The rhythm used to be predictable: Work, raise a family and retire by Medicare age.
Lorie Weekley and Melody Weber are mixing up that rhythm and having a blast doing it! Last August the duo moved their thriving salon from Spanish Trail into a downtown location on the corner of Tarragona and Government streets in the bustling heart of historic Pensacola.
A lush courtyard anchored by a popular Acai food truck and vintage brick give the 125-year-old building an Old South ambience. When trains still ran through downtown Pensacola, Tarragona was known as Railroad Street and the site Weber & Weekley Salon shares with several businesses was a brewery.
“They would stop where the courtyard is on the Tarragona side and they would load and unload beer,” mused Weber, a grandmother of two. “That was back in horse and buggy days.”
Weekley, who is expecting her first grandchild in August, noted that underneath sheetrock are arched brick passageways where wagons once passed. Mixed metals, an industrial vibe, touches of sparkle and state-of-the-art makeup lighting fill the two-story salon, where skincare and makeup reign.
Despite all the perks, it was the adjoining parking lot that sealed the deal for the duo who didn’t want clients to walk from a parking garage or wrangle for street parking.
A NATURAL PROGRESSION
Like most of their 11-year-old business partnership, the new venture unfolded organically.
After raising their children and working in other fields, the friends went into business together in 2012 as makeup artists.
“My daughter was getting close to high school, and I was ready to do something but I didn’t really want to do a regular 9-to-5 that would pull me away,” explained Weekley.
Both women trained with the same makeup artist in Texas as well as airbrush training with Dinair and aesthetic school.
“We did makeup together and separately and we were always each other’s go-to when we needed help with makeup,” Weber explained, noting that both women are committed to extensive education.
“Everything Lori and I do, we get trained in. There’s a lot you don’t learn in aesthetic school.”
As business increased, Weber distinctly remembers Weekley calling her one day with news that a Spanish Trail location was available.
“I remember sitting there and thinking. I think I finally said, ‘Are we going to sit in park or are we going to drive this thing?’”
Drive they did, moving into the Spanish Trail location in 2015.
A renovation and more continuing educating ensued. And a whole new venture with a percentage of their earnings returned to the community was in full force.
“We are team players. We like being on a team. I can’t imagine doing this with anybody else but Lori,” said Weber. “We complement each other. It’s like a marriage. You don’t always agree with everything, but you work it out.”
“You know what each other’s strengths are,” said Weekley, who brings her tool bag to work and is adept with a drill and a saw.
While skin care and makeup are the obvious goals of Weber & Weekley, a lot of soul care transpires as the estheticians are working their magic.
SKINCARE, MAKEUP
& SOUL CARE
“When you’re working on someone’s face, especially when you’re doing a facial, their guard is just let down. You can tell when people want to talk or when they just want to be quiet. Sometimes people come and say, ‘I don’t want to talk today,’ and that’s fine,” explained Weber.
“And sometimes I’ve had people
