Liberty University’s on-campus salon catches on

By Christa Desrets
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: April 7, 2008

When Kelly Mann first opened a hair salon in a hallway of Liberty University’s North Campus in October, most passers-by assumed it was a beauty school with hairstylists-in-training.

Others reasoned the operation was for Liberty students only, or that it was open according to the school’s schedule.
They were wrong.

“It’s not just a Liberty thing, it’s a community-wide thing,” Mann said of her Arte’ Dei Capelli Salon. “They didn’t realize that these girls are licensed and very talented.”

After six months of being open, the salon is finally past that point, Mann said.

And although campus salons are “very unusual,” she said, hers is thriving.

Mann opened the first branch of Arte’ Dei Capelli, which means “the art of hair” in Italian, about four years ago in Wyndhurst.

In January 2007, she was contacted by her friend Kathleen Spence, who works at Liberty and wanted to know if Mann would consider opening another salon at the school.

“With everything going on on campus, we thought the convenience of it would be great for the kids,” said Spence, field operations office manager. “They won’t have to go off campus.”

Mann also liked the idea, she said, so she met with school officials and sketched out some ideas.

Although several other salons also were in the running for the spot, Spence said, Mann’s presentation looked the best.

Mann built a team of 10 “amazing hairstylists,” two of whom are Liberty students, and opened the location with eight chairs in October.

It is open to the community six days a week.

“We had a few mishaps when we first opened up,” Mann said.

Like in December, when someone broke into the salon.

“It was very, very shocking. I never thought that would happen,” she said. “We just kept a good attitude.”

And things got better.

The hairstylists’ clientele is building.

Students walk in to the salon as they pass it on the way to class or as they’re heading out to the bus stop just outside.

Faculty take advantage of the convenience and walk to the salon during breaks.

More community clientele are getting used to the idea of coming to Liberty for their favorite stylist, too, Mann said.

She now alternates days working at the two locations, and stays booked six to eight weeks out.

“We’ve had so many good things happen — I feel I was put at Liberty for a reason,” she said.

Hairstylist Desiree Trent started at Arte’ Dei Capelli in October and convinced two other stylists to move to the salon, too.

“It has been the best opportunity,” she said. “I feel like it’s history in the making.”

For now, the stylists are focusing on cuts and color, but Mann may eventually expand the site to include facials, as well.

“I want to get them going, get them established, get them grounded,” she said. “Then I can get started on something else.”

Bonnie Cooksey (right) washes Claura Grub’s hair before cutting it at the Arte’ Dei Capelli salon on the campus of Liberty University.
Photo by: Jill Nance/The News & Advance