Ever dreamed about leaving your small town for the bright lights of a big city?
Well, our guest Betty Robbins did just that. Trading Bowie, Texas, for the sunshine state of Florida, she carved out a successful career for herself in modeling and real estate. But the big city lights didn't hold a candle to her hometown.
Betty's story is not just about chasing dreams and finding love. It's also about resilience, reinvention, and entrepreneurial spirit. From the modeling world's glitz and glamour to navigating the real estate industry and setting up a small-town business, Betty's journey echoes determination and grit. The dynamics of operating Mint, her interactions with other salons in the area, and the satisfaction of running a successful local business - Betty's is a tale that's as inspiring as it is intriguing.
In her own words, Betty reveals the highs and lows of her life, including her childhood experiences, her parents' tragic loss, and the upheaval that followed. She also shares her experience of growing up in a close-knit community, the changes she's witnessed in Bowie, and her advice on attracting clients and building successful relationships. Offering a heartfelt account of her journey, Betty's story is sure to leave you inspired, enlightened, and eager to learn more about this hometown hero.
So why wait? Tune in and let Betty's resilience and determination move you.
Connect w/Mint Day Spa
www.mintspasalon.com
Connect w/Chapman Event Center
https://www.facebook.com/chapmanbuildingeventcenter
Music by: Kim Cantwell
Bowie Mural: Located at Creative Cakes
Connect w/Aaron: www.aarondegler.com
Ever dreamed about leaving your small town for the bright lights of a big city?
Well, our guest Betty Robbins did just that. Trading Bowie, Texas, for the sunshine state of Florida, she carved out a successful career for herself in modeling and real estate. But the big city lights didn't hold a candle to her hometown.
Betty's story is not just about chasing dreams and finding love. It's also about resilience, reinvention, and entrepreneurial spirit. From the modeling world's glitz and glamour to navigating the real estate industry and setting up a small-town business, Betty's journey echoes determination and grit. The dynamics of operating Mint, her interactions with other salons in the area, and the satisfaction of running a successful local business - Betty's is a tale that's as inspiring as it is intriguing.
In her own words, Betty reveals the highs and lows of her life, including her childhood experiences, her parents' tragic loss, and the upheaval that followed. She also shares her experience of growing up in a close-knit community, the changes she's witnessed in Bowie, and her advice on attracting clients and building successful relationships. Offering a heartfelt account of her journey, Betty's story is sure to leave you inspired, enlightened, and eager to learn more about this hometown hero.
So why wait? Tune in and let Betty's resilience and determination move you.
Connect w/Mint Day Spa
www.mintspasalon.com
Connect w/Chapman Event Center
https://www.facebook.com/chapmanbuildingeventcenter
Music by: Kim Cantwell
Bowie Mural: Located at Creative Cakes
Connect w/Aaron: www.aarondegler.com
What happened to my hometown. It seemed so different. When I look around, it's funny how things have changed since I was young. What I wouldn't give to go way back and take a long look into my past. I remember this town the way that it used to be. Welcome to my hometown, our little town on the map and home to the world's largest, jim Bowie. Knot To show you around our beautiful town is our tour guide, erin Degler. Erin has a love for road trips, taking the opportunity to stop along the way in small towns across the US, just like our very own, bowie, texas. Spend a little time with Erin each week as he takes you around Bowie, sharing the value of the small businesses, the organizations, the history and, of course, the people that make up my hometown. After this podcast is over, make sure you give it a like, a share, and please subscribe and review this podcast. I would now like to introduce to you your tour guide for today in my hometown, erin Degler.
Speaker 2:Today's episode is being recorded at the Chapman Building. The Chapman Building and Event Center is located in downtown Bowie. Thank you to Brad and Deanne Sherman for allowing us to record this week's episode from the Chapman Building. Brad and Deanne have done a wonderful job on the Chapman Building Event Center. They have taken this old building and modernized it but yet kept that old feeling. As you can see, the nice mural behind me is of the old train station, so they're keeping that old with the new. It's a great place for any special occasions, special events that you want to have. It has plenty of parking, plenty of seating. It's just a wonderful event center in downtown Bowie. You can find the Chapman Building Event Center on Facebook. We'll also put the link in our show notes.
Speaker 2:Again, thank you to Brad and Deanne Sherman, owners of the Chapman Building and Event Center, for allowing us to record this week's episode of my Hometown right here in downtown Bowie. Thank you, you. You Welcome back to my Hometown. Thanks for taking a little time to join me today. Please welcome my guest today. She was born and raised in Bowie. She worked at all the local hotspots in Bowie, like Finomart, eckards Pharmacy, gibson's Pharmacy and even the Bowie News, before heading off to Florida, where she modeled for the home shopping network Dillard's Foot Locker and many others, while also working in real estate. In 2012, she moved back to Bowie and opened Mint Day Spa. Please welcome my guest today, miss Betty Robbins.
Speaker 3:Thank you, betty, you're welcome. Thanks for inviting me, you're welcome.
Speaker 2:So a lot went on before you left Bowie. A lot went on while you're gone from Bowie. So we're going to get into all of that today from modeling. What was that? The Thighmaster for Suzie and Summers. I actually have one at the gym. I think that you brought me so because you met Suzie and Summers right.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, so we're going to get to all of that.
Speaker 2:So we've got a lot to get to in a short amount of time. So we're going to go kind of way back to when you're a kiddo kind of young. You have four siblings. Yes, all right. Where do you fall in that? In the sibling?
Speaker 3:I have two older sisters and an older brother, and then I have a little brother. My mom actually adopted my little brother. She was his caretaker, and when he was six months old she had the option of adopting him, and so she did so, and it's him, then me, then Rhonda, then Linda, then Johnny.
Speaker 2:And so then, and your parents, they were from Bowie.
Speaker 3:My mom was from Oklahoma, ryan Oklahoma, and my dad was from this area.
Speaker 2:yes, Now, we've talked previously and they owned a bar right.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:But were it like around Ringgold?
Speaker 3:Yes, it was in Ringgold. It was called the landing strip. Yeah, that was a fun time Because you were about how, like Between six and eight over there and we stayed a lot of nights over there and just had a really good time, learned how to play some pretty good pool at that age, learned what a jukebox was, and we had a little camper out in the back that we stayed in while they worked and it was just a really fun time.
Speaker 2:So in the camp, that's not where you lived all the time. Were you at the time when you were living in Bowie?
Speaker 3:Yes, we lived in Bowie. Yeah, my dad was actually a truck driver, so he drove a truck and he also worked for the feed store that's right on the edge of town. As you pass, like the old Walmart, and go around that corner, there used to be a feed store out there, yeah, a big empty lot.
Speaker 2:that's all metal.
Speaker 3:Yes, so he worked there and he drove a truck, so that was his main job. And then my mom stayed home and there was always 100 kids at our house.
Speaker 2:I swear so did you ever find out why they wanted to, why they opened a bar?
Speaker 3:Well, they owned the Western Club before I was born. Maybe I'm not sure when that actually took place, but it was just that time. That's what people did.
Speaker 2:So they owned that and bought the landing strip.
Speaker 3:That was later on.
Speaker 2:Now did they start the landing strip, or was that? Did they like take it over?
Speaker 3:To my knowledge they did, but I did have somebody say the other day that it might have been a bar before that. I don't remember because I was so young so and I didn't get the chance to figure all that out.
Speaker 2:And so being younger and you didn't get a chance. Your parents had an accident when you were young.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:They had a car accident. Is that correct At 18 Wheeler? 18 Wheeler.
Speaker 3:My dad drove a truck and he had just signed with a new company. And I remember that not so vividly because my sister, my mom, would go with him every once in a while, but she usually didn't, and my cousin was there, he was older and so he was going to watch us while they went away. And I remember we had like a floodlight in the front of our house and my sister was yanking on my mom's leg, she was getting in the truck and she was saying don't go, don't go, something's going to happen. I feel it. I just know something's going to happen and my mom just kind of brushed it off, you know. And so anyway, they left.
Speaker 3:And about six to eight hours later, in the middle of the night, we get a call and we're all sleeping in the living room. So the lights come on and my cousin's standing there and he hangs up the phone and he says Larry and Carolyn are gone and we're like what? And then he said they're dead and we all started crying and he was like, oh, I'm just kidding, and he was a jokester. So we kind of thought it was a joke, you know. And then the next morning we woke up and all of these people were at our house and that's when we knew that it had really happened. But my dad was we don't know if he was driving or my mom was driving, because he was trying to teach her how to drive and his partner was in the truck with him. His name was Marvin. But they either fell asleep or lost control of the truck and it hit like a piling that holds like a double stack bridge up and it went off and they were hauling cotton, so it kind of exploded before it even hit the ground.
Speaker 3:So yeah, so that was in 79.
Speaker 2:And so you were held at the time.
Speaker 3:That was eight. So we were five, eight, 10, 11 and 17. And my brother, johnny Sutton he actually got to go on his own because he was about to turn 18. And my sister is a brother and we kind of had a little bit of a hard life for a few years, the pretty bad stuff that we had to go through with, just the people that we had to live with. And my brother come and took us away and when he was able and he raised us when he was very young and he had married Dixie and they just had a baby and so we were all all of us living in this house and growing up together and they took care of us and raised us.
Speaker 2:So at the time Johnny's only 20, 21? He was around 21, 22 years old.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we did stay with my uncle, wallace Pierce and his wife for a year or so before that, and that was a nice place to be, but we wanted to be with our brother.
Speaker 2:So was that challenging?
Speaker 3:I mean just being newly married and having a baby of his own, and then with him and Dixie and it was really hard because when we, you know, we would all fight like brothers and sisters, I mean, there was really no adult adult in the house per se. And I think it got a little worse when we all got into high school and we all ended up at the same places and it was like go home, no, you go home, you know. So that was a little tough and but we made it work. We made it work and I'm thankful for him very much.
Speaker 2:And so through those years, I'm sure there's a lot of things that you learned, that you carry on as adult. What are some of those things that maybe you learned at that young age that has carried over and kind of molded who you are today?
Speaker 3:You never know what someone's story is. So always be nice to everyone, because you don't know what they're going through. They may look one way on the outside but fill another on the inside. So I hope I don't start crying and then just to work hard. You have to work. You have to always be prepared for the unexpected, and I kind of do that to an extent, I guess, but I always want to be prepared for what comes next. So I've always worked since I was 14.
Speaker 2:So do you always have that fear of the unexpected?
Speaker 3:I do.
Speaker 2:And do you feel like that, over the years, has been a driving force for you to do, to do all the different things that you've done?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I do, because I feel like I'm in survival mode a lot, survival mode a lot. I have several different certifications. You know, I just wanted to be able to always have something of my own, my own stuff, my own money, my own things. So I've just strived to be able to do that, whether it be, you know, with real estate or waiting tables, or working in a room. You know, just whatever I had to do, I was going to do it, and that's kind of why I don't sit home right now, because I need to work. I have to work.
Speaker 2:So it's that, getting ready for whatever that unexpected make me.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, wendell laughs at me because, like, even when COVID was going on, I was like we got to go to the grocery store. You know, I have to have food in the cabinets and from the time before my brother got us and took care of us, that was an issue. And so now I have to have like two bags of bread or two things of ketchup, or I have to have extras. I have to have it to where I can see it and it's there.
Speaker 2:So and I think sometimes for people that seems kind of odd or strange, but in those years that you were in the, in those homes that maybe weren't the best, those are some years that there's some real impressionable years, that those things and I don't think we fully realize that they last with us for a lifetime.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, my mom was a wonderful mother and she cooked constantly. There was always food around our house with spotless. So even at a young age, those people that we were with, they weren't about any of that, you know, and my sister was always cooking and cleaning and we were responsible to do the dishes. You know, whatever we had to do, If we wanted it done, it had to be us that did it or else we. You know, we tried to make the best of a bad situation, but it was not a good situation.
Speaker 2:And those things carry on through life. And it's not like well, you know, you might want just one loaf of bread, but you just can't. There's something in you that says I got to have two. I have to have extra because something could happen and to some people that didn't go through those things that seems irrational and like that makes no sense. But it's very real. It's a very true thing based on childhood experiences.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:That I think sometimes people don't fully appreciate to the extent that those things are impressionable and they happen.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it bothered Wendell. At first he was like what? And then he was. Now he understands it, you know he's like okay, let's go. You want to go to Sam? Yeah, I need to go to Sam's.
Speaker 2:I've got to get this stuff, you know so, and it's really just about making you feel more secure, and be ready for if you run out of loaf of bread. Yeah, so in high school you're working all the different places. Graduated from Bowie.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:What was the plan when you graduated? What was it? Did you have a plan after? I'm going to do this when I graduate.
Speaker 3:Well, I wanted to. I mean, basketball was my love, I loved basketball. I started varsity once I became a sophomore and I just wanted to be a coach. I wanted to be a teacher. That's what I was going to do. But I really wanted to be a coach not really teach, you know, but anyways, that's what I wanted to do. But I had my first child at 18. So everything kind of got put on hold. I did go to college for a little while, but I wasn't able to finish because I had to work again. You know the work and the kid and trying to survive basically as a single parent. And so my plan got put on, you know the back end, and that's when I did the jobs that you mentioned before you know, I just kind of went through the buoy staples and did what I could and then I went.
Speaker 3:I decided that I was going to go to college and Denton and try to go some more. So I moved to Denton and I was working at like Gold's Gym.
Speaker 2:So how old were you at that time when you moved to Denton?
Speaker 3:21, 22.
Speaker 2:$3 or 4 at the time.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah. So I did that. And then, at the age of 24, I decided I was going to go to Florida. And so we moved to Florida and I was already modeling at the time for Home Shopping Network and getting other contracts and I wanted to get out of here because there was just so much that I was trying to run from and so I wanted to just start fresh and start new and just make something of myself. You know, improve to myself. That you're, you can do this, just go and do it. And so I did. I left and had the, just what I had and you know how to find a job. When I got there, didn't know anybody and yeah, so you just went and showed up in Florida.
Speaker 2:And so what did your siblings say? What did your brother say when you wanted to?
Speaker 3:They weren't happy with me leaving, because they all live here, with the exception of my little brother. He lives in Justin now, but at the time they all lived here and we're very close and so you know.
Speaker 3:But they're always like well, we knew you'd leave someday, like you don't belong in Bowie you know, but when I, just you know, decided to go and it's funny because my first job actually there was at Dillard's and Kids Shoes because I was desperate to get a job and I was gonna get a job no matter what. So and then they moved me to Cosmetics and one of the girls that worked for Lanecombe because I worked for Bobby Brown in Clinique as a makeup artist and she was the fashion coordinator for Home Shopping Network and she kept asking me to come out there and I was like no, because when I first left here I didn't talk as much as I'm probably talking right now.
Speaker 2:You were more quiet, more reserved.
Speaker 3:Yeah, more quiet, more reserved. And so I finally went and they put these little outfit on me and I was like this is huge. They pin it all in the back, which you don't know that but it's all pinned up and and there's three cameras in front of you and at the time I didn't understand. You were supposed to, you know, look at each light as it's turned. You get to see it out the side of your eye or whatever. So I just kind of stood there and smiled and they're like turn, turn and I'm like what you know.
Speaker 3:So it was a learning experience, but I got hired and then it just took off from there.
Speaker 2:So so that was for the Home Shopping.
Speaker 3:Network. That was for Home Shopping Network, so then how does that process?
Speaker 2:they hire you then. So then did you keep working at Dillards, or?
Speaker 3:I did for a time, but I was considered a universal model, so you did fashion, fitness and jewelry, but mostly fashion, and that was at night time because California was a big seller and they were based out of St Pete HSN was and so we would go in anywhere from 10 at night and work until 10 in the morning, but you had a five to a six hour block so I would work overnight and then I would try to catch a couple hours of sleep and I'd go to work at Dillards. So once that got really busy and I started doing other modeling work, I ended up quitting and so I just moved on from there and then Dillards ended up being one of my biggest clients, which was so funny.
Speaker 2:But so with the Home Shopping Network? Is that live? Yes, it is live so you're on your modeling, whether it's jewelry or fashion or fitness live.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, yeah. And jewelry is really hard because you have to stay in the camera and you tend to do this when they're telling you to be still just weaving back and forth.
Speaker 2:But and not ever having modeling career.
Speaker 3:No, never did never, ever even thought about that and so did they.
Speaker 2:They just tell you what to do and you just, you just kind of fell into it. Or was it a learning curve of them saying do you know?
Speaker 3:I just really kind of fell into it. But the learning part of it came when you had to be able to use your peripheral vision and see the lights on the cameras and turn and you know, do the walking and all of that. So you just kind of go out on set and watch the other girls and pick it up really easily.
Speaker 2:So yeah, then how long did you work for a Home Shopping Network?
Speaker 3:I think it was about six years I did, and then I just got sick of the not working the nights you know because most of it was at night. They did have private vendors that you get picked up from every once in a while and that would be like five, six shows a day, so you'd be there all day long. But even that was just so tiring, you know, and I wanted a regular life. So that's when I just did contract work with Alexa model and talent and I got into real estate.
Speaker 2:So so then, when you did contract work, then what kind of modeling did you do then I did a lot of runway, a lot of stuff for local places in Tampa.
Speaker 3:I did some work in New York, went back and forth, and I also worked for a company called Bravo Media when I was in New York we did automotive marketing and then I did some catalogs and print Most of that for Dillard's and Bell's and Lady Footlocker. And I had my landlord come home one day because I lived in a garage apartment behind him and he said my wife and I saw a post review in Dillard's and I was like nah, this was the first time that I had done it and he's like no, I'm serious.
Speaker 3:And I went there and it was there in the Preston York department and I'm like do you have an extra?
Speaker 2:because I really want to take that home.
Speaker 3:I took it home and I'm like I'm keeping this forever. So it was fun. It was a lot of fun, but I knew I needed. I was probably going to be aged out at some point, you know, and you could still do lifestyle, but I wasn't really totally interested in it anymore. So I was like let's do some real estate and get a career going. That's more, you know.
Speaker 2:So then, what ages like, from what age to what age did you model while you're in?
Speaker 3:20, I would say 25 to about 33, and I did a little bit of lifestyle stuff after that but it was sporadic and I didn't really consider that still doing the career. It was just kind of Dillard's would call me here and there and I would do stuff for them.
Speaker 2:And so then did you get into real estate, selling real estate while you were still modeling. Yeah, yeah, I did, and so what I mean, because you didn't didn't do any real estate in Bowie. Go to modeling. How did you get into?
Speaker 3:how did somebody say hey, real estate, you know, you can make some money at that, or yeah, some of my friends were doing it and at the time I was trying to decide if I wanted to go to nursing school or if I wanted to do real estate. And my one friend's father was a doctor and they talked me out of nursing. They're like, no, you're not the kind of person that we think would be able to do all of that. And they were probably right. And so I just went to the real estate school and completed that and just was on my way. I mean, the first year out. It was just record numbers.
Speaker 3:I mean, real estate in Tampa is crazy and it was building at the time and I had been there long enough to know the areas and know where to go to get the deals or where to go to get the fine homes, and so that was. It was easy, it came easy to me and I loved it. I loved it. I built a huge business over the 13 years that I did it and it was hard to walk away from and come back home.
Speaker 2:But you know, things change and so I came home and so during that time, so your daughter grows up in, your oldest daughter grows up in Florida yes, she graduated so she graduated from Florida from plant high school so where? And then where did she? Did she go to college after that?
Speaker 3:yes, she went to college in in Tampa at Hillsborough Community College, and she only went for a couple years and then she got out and went to medical tech assistant school and did that instead. She just said college wasn't for her and the day she graduated I was doing her makeup in the hospital having my daughter Ziba so she had to come to my hospital room. So they're 18 years apart. Yeah, so that was a big, big swing there and so then, how old?
Speaker 2:so Zeebo was born yes and how much longer were you still in Florida after Zeebo was?
Speaker 3:born six years. She was born in 2006 and then I moved back in 2012 and she she went to like Carlton Academy there, which is a really awesome school to get you prepped for regular school, and then she went to ballast point elementary for her kindergarten year, which is an amazing school. So it was hard to leave that as well, but we're happy. We're happy being here.
Speaker 2:So what was the deciding factor? To come back to, to buoy after being on 18 years and really having a lot of success in Florida being around my brothers and sisters and their families.
Speaker 3:I mean, I really missed my family so much and Zeebo was getting older and I just wanted to be here and it was comfort for me to come back home and so that's what I wanted, and I knew how to survive them and I knew what I could do and what I was capable of, and I could do it anywhere, so I came home and brought both girls with you.
Speaker 2:Yes, well.
Speaker 3:Kenzie was already here okay, yeah. Kenzie moved back before I did. She came back and stayed with her grandmother and her dad, kind of back and forth. But she was older at that time and, yeah, she just worked and then I came back eventually then you come back, zeebo six yes, I mean come back to buoy?
Speaker 2:yes, so how did? How did you and Wendell reconnect?
Speaker 3:Well, everybody was trying to fix me up with everybody and I was like, leave me alone. My friends and family had both said, hey, we know this great guy and he's single and we think that you guys would be good together. I was like, okay, well, just give me his number, I'm going to call him. They're like what, you're going to call him? And I said, yeah, I'm going to call him. So I got the number and I called and the store was closed, thank God, because if he would have picked up, I don't know what I would have done. I'd have been so embarrassed. But a couple of days later I had actually started selling real estate and I was building a business in Tampa, or in a not Tampa but Denton, because it was a little more like Tampa, but not as fast-paced as far as the house is moving.
Speaker 3:But so he called me and I was sitting at my desk eating my lunch and it took me off guard. I was like, can I call you back? I'm working on a presentation right now.
Speaker 2:Then you're just eating lunch.
Speaker 3:Yes, it just startled me, and then I had called him back later. We ended up our first date. He was having his first sleepover with one of his granddaughters, so we went to church at Cowboy Church and he went to Lighthouse and we met up afterwards at Dairy Queen and we had ice cream together, all four of us.
Speaker 2:An old-fashioned date.
Speaker 3:Yes, it was funny, and little dude I know ice cream's his favorite thing in the whole wet world, so we've been together ever since, like it was just after that. It was just that's it.
Speaker 2:Just know that, that's.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so then, how long after that did you get married? You've been married. You want to have been married for how long?
Speaker 3:We've been married for 10 and a half years. That date was middle of February. We got married March 22nd. It was very quick but it just felt right. And I mean we have so much in common as far as we love sports. We're both competitive, you know we just have a good time together and he's a hard driven worker. I like to work, you know. I mean so it just works for us. You know we like to listen to live music. We enjoy just setting outside and looking at the sunset. He loves the moon.
Speaker 3:I mean we see lots of come here and look at this big moon outside. You know he loves nature and stuff like that, so it's fun. We have a good time together. We love our grandkids and we spend a lot of time with them, so so when, about this?
Speaker 2:You opened up Mint in 2012.
Speaker 3:Yes, and you got married in 2013.
Speaker 2:2013.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So you opened before oh no, no, no, Sorry, sorry, no. We I opened right after we got married, like maybe four months after we got married. The location that we're in right now is two buildings, so I used to be in just the inside building and it was me by myself, and then I had a massage therapist come, massage therapist come, and we split time. And then I had Chelsea come in and she was wanting to do hair and I told her I didn't have room.
Speaker 3:Well then, we acquired the clinic building and that little house was in the front, and so Wendell suggested I move over there so I could have hairdressers, and so I moved over there, and then we outgrew that space and this came back available downtown, and so he made both those buildings into one building and I was able to expand.
Speaker 2:So what kind of back up? A little bit, because what? What were you doing by yourself at Midday Spa?
Speaker 3:Esthetic. Esthetic, so I did aesthetics, so anything with skin.
Speaker 2:When did you decide that, like now, now I want to do so. When did you leave real estate now you, or you still did it and decided I want to go be an esthetician.
Speaker 3:Well, once Wendell and I got married, he really didn't like me driving back and forth every day to, didn't. And so I was like, well, real estate and buoy, does it move as much as quickly as what I was used to? And I like to move. And so I was like I have to do something else. You know, and I do still have my license and it's with Terry Jones, and I sell real estate here and there. I don't go out and promote it, of course, but I do still sell. I do a lot of stuff for Wendell and I was like he said, well, you could stay home and be with Ziba. And I said, okay, I'll try that. That didn't work. I was like I got to do something. So that's when I was like, hey, I'm going to go downtown or somewhere and rent a building. And he's like, oh yeah, that sounds good. So that's where it started.
Speaker 3:And I just was scared to death to go and do it, Not knowing if Bowie would respond. But they did.
Speaker 2:They did so and it's been meant ever since you opened what? Where'd you get the name?
Speaker 3:Okay, so everybody asked me that, and so the real truth is I'm just kidding my friend, one of my really good friends. She has a salon in Tampa and it's called the Mint Hair Lounge and I've always loved that name and I told her. I said, hey, if I ever move away from here and open my own place, I'm going to call it Mint. And she said, oh, that's fine, that's flattering, and so that's where the name came from, that simple.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I just liked it. It sounds so clean and fresh and I mean we pride ourselves on clean and my sister, as you know is a clean, freak, and she keeps. She's over there digging in the flower beds right now, but she keeps our salon just spotless. And everybody when they come in comments on it and they're like, wow, it smells so good in here, you know what is that? You know? And I want to say it's Linda, but you know yeah.
Speaker 2:And so you had a massage therapist.
Speaker 3:You added Chelsea yes, to do hair, and then then did it just kind of grow from there, or Well, my sister wanted to come back and do hair also, and not just at her house, because she used to own the salon downtown that was the old movie theater. She was the first one to make that into a salon.
Speaker 2:And, and so when she worked there, she opened it. My sister-in-law worked with Linda. I think she told me that. Yes, yeah, yeah so she did that, shelly, I don't remember last night. Yes, love Shelly. Yes, was it Wilson? I think so. Yeah, mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:No, maybe that's another Shelly, maybe and there another Shelly Wilson here in town.
Speaker 4:I don't know, okay, anyways the hard thing was Shelly, but that was the movie theater.
Speaker 3:Yes, it was the old movie theater.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and and and so Chelsea was actually. Was Chelsea there before? So that's where your sister started was. Was that the? That was the original main attraction.
Speaker 3:Yes, she opened it as main attractions.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, which main attraction is still around.
Speaker 3:Yes, well, it's gone now.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:It's completely shut down. But eventually, after a few years, ramona was working in Ringoad and she came and was business partners with my sister, and then, when my sister was done with being downtown, ramona took the whole thing over and Linda went and did it at her house, and so she was tired of that and wanted to come back, and so I was like, hey, let's just, you know we'll do this and you come up here.
Speaker 2:So so Linda started there before Chelsea.
Speaker 3:They kind of started at the same time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because when I was so, when I had my personal training studio behind in the old movie theater, behind that salon, chelsea was up front.
Speaker 3:Yeah. She was actually working at Cadillacs by the vet clinic when she came to work for me, so that's where she was whenever she came back and worked for me.
Speaker 2:So then you? So now you have Linda, your sister, and Chelsea, and you have massage therapist, and then you start thinking well, this could start growing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, how many shares can I get in here? So we did that and you know, I had my sister, I had Chelsea, I had Lisa that has Lisa, she said she was working there for a while and I had Kinsey and then Lisa left and I had Shelby come in, and then Was that when Shelby came and I had Diane Roman, so we were crammed in there.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm and on the other side it was already set up for like doctors offices. So I had Tamra massaging and one, I had Madison doing nails and one plus Josh Dr Josh Evans and his wife Michelle came and did Botox and filler there, and then I had myself in the back room. So we were busted at the seams. We needed to get out of there and I had people come into me wanting a job and I had no place to put them.
Speaker 3:So, when this came available, I was like, okay, I was nervous about the parking, but we've worked that out to where we try to park across the street in a straight line and and leave the side parking for our clients. That was my only fear and, and it works I mean yes, it does.
Speaker 2:There's plenty of. You know either the park across the street or they, you know but not in front of Angie's, if you're listening. That's for cupcake parking that's right. Yes, so it's growing. And so now you offer what? What all do you offer it?
Speaker 3:Oh, wow. So we have nine stylists. Some of them have 30 plus years experience, all the way down to almost two years experience, some specialized in extensions, bollieage, vivid colors, color corrections, and some of them just know it all you know. So we have a great variety of stylists there. I'm very honored to have the ones that I have there. They're so knowledgeable and my niece was the last one that came in and it's just there's so much knowledge that she can learn from them.
Speaker 3:And there everybody is. I've such a good group. They work so good together as a team. They're everybody's always willing to help you out. We laugh a lot, so it's a really fun environment. I mean you know Chelsea, you know Lindsay, so I mean we just have a really, really good time. And then I have crystals massage therapist and she is just one of those people that loves to learn. So she also. We have a medical director and she does Botox and fillers of all kinds, tattoo removal. She does cryotherapy. She does Lipo, laser Lipo I don't remember the name of that machine but a lot of fat loss stuff. Did I say tattoo removal?
Speaker 3:She does permanent cosmetics With like eyeliner and she does the lips and she does tattoo removal. I've said that three times.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to think I know she does a lot and she's had a lot in the last several years, because originally it was just massage, but she's added all those just within the last few years.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah she just look. I mean we're like, where are you at? I'm in a class. I'm like, okay, like girl you know. I mean she does a lot of it. And then we have lacon and she does eyelash extensions, brow laminations, browl lifts, brow tents, and then I do anything with skin as far as like chemical pills, tons of different kinds of facials, oxygen facials, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, micro needling, do all that. And then we have a nail tech as well. So I mean we have an IV company that comes in Mondays and Wednesdays and they do Abbey therapy. They also do weight loss. So that's been really good.
Speaker 3:I've tried always to bring things in that bring other people in, so that we can continue to grow. I've recently had to turn away Three new people because I just don't have room again and I'm like, hmm, I can build on to this, you know. But but it's, it's so. It gives me so much pride to know that I have a salon like this and spa in Bowie that people come in and they're like, wow, this is in Bowie, texas.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm you know, and the fact that we have medical people involved and that I'm able to get Cosmaceutical products because of that fact. So we have a wonderful skin cares and sunscreens and and say that word again, except not.
Speaker 2:We all said cosmos, cosmecetical. So what are those?
Speaker 3:cosmecetical products are medical grade products, so the ingredients are a lot stronger than what you could get without a doctor's signature. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, it's not anything. You could buy it like a drugstore or anything like that. You couldn't get it, yeah, and then I try to bring in the other lines too, like for the body and Different shampoos and conditioners, just whatever we can do to get people to come in. Mm-hmm get them through the door and then they see the place and they love the place and then they become clients and all of our clients are so wonderful and you know they they say this is such a inviting place.
Speaker 3:You know because we're always just in there laughing and talking and you want some, you need a coke, you need some water, you know whatever. And you know we try to help out anybody that comes in that's in need. My sister, linda, is probably the top person on that. I don't know how many free haircut she does every week. I probably should be saying that online. And she has the best heart of anybody I've ever met in my life. I mean she's like my mom, and so she's my dependable, dependable one.
Speaker 2:Do you think that's definitely made the help make this fall more successful by having that wide variety and always bringing something new and adding different things To keep it kind of fresh? Oh?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah. And my girls, like I mean Chelsea, diane, sydney, Rachel, jade, lindsay, I mean Kennedy. Am I leaving anybody? Else. I mean just everybody there has something that they know, that they are a perfection at like, whether it's colors or highlights or balayage or extensions, you know whatever corrections, they're just so good. And Chelsea is the best at helping every single person in there. She's an amazing, amazing stylist. She has so much. Just I don't know if she'll ever reach her full potential. She, just she can do anything.
Speaker 3:I swear, decorate, do hair, I mean whatever it is. You know she can do it. But and then Linda, you know she's just always taking care of everybody in there and just keeping it sparkly clean and holding it together, you know so.
Speaker 2:What do you think over the last 10 years have been some of the biggest challenges that you've experienced having a business in Booth?
Speaker 3:I've made some mistakes in hiring because I'm willing to give everybody a chance. You know, even though people come to you and they're saying oh, blah, blah, blah and none, and I, you know, I'm not one to listen to that. I want to form my own opinion and everybody has a past. We all have a past. So I've hired some people that have gotten to me.
Speaker 3:but you know, I've had this conversation with Wendell and he's like it doesn't mean you, you're going to stop helping people, You're going to still help people and I will you know, I've bought their color and their blow dryers, I've given them a free rent, I've done whatever I could to help them, to get them started, and next thing you know they're gone. So that's been a challenge, you know, and you, just you get a little bitter at times because you're like, do I really want to invest in another person? But you just have to, you just have to keep going. So that's been a challenge and that's about it. As far as like clientele, we've done, we've always done well, we've done really well. There are days that you know we might have a new person, like Kennedy's new right now, and she's building.
Speaker 3:Most everybody in there already has their business, but she's building and you know the phone won't ring. But then there's days that the phone rings off the wall and we can't take care of everybody. So it's like hey, you know, and you're trying to round people up, please just take this one more haircut. That to me is stressful because I'm trying to get you leads and I've got all these leads so I want you to take them. You know, once you tell somebody, no, they're going to go somewhere else and they're not going to come back. If they do, it might be six months from now, you know.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you just get that one shot and that's sometimes it for a while.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I have gotten aggravated before and pulled the walk in welcome sign up out of the front. I told them I'm never putting it out there again cause I hate when people come in and they're like we're three deep, we can't do another person, you know. So I'm like, okay, when y'all need this sign, it's going to be in the back.
Speaker 2:You want to be on a service those clients and help them.
Speaker 3:And I don't like turning people away you know it's like they made an effort to come to your business to get a service. Let's fulfill that. So that's just been. You know again, we can't expand. I don't have it. I made a spot for Kennedy. I really only had eight stations, but we had to make it not one, cause she's family and she's a good stylist, so I wanted to keep her there.
Speaker 2:So with so many, there's so many stylists and cosmetologists in town. Yeah. You know how. What do you say when people say well, you know there's just not enough business. Or you know there's just so many, but there's so many, but they're all busy. So why is that? Well, why, you know why. What makes that happen? How do you attract new clients?
Speaker 3:Well, the way I do it is I have a post. You know, everybody posts their stuff. We share it. We all share it as a team, you know, because social media is the way to go, we try to do all that. And then just, I mean, word of mouth is a big thing. I have all my new stylists go and put flyers out in certain spots, or go to the teachers' lounges and put them out, give discounts, you know, you just gotta keep them coming. But, like, even when we get overflow, I'll call another hair place here and say, hey, can y'all take this person I think that we all admire. No, I don't know if I should say admire. I do admire the businesses here, but we have an agreement.
Speaker 3:I should say you know, if you can't get a man, call somebody else and get a man, because you know, I feel like they would do that for us and so I try to do that for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, because I think it is when you share those, the customer that comes to you. You may not be able to get to them, but if you can solve their problem and get them somewhere else, then they're still happy with the service that you provided.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, they're thankful for it. You know, where's that at and how do I get there, you know? And so yeah, and we've had, like, some other clients come in and say, well, I'm looking for this person, and we're like we don't have that person here. And then we figure out, because we know who works where. Hey, you're supposed to be here, and we have to tell them where to go or whatever.
Speaker 2:You know they're at a different spot, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I think there's enough business for everyone here. Yeah, there's a lot of salons, but everybody's personality doesn't click with everyone's personality. You know, some people like it really quiet and don't talk to me, and some like, you know, hey, let's have a good time in here, or we just have to figure out what that is and where your spot is supposed to be. And I feel like we have some of them both. So I don't feel like we have a shortage of clients, that's for sure. And I will say massage is one of our biggest requests at the spa. So that's like we used to have two massage therapists and Tamara retired. Well, she didn't actually retire all the way. She still does some people at her house, but now Crystal is doing so much she actually has two rooms over there, so I don't have room for another one, but we could use another one you know if I had a place to put them.
Speaker 2:You just run out of room, so is there a way to expand? Is that something you would hope to do in the future.
Speaker 3:Well, Wendell had given me the opportunity.
Speaker 3:We have two apartments upstairs and when we were rebuilding from when the tornado took us completely out, he said well, you should just take those upstairs and rent those out, but because of the stairs I didn't know if that would be feasible to do, because when we were out in the tornado we were working out at our house and I had to get a salon license for out there and Tamara was in the upstairs and her clients were having to climb those stairs and some of them were older and that was just really hard for them.
Speaker 3:So, I was just kind of skeptical about that, because someone's always gonna have somebody that can't get up those stairs you know, so we didn't do it, but otherwise, no, I'm where I'm at.
Speaker 2:This is it. That's it. There's no kind of at max capacity, yeah, which is not always a bad thing, but, too, when you want to help people and service clients and it's kind of like, oh, I wish I could do more, but when you max out. So do you miss modeling or the hustle and bustle of real estate or anything like that?
Speaker 3:Yes, I miss. What I miss about modeling is somebody doing my hair and makeup Otherwise. No, I mean, it's a tough business. I mean I'm not saying that I got every job because I didn't. I mean they call them cattle calls. They line you up against the wall and they'll just walk down and yes, yes, no, no, definitely not. I mean like they can be harsh.
Speaker 3:So I don't miss that part of it, but I do miss the travel and just being able to get your hair and makeup and stuff done and they just make you look so good. You know Well, I do miss real estate because the hustle and bustle was amazing for me. I mean I love to be anything fast paced and you met so many new people you know, and plus the offices there were full of agents.
Speaker 3:You know so you had just diverse, diversity and learned so much about so many different people and every day was different, new and it was a lot of fun. I loved it.
Speaker 2:So was it a challenge to kind of calm back down into small town living.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was. But the good thing is Wendell has to go out of town probably two days a week to get supplies for his for building and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:So I went. I go with him a lot, you know, and I used to a lot more before I got busier. But you know we try to go out of town and do stuff and now I'm more used to it so it doesn't bother me. I'm like I just want to be home. You know, I told him that the other day. I'm like my favorite place is just sitting on the couch watching TV. I just want to be here all the time. But it took a little bit to get used to. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so being gone and experiencing, you know, a bigger, a different life, because you know that's definitely a different life than Bowie Texas.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And coming back, and I think it's so important I've mentioned this every time that we go away sometimes so we can appreciate what we have when we come back. I think it's important for our kiddos to do that, because if our kids have been raised here, they just expect this is how it is everywhere and they don't quite appreciate it. So being gone and coming back, what makes you call Bowie my hometown?
Speaker 3:Just the comfort of it. I mean I loved knowing almost everyone. You know that. I see I know out of five people I probably know three that. I see on a daily basis and I feel comfortable at night in my home. I don't feel like you know.
Speaker 3:I watched too much of a snapped and serial killers up, but I just love it and you know, if you need something you can call somebody. I have family to call here. If they need something, they can call on us. The kids are all here and it's just nice to just feel just so secure, as opposed to being out there by myself. You know it was me and Zeba and you know I mean I just I didn't feel as like I always felt like I had to be on, like you know, like you got to be with this group of people or you got to be with that group of people and here it's just like everybody's the same to me.
Speaker 2:So you know, this is who I am, no matter where I'm at.
Speaker 3:And yeah, yeah, and I've been told this is. I probably shouldn't say this, but I've been told by several people that they'll talk to some of the stylists and they'll say her voice scares me, or she scares me and I'm like why do I scare you? I'm like they don't even know me.
Speaker 2:That goes back to getting to know somebody.
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly, I'm like you know why? Why do you? Why would you be scared of me? Because I feel like I'm the nicest person and I'm very approachable and I'd probably do anything for you that you needed you know, so don't be scared to come talk to me. Talk to me and get to know me before you say yes, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know we have people in the gym that all the time they look real serious because they have the serious face on and you're scared to approach them. But then when you talk to them they're just the nicest people. They just have their scary look on. I don't know what it is, but I think it's intimidating sometimes and I think people can be intimidating and we don't mean to be. No, it's just. I think it's just other people's perception. We think, well, I'm just, you just know yourself, and like I'm not scary.
Speaker 3:I'm not mean. Yeah, they're like she has a mean look on her face. I'm like I just don't, I don't, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I don't smile.
Speaker 3:It's just me. I don't mean to be.
Speaker 2:And I think that's really important, that we should get to know, especially in our small community. We should get to know somebody before we pass the judgment on just because they didn't smile, or they don't smile or they have a harsh voice, or. I think we should get to because, like you said, everybody has a story, yeah, and we don't know why they might need to have extra groceries in the house.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:We might not know why they need to have three jobs. We may not know those things, but sometimes if we ask and we find out, we can understand. And so that and that's the reason for my hometown is because people might know you as Betty Robbins, owner of Mint they spot, but they don't know your life, they don't know the the trials you've been through, the successes you've had, what you've come through, why you've done what you've done, and and all those things add up to make you the successful person you are in our community. Yeah, and I think everybody shouldn't, and it just helps us know who, who we're doing business with.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's just with people we like, know and trust and when we know that story and we're over and over and over again from people that listen that oh, I didn't know that person, I just thought I got to know them, and then we know them in a whole different light. Just like you know, when you get to know somebody, you fall in love. They look way different than when you first met them, because you know, you know their heart and it changes their appearance. So so thank you for being on the day and sharing your story. You didn't overshare. You were worried about oversharing and talking too much. You did great, but thank you for joining me today and thank you for just sharing your journey and your trials and your successes and the reason you love, love Bowie. And coming back to Bowie, yeah.
Speaker 2:Because it is a. It is a great place.
Speaker 3:It is, it really is, and I hear people say that all the time it's Bowie and Bowie and blah, blah, blah. I'm like you have to just look at Bowie for what it is and enjoy what they have here, you know, and I think, I think it's great. You know I'm not saying I wouldn't love a few more restaurants, but we're growing and everybody you know seems to be getting on board with that now and I think that's a great thing. And you know, and just the construction is still going on here, so something's happening.
Speaker 2:It is growing and people I think need to change from oh this is Bowie and like ah, to excitement oh this is Bowie.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And just change the tone and it will change everything in our community.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they need to get to know, bowie, not just the one little incident they might have had, and give their judgment, because Bowie is a great place. My daughter, I think, has had the best life growing up here that she could have ever had, as opposed to being in a big city.
Speaker 2:It's just totally different. Totally different. Just an experiential get yeah.
Speaker 3:And my other daughter lives here now too, so I'm happy about that.
Speaker 2:So now the whole family, everybody's together, yeah.
Speaker 3:And we have, when I have eight grandkids and we just we all we do a lot of stuff as a family and that's my favorite thing, and we all spend time together. So we, it's great.
Speaker 2:It's great to have family in the community you're living. Yes so thank you, Bowie, for joining me today.
Speaker 3:Thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:And looking forward to seeing you around in my hometown.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you would like to connect with Erin, you can do so by going to erendeglercom or find him on social media as Erin Degler on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Once again, we greatly appreciate you tuning in. If you have enjoyed this show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcast. We greatly appreciate that effort and we will see you around in my hometown.