Member Profile: Anne Zuck, Classic Touch Beauty Salon, Omaha, NE

Anne Zuck launched her career in the beauty business because, "I want people to look their best," she explains.

After becoming a licensed beauty professional in 1992, Zuck began to build her knowledge and clientele until she reached her ultimate goal: to be a salon owner. Launching her own, six-chair salon in 1996, Zuck realized that there were many things that drew her into the business of making people look their best.

"I like to look my best all the time, and I enjoy helping others achieve this too. Women and men need someone to talk to about their appearance; someone they can trust. I like to work on the whole person, from head to toe," she relates.

Her specialty is braids, and while the expense is frequently more than many clients can go for, Zuck still manages to create at least one braided creation each week.

"I have been braiding since I was a teenager, and loved it then, too," Zuck says, explaining that growing up in Camaroon, on the Southeastern coast of Africa, provided a rich education in the art. "You learned it from sisters and friends. We did it for fun. When I got to school, it was taught, but not to the extent that I had already learned while I was growing up in Camaroon," she continues.

Her best advice for newcomers is to work toward being a business owner. She also encourages students to develop a realistic means of achieving their goals.

"Students can be too money hungry," she says. "They are not beauty conscious enough. They hop around too much from one salon to another, trying to make as much money as possible. If you really want to make a solid income, you need to build a business in one salon, and learn as much as possible," she advises. This steady approach lays the ground work for a strong, thriving business.