist at Beau Toi.
“She basically erected this from nothing,” Thompson said. “It was funny because I would run in the morning, and I would run past here. And she would be here all hours of the day, night scraping the floors, doing her thing, and I will tell you what, everything she’s told me that she wanted to do she’s done.”
Matthew Ryan Thompson works on coloring a client’s hair.
Alana Lackner photo
That doesn’t just apply to the building itself, Thompson said. Jellum has also taken the business in new and interesting directions as she’s brought more people on. Not only that, he said, but she’s forged a little family in the process.
If you ask any of the employees how they ended up working at Beau Toi, most of them will tell you the same story: They met Jellum and immediately felt they had found a kindred spirit. For some, they were looking for a job and things just lined up. But for others, it wasn’t like they were seeking something; it just found them.
Jellum said that one of the most important things to her has been making sure all of her employees enjoy what they’re doing and can view Beau Toi as a fun place to be, even a second home, rather than a job that they dread.
“We all know what it’s like to just give all of your everything and walk away just spent and have nothing left when you get home,” Jellum said. “And it’s so nice to not have to live that.”
Additionally, Jellum said she has forged a great relationship with some of her customers. She said they always try to make sure the shop is a safe space for clients to be themselves. If they want to talk about their problems or even just take a nap while they’re getting their service done, she said she always wants to accommodate that.
“For a good amount of people that come in, it’s not even about the lashes I don’t think,” she said. “That’s the side bonus. It’s the one thing they do for themselves, their time to get away from work and kids and all their responsibilities.”
Shelby Green blow-dries and brushes out a client’s freshly cut hair.
Alana Lackner photo
Shelby Green, owner of Twist Me Gorgeous and hairstylist at Beau Toi, said she believes that the fun that they all have and the love that they all have for each other translates through to everyone who enters the shop.
“I feel like we all get along really well and it’s just mostly laughter like, as you can tell,” she said, as other employees laughed with their clients in the background. “That’s also what makes it inviting. (Clients) can literally just let loose and maybe have a glass of wine while you’re getting your service. Like, you wouldn’t stress about coming here at all.”
Jellum said she believes customers can tell Beau Toi is different. She thinks part of what makes Beau Toi so special is because it’s many things all coming together to work as one. Most of the people involved have their own businesses as well. Each member of Beau Toi brings something unique and special to the team, she said.
“We’re a family here,” Jellum said. “We all work so well together and we really love each other and you can tell.”
Beau Toi is a full-service day spa and salon located at 308 E. Second Street in The Dalles. If you have questions or want to book an appointment, call (541) 851-7228 or visit their Facebook page at Beau Toi Day Spa.
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