• Features

Kind x 45: Sheer Professionals gives back with acts of kindness

• By Ellen Pill
• November 27, 2021
• 1576

Sheer Professionals, a full-service salon in Wooster, understands the importance of community, sharing gifts and talents, and giving back. The salon has been doing just that for all the years they have been doing business.

To celebrate their 45th anniversary this year, staffers at the salon decided on 45 random acts of kindness as a way to offer gratitude to their staff and the community.

Salon co-owners Sandra Carr and Donna Beam have been together so long that they often finish each other's sentences.

"Our philosophy is to use our gifts and talents to support the community," Carr said, with Beam adding, "The community that has supported us for 45 years."

"We're a trifecta," Carr said, referring to herself, Beam and Sheer Professionals' most recent partner, Lacye Geitgey. All three women agree on the salon's mission to make a difference.

"The idea," Geitgey said, "is to help out anytime we can spread the love. We're always trying to find ways to give back, to share our success and to include our amazing staff as we do it."

"We get as much back from the giving as we give," Beam said, and all three concur.

The company was originally founded by Beam and located in downtown Wooster. Ten years later Carr joined — first as a member of the team and then as the artistic educator. She later came in as a partner. The business evolved, moved twice and became a driving force internationally in the salon industry. Geitgey was a member of the team for 17 years before her partnership was announced in 2019.

Beam, Carr and Geitgey are quick to credit their team of 21 designers and business staff with their longevity and success. One of their designers, Beam's very first employee, is still with the salon 45 years later. Their salon coordinator has been with the company for over 20 years.

When asked to speak about themselves, the co-owners always come back to their team. "From the newest to the veterans," Carr said, "we value them and are grateful for the individual strengths they each bring."

"Our mission includes making a positive difference in the lives of our stylists and staff, as well as the community," Beam said. "It is truly the team that empowers us to do great things together."

Over the course of the years — winning awards, competitions and receiving acclaim from all corners of the salon world — the owners have always remained grateful for their Wooster location.

When asked how they have contributed locally during the past, the three women were hard-pressed to articulate all the events, organizations and individuals they have helped. "It's hard to bring all that forward," Beam said. "That's not why we do it."

Sheer Professionals' contributions have included everything from putting on fashion shows, to benefiting the American Heart Association, to their ongoing wig bank to help men and women who experience hair loss. They donate countless gift baskets to nonprofits in need of raffle items and have worked with the Salvation Army to provide salon services to those in need.

The owners and team members travel worldwide for professional training and to fulfill their mission to give back everywhere they can. Carr spent time in Thailand providing haircuts to children. She arrived with suitcases full of salon items to donate and trained local women in need of a trade.

Having a consistent history with the community and their clientele has given Sheer Professionals a connection with area families. "We've done a first haircut on a baby," Carr said.

"Then that baby's first elementary school cut," Beam said.

"Their first junior high dance and their wedding," Carr said.

"And then another generation when they have a baby," Geitgey said.

"Forty-five years," Beam said, "has given us the opportunity to transcend generations. With some families we now have four generations of clients."

The owners never miss an opportunity to appreciate the community that has helped them grow. "For anyone who's in business for 45 years, that's a tribute to the community they are doing business in," Beam said.

True to their philosophy, the salon provides experience and expertise to their staff. When designers join the team, they come on as an apprentice — a practice seldom seen these days when there can be a tendency to move from job to job.

"We believe education drives our success," Carr said, "coupled with our dedication to excellence. And that all combines to enable us to fulfill our mission to change lives."

The co-owners said after a one-year apprenticeship that often includes extensive travel opportunities and regular educational offerings with world-renowned educators, apprentices emerge with essentially a master's degree in hair design.

"It's not just cut and color," Carr said. "It's about a customized service and approach that isn't taught in a lot of places."

So what were the 45 acts? With what they've done all year, it's hard for them to recall. And when one does the math, it's actually a lot more than 45.

Initially, they gave out 45 gift cards. Then each member of the staff was gifted products, which they in turn were asked to share with those in need. They brought fresh flowers to four different nursing homes, painted a Habitat for Humanity house, decorated a nonprofit for the fall, cleaned at a new location for an area nonprofit, provided gift baskets for countless fundraisers, donated a trampoline to the Christian Children's Home of Ohio and more.

"The holidays are a wonderful time to give back," Carr said. "We'll continue our 45 random acts right up until the end of the year."

Quiet as always about their charitable acts, the three decided to keep their upcoming holiday giving under wraps. And undoubtedly, Sheer Professionals will keep right on giving as they begin their 46th year and beyond.