Southern Indiana Business September-October 2020 | Page 18

COVER STORY
boutique in downtown New Albany.
"Then it was like, what about me?"
he said. "I love fashion, and I love
helping people — all my friends would
always call me for fashion advice. So I
got into the fashion game with developing
the location."
For Ross, Him is all about providing
"confidence and style" and being
"fashionable and comfortable," he said.
Diana built a clientele as she rented
a booth at her cousin's salon, and she
eventually became trained in a method
of hair extensions that was different
than anything else she had ever seen —
she loved providing a transformation
"bigger than just a color or a cut," and
she saw that the extensions provided
a confidence boost for her clients, she
said.
After participating in business training,
she started to narrow the focus of
her business, and she opened Mane
Alley as a niche salon specializing in
extensions.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit,
Ross and Diana had to make adjustments
to their businesses. At Him, Ross
began offering new services such as
curbside pickup and started to expand
the boutique's online store.
"I do love the experience here —
that’s my favorite part, being in the
store, providing the experience," he
said. "But we're trying to adapt to all
these new ways of living."
For Diana, it was challenging when
the salon had to close for a couple
months amid the pandemic, but she
found ways to keep the brand alive and
moving forward, she said, whether that
was posting videos showing people
how to remove their extensions or selling
temporary hair extension pieces to
clients. Upon reopening, the salon has
been following protocols for sanitation
and masks.
"Coming back from it, I feel like
we’re both stronger than ever," she
said. "I think that the choices that we
made while we were closed were the
right choices, and we’re going to do
whatever we have to do to make sure
Diana and Rocco, the
salon mascot, relax at
the entrance of Mane
Alley Color & Extension
Bar. The atmosphere is
casual but inviting.
18 September / October 2020