Good Neighbor Podcast: Bergen
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Bergen County
Good Neighbor Podcast: Bergen
Ep. # 97 The Eclectic Soul of 21 Godwin: Hair, Herbs, and Holistic Beauty
What happens when a stylist with 23 years of experience brings East Village flair to suburban Ridgewood? April Luna, owner of 21 Godwin boutique salon and apothecary, has created an answer that's been thriving for over a decade in a market saturated with competition.
With exposed brick walls and an eclectic, rock-and-roll aesthetic, 21 Godwin isn't your typical Bergen County salon. April has deliberately crafted a space that stands out, attracting clients seeking something beyond the ordinary—whether that's a subtle refresh or a bold transformation. But what truly differentiates her business is its evolution from traditional salon to natural wellness destination.
Inspired by a visit to an East Village herb shop that reminded her of "Harry Potter's bedroom," April developed a passion for botanical ingredients that led her to create a line of preservative-free skincare products. Her face serum, developed through two years of experimentation, forms the cornerstone of an apothecary collection that now includes "drunken mushroom tinctures," natural soaps, and body butters—all created with a commitment to purity rarely found in commercial products.
The journey hasn't been without challenges. April candidly discusses the difficulties of balancing salon operations with product development and the changing dynamics of stylist employment. Yet her enthusiasm remains undimmed, fueled by what she describes as the unparalleled reward of seeing clients' faces light up when they feel better about themselves.
When you visit 21 Godwin (conveniently located across from Whole Foods), expect more than just a haircut. April creates a personalized experience—perhaps with custom-blended herbal tea or a glass of wine—and fosters open communication to ensure every client leaves satisfied. It's this attention to individual needs, combined with genuine passion and creativity, that has allowed her unique vision to flourish where many others have faltered.
Ready to experience a salon that treats beauty as both art and wellness? Call 201-857-0578 or email April21Godwin@gmail.com to book your appointment with April Luna.
21 Godwin Boutique Salon & Apothecary
April Luna
21 Godwin Ave Ridgewood, NJ 07450
(201) 857-0578
21Godwin@gmail.com
21godwin.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast brought to you by the Bergen Neighbors Media Group. I am your host, doug Drohan. We are today's a little rainy, it's a Monday, it's supposed to be winter, but it feels like spring, and this is a time where people, I think, start thinking about their spring looks, their, you know maybe rebirth. It's the time of Lent and Easter and Passover, so it's a time of rebirth for a lot of people, and you know a lot of them. We think about getting ourselves ready for, and a lot of them we think about getting ourselves ready for the spring events like graduations and christenings and you name it. So it's a great time to be joined by the owner of 21 Godwin. It's a boutique salon and apothecary, april Luna. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you for having me, Hello everyone.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello. So you have a salon, a boutique salon, and it's also an apothecary. So let's go back a little bit about you. So you're a salon owner, but you're a stylist, is that correct? That is correct, and how long have you been in the industry?
Speaker 3:Just going on 23 years Okay.
Speaker 2:So just a couple of years ago you started, and when did 21 Godwin open up?
Speaker 3:21, godwin opened up. We just last year celebrated our 10-year anniversary, so this is our 11th year.
Speaker 2:That's amazing, and you're in Ridgewood, so there's not. That's amazing and you're in Ridgewood, so you know there's not like there's a shortage of salons in Ridgewood. Oh, there is. Walk in either direction and within five minutes of another salon. So how have you been able to stay in business for so many years?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean it's it's always challenging, especially as a small business. I do believe that all the salons in you know the small town in a very, very close radius we all have some type of individual style and, of course, talents, and I do believe that I sort of set myself apart as being more eclectic, a little more East Village style, than some of the other salons. So, of course, clientele that are looking for that type of vibe usually come into my salon.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So having been in the East Village, having lived in the village and having been in Manhattan for many years, I get it. You walk in and there's exposed brick. It's more of an industrial look. It's very rock and roll, I guess.
Speaker 3:Very eclectic.
Speaker 2:But you have the leather chairs, you've got the exposed brick, you have different kinds of furniture, as you said, very eclectic. It's kind of like walking into abc carpet on the in union square so was that did you. Did you, uh, live in the east village at some point, like, why do you describe it as east village?
Speaker 3:um, I think just probably where I'm drawn to is, you know, manhattan and the vibe and the artistry and all the different characters, people that you meet that are very, very passionate about their type of work, whether it be styling, design. I've always liked that vibe to just sort of kind of lay back and be yourself, something I had discovered when I designed the salon, um, and and it wasn't intentionary, but it was just taking something that already exists and making it better, which is something we do in the salon industry- yeah, yeah, so, yeah, I mean so if.
Speaker 2:If it's East Village, am I coming in there to get some kind of crazy East? Well, I don't know what the East Village is like today. To be honest. It's probably so changeable but it's not that outrageous. But am I coming in there for a different look? Or you're going to shape things per my style and my face and my hair?
Speaker 3:Well, it really depends. I mean, of course we're in Ridgewood, as many people might that might want to get that funky, different look and be a little edgy, depending on their work and what is their everyday life. Normally can't.
Speaker 2:But if you run a podcast and a media company and a magazine publishing business, you probably could get away with something a little bit.
Speaker 3:You could do whatever we want. We could do a rainbow of fashion color in your hair, yeah, so of course we offer that. Most clients are, of course, keeping up with our natural maturity and the growth that happens with that, and then you have people that are searching for a new style, different look. Um, everybody, you know we're all looking to improve, no matter what we have going on, we're supposed to evolve, and I do think that your stylist can help you do that and you, you know so, speaking of evolving.
Speaker 2:So initially you were just a salon, but now you're an apothecary as well. So what was? Was that based on, like what you were hearing from your clients, that they were looking for skincare or different types of, you know, homeopathic products?
Speaker 3:That is always happening, of course, as time goes on and more people, I think, are being conscious to what they're using, whether it's topically or internally. But it happened through a passion that I developed very quickly. I visited a store in the East Village and was absolutely amazed at what I saw.
Speaker 3:It sort of reminded me of Harry Potter's bedroom, if you will all these little jars of herbs, and just overnight I started studying them. In the beginning I used them as conditioning treatments and services in my salon, and then I had started blending myself with the help of the owner, lata her store.
Speaker 3:I am going to give her a little bit of a shout out it's flower power, but she, the knowledge that she has and what she has taught me has just been amazing. Doing a lot of studying myself and, of course, trial and error, and I really had gotten into blending a skin serum for myself. I wanted to improve the health of my skin and it took me about two years to develop that and when I did, I had gotten really excited about it and decided to go to market with it. And we are in the midst of that right now.
Speaker 2:Wow, so go to market outside of your salon like mass market.
Speaker 3:Yes, more of an e-commerce site.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's great. So what is it about your products? You have, like, natural herbs and you know things like that. So if I'm looking for a color, well, I'm not going to color my hair, but I'm looking for conditioners or shampoo. Is that what you're using and are you creating these shampoos and conditioners yourself?
Speaker 3:Hair care. So that's a little controversial and I do know that everybody loves to use that word organic. It is very hard to create shampoos and conditioners and especially color. We have what we call organic and no, I do not currently develop any of these things, but none of these can be 100 percent organic. None of these can be 100% organic. They are made with organic properties and they are allowed to list organic but the shelf life would never last.
Speaker 3:So I do try to work with clean products and, of course, from what I study and tell, some of the best products on the market. But more of the true organic products that I work with is what is currently in the apothecary. So again, my face serum. I have developed something called drunken mushroom tinctures that is taken internally for medicinal health and prevention, and, of course, some soaps and body butters and candles. My philosophy is doing my best. 99% of my skincare products do not contain water, and the reason being is when there is water present, it's usually half of the total bottle or it also has to involve a sorry lost for words a preservative, and there are preservatives out there that are more natural, but usually when there is a preservative, president, it does dilute the properties that are there to enhance. So I do work with very high quality botanicals, lipids, oils and I do try to keep them just the pure formula, without any preservatives.
Speaker 2:So are your customers mainly your hair salon customers, or do you have people coming in just for your products?
Speaker 3:It is mainly my current clients, but I do have people that just sort of walk in off the street and they have questions or they're familiar with stores and apothecaries that do work with what I carry, apothecaries that do work with what I carry and they seem to be really interested in the story and what I've produced Nice, nice.
Speaker 2:So where, where does your product mix? Not product mix, but between salon services and the apothecary, like, where do your sales fall? Is it still mostly on the salon side?
Speaker 3:It's still mostly on the salon side. Unfortunately, it's difficult for me to be able to really dedicate myself to one, and that does make it a little bit long. The journey is going to be longer than I expected and that is another difficulty in our industry and I am sure any salon owner that would listen to this would agree is we have had such a shift in our industry mainly because of the separation, with a lot of the salon suites and stylists wanting to work on their own, so it's difficult finding employees.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I guess one of the risks of training somebody and having a great stylist working for you is, I mean, I guess you did it right At one point. Somebody came to you.
Speaker 3:It was never really my intention though it wasn't, I want to say so. Being a salon owner, people think you're your own boss. You're never your own boss. Every client that walks through that door is my boss amongst all the other entities, whether you know the city and, of course, your landlord. But the one thing that I can say as being a business owner that it gives me the freedom for my creativity, which is something I do, I love, because it's what drives me to be creative and work with people to fulfill exactly what they're looking for. That was something that I felt that I was held back from when I didn't have my own salon. So really, that's probably the upside the rest. I mean, it's a lot of work, a lot, yeah, yeah, upside the rest uh, I mean, it's a lot of work, a lot, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:well, you know there's you could be doing a lot of work for someone else or doing a lot of work for yourself, and one of the rewards I hear people say about being a business owner or being an entrepreneur is that this is, you know, there's a little bit of freedom involved and certainly everything they do is, you know, putting money in their pocket, not putting the money in someone else's pocket. So it's hard work, but then again, if it was easy, then everybody would do it and it would devalue what we do. So I guess there's, you know, pluses and minuses to that. But you know, being a salon owner in an industry where there's a lot of people that seemingly do the same thing, you've got to stand out, and you stand out by being, you know, certainly offering your products, but then, like you said, it's a different experience when people come in. And then the talent that you, that you have, as well as what separates you.
Speaker 2:So you know we talk about a lot of when I talk to business owners, like what the journey? Like? Where do you? Did you have this drive inside you? Do you think from an early age to say I'm going to go off on my own and start a business, or was this something you felt like just kind of fell into or was kind of natural? You know, natural in the fact that it was a natural progression, but you really didn't plan this.
Speaker 3:Oh, definitely, definitely. I didn't plan this at all, becoming a hairstylist. I didn't even know I had it in me. It was suggested to me from a hairstylist who is a friend of mine and I was looking for a career. I was a single mom and I wanted something a little bit more solid and know my direction, and she had discussed with me about my people, skills and my creativity and how she felt that I would be great for the industry and I just thought she was silly. But I did follow direction and it was really funny. It was probably within I don't know a few months of attending cosmetology school that I had realized that I really was into this and I had a knack for it and fell in love with it immediately.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what? What is it that you fell in love with? Because I know a lot of people that are in a service industry. It's about how they make other people feel. It's about how they make their customers and their clients feel that they love. They love being.
Speaker 3:That is number one I mean that is number one.
Speaker 3:When you see the look on somebody's face when you are done with them and they just feel better about themselves, it's beyond a feeling of reward, but it's. It's a great industry. It's an industry that you are able to create to meet people all day. Some people could complain about being on their feet all day. I love being on my feet all day, I love moving around and even though you know you're coloring, cutting and it could seem that it's just your mundane day to day, it's actually not. You get to have different experiences with each client and I just feel so lucky that I have found that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know I'll put you on the spot. So you love when you finish cutting someone's hair and they just feel amazing. They're a new person. Wow, you've reborn. You know, you've remade me.
Speaker 2:What is it like if somebody is not so happy with their haircut? Have you had many of those? Because I know my mother, who is going to be 90 years old she's very frugal, grew up during the Depression, so to spend money on herself for a really good haircut is she just can't fathom it. She's had so many bad haircuts and, by extension, growing up she took me to in Long Island there was the Board of Education, board of Education, continuing Education, or it was called BOCES program. So when you were in high school you could do half a day to learn to be a mechanic, auto mechanic, or you could do half a day to learn to be for beauty school, I guess, for want of a better word, my mother would take me there to get my haircut because it would cost a dollar and I was in junior high, so it wasn't like I was at an age where I didn't care what I looked like.
Speaker 2:I have very straight hair and it grows out like it's. It's at the point where, growing up in the era that I grew up in, that I ended up getting body waves and the guys that cut my hair was like it was the era of John Travolta and all that. So I grew up in an Italian like Jewish neighborhood where everybody had wavy hair except for me. Which is so much easier. Yeah, so I've had so many bad haircuts in my day and so I asked you that question out of personal history.
Speaker 3:Oh, no yeah.
Speaker 2:Not on the spot at all.
Speaker 3:I will tell you most stylists. I don't know about all, but most stylists. When that does happen clients.
Speaker 3:I'm going to let you know we don't sleep at night we actually play it in our heads all day and, yes, we all have off days when I find that is usually a communication issue, if a client wasn't communicating to me right or if I wasn't understanding it properly. I love to look at pictures to see a client's you know mind eye and it doesn't mean they're going to have exactly like the picture, because their hair might not be like that but to try to get an idea of what they're thinking. Usually, from what I can tell you and this goes for all stylists again, I feel that when a client themselves doesn't really know what they want, it's impossible to please them.
Speaker 3:And I do find that that has happened to me a lot and they have just gotten up from the chair and, you know, not necessarily giving me a hard time, but not looking very happy, and I just want to put them back down, tie them up and do whatever. I can to fix it? Yeah, I always tell people especially when they're a newer client or if it's a current client with a new style when they're leaving anything you notice that you are dissatisfied with, please do not hesitate. Contact me and I will work with you.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's, that's different. Because you know I've walked out of salons and not said a word, but it was like what the F? And now maybe I'll give it a week or two and then nothing. You know, in two weeks it's beyond repair and then I'll go to somebody else to get it fixed, but never go back and never give them that feedback. But also because they never asked me, never asked me that question. So I think if more salon owners and stylists said that they'd probably retain that that client that maybe didn't get a get the right haircut.
Speaker 3:Maybe I know. I know the majority of us feel that way, Like why didn't they let me know?
Speaker 2:Right. But you know what? They never follow up with me either. They never asked me hey, we haven't seen you in a while. What happened? No one ever, no one ever calls me to say hey, it's just like you're gone with the wind. Oh, no, no not me, oh, if.
Speaker 3:I don't see you in a while. You're hearing from me.
Speaker 2:That's good to know. That's good to know. So April, by the way. Happy St Paddy's Day oh you as well. I'm Irish, so I should be wearing green.
Speaker 3:Oh, I live with an Irishman. Actually, he is from Dingle.
Speaker 2:Oh nice, I live with an irishman. Actually, uh, he is from dingle. Ah no, I've been to dingle. I've been there my one time in ireland we uh drove I was living in england at the time and my parents came over to visit we went to ireland and did like a fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nice. Yeah, the Dingle Peninsula, if I recall. Yes, but so you mentioned what you love about what you do, you know, is there. Just give us an example of what it's like when we walk in, what the experience is like when I first come in. So I'm going to come in for the first time. What's it going to be like first?
Speaker 3:come in. So I'm going to come in for the first time. What's it going to be like? Well, I'd love to tell you that it's really, really relaxed and I'm always on time. But I've been lying Usually with a client, thank God. I'm usually pretty big booked up, but I do work currently by myself, so that is usual. But you will always find me jumping around ready to go, you know, setting down, discussing your hair and even clients and they always say this to me. This is something very funny. A client will sit down and I'll go to think about mixing their color. I stop and I turn around and I look at their hair and I look at them in the mirror and I go. Are we still keeping with our same color and style?
Speaker 3:And they look and they go yes, why? And I said, well, no, I just want to make sure that you're not looking for something new, cause your stylist also loves that. I do get new clients that say to me my stylist just keeps doing the same thing, and sometimes you know it's just that the client hasn't said hey, I want to change. So like we're not supposed to know that it is. It does get tough sometimes, but I do try to keep that in mind. So you will have my music going. You'll have me sitting in the chair and getting you started and then, depending on the time of the day, I'll usually try to be a little more on the calm side and be like okay, can I make you some herbal tea, whether it's traditional, or would you like me to blend something together? Some?
Speaker 3:herbal tea, whether it's traditional, or would you like me to blend something together? Or if it's a little after three or five o'clock somewhere I'll offer you a glass of wine, but I do as much as I can, and it does get difficult. I would like to be able to create more of an experience with my clients when I'm not delayed with time, so it is a catch 22. Being busy is great, but then sometimes it does prevent me from creating that experience that I love to do.
Speaker 2:That's great. So, april, where are you located? How do people book an appointment with you? What's the best way to reach you?
Speaker 3:Best way to reach me is calling my phone. If you call the shop phone, it's always forwarded to my cell, so you can get me any time of the day or night. They can also email me. The shop phone is 201-857-0578. Phone is 2 0 1 8, 5 7 0, 5 7, 8. And the email which you can find on the website is April 21. Godwin at gmailcom. The salon is named after the address 21 Godwin. And yes, we are directly across from whole foods, which seems to make everyone's life easier.
Speaker 2:So, if anybody's familiar God, I guess it's like the beginning of Godwin, hence it's only 21. It's right when you come to the end and turn towards the train station. So was that Wisely Square or however you pronounce it.
Speaker 3:We'll see Square once you make the turn. But yes, there is a short run.
Speaker 2:Coming from Wyckoff? Yes, coming from downtown Westwood, I mean Westwood, I mean Westwood, ridgewood. You come onto the train tracks and swing around and then you're right there and probably parking on Whole Foods parking lot if you have to.
Speaker 3:Most people do because they shop in there anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, shop there and get your hair done.
Speaker 3:Actually they should thank me. A lot of my clients go in there and get stuff just to party. True.
Speaker 2:They should let you advertise in there. So clients go in there and get stuff just to buy, not true? They should advertise in there. So, april, this was great. I really appreciate it, um, and sharing your story with us today. Bear with me for a few seconds, you and I'll be right back.
Speaker 1:Thank you, yes, thank you thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbergencom. That's gnpbergencom, or call 201-298-8325.