Take the Backroads: Staying Curious, Supporting Small & Trusting Your Gut
If you know me, you know I will almost always choose the backroads. Give me a cute little town, a local coffee shop, a unique store, a good meal, a few girlfriends, and no real itinerary, and I’m pretty much in my happy place.
Lately, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do exactly that, from floating cabins in Sabula to Lake Havasu, farmers markets, girls trips, ridiculously good food, and more than a few memorable cocktails. Somewhere along the way, I realized the way I travel is actually a lot like the way I’ve built my business for the last 20 years: stay curious, talk to people, try something new, support good humans, and don’t be afraid to take the road you didn’t originally plan on taking.
Give Me the Backroads
I had been hearing about Sabula, Iowa, for years after my parents first told me about it, and I finally got to experience it with Erin Huiatt and Wendi. We stayed in a floating cabin at Island City Harbor and spent our time exploring Sabula and Clinton, popping into local shops and businesses along the way. We stopped at Sip & Stitch and Island City Cafe, grabbed ice cream at Korner Stop Ice Cream Shoppe, and made a stop at Brew on 52. We watched boats drift by, ate our way around town, and explored without feeling like we had to rush from one thing to the next. It was exactly my kind of Iowa adventure.
That’s one of my favorite things about exploring. I love finding the places that make somewhere feel like somewhere: the restaurant everyone tells you to try, the locally owned shop you didn’t know existed or the business owner who ends up telling you their story before you leave. Those are usually the things I remember most.
Before hitting the road, I asked Facebook for everyone’s must-have road trip snacks, and apparently there are a few things we feel VERY strongly about. Twizzlers came up again and again, with beef jerky, peach rings, Corn Nuts, and Cheez-Its close behind. There were plenty of healthier travelers bringing grapes, apples, peppers, and cheese, too.
But my favorite answer may have been Deanna’s: “Dramamine, Tums, Imodium, Gas-X… oh wait, you said snacks.” 😂 Honestly, throw those in the bag too and call it prepared.
As for me? My road trip lineup is pretty simple:
From Iowa Backroads to Lake Havasu
Of course, not every adventure keeps me close to home. Lake Havasu gave me a chance to trade the Iowa backroads for Arizona sunshine, spend time with people I love and make some pretty great memories along the way. Whether it’s a girls trip a few hours from home or a plane ride across the country, I’ve gotten better about saying yes to the trip and figuring out the details later.
The older I get, the more I realize the best part of traveling isn’t necessarily where you go. It’s who you’re with, what you discover along the way and giving yourself permission to step outside your normal routine for a little while. Sometimes that’s Arizona sunshine. Sometimes it’s a floating cabin in Sabula. And sometimes it’s pulling over because you spotted a little shop, restaurant or farmers market you absolutely have to check out.
Always Stop at the Local Place
I recently had 45 minutes to kill before an event, which naturally turned into a stop at the Adel Farmers Market. I came home with flowers, dog treats and bookmarks, listened to a great musician and somehow ended up with a Corn on the Bob martini from Great White Buffalo Public House in my hand. Did I plan any of that? No. Do I regret it? Also no.
There was also the hip-stir in Marion, where the mac and cheese may have ruined all other mac and cheese for me, and 1833 Saloon, with amazing Bloody Marys, live music, tons of character, and an owner who was an absolute doll. Add in incredible food and a table full of girlfriends at Aposto at The Scala House, and I’ve been reminded over and over that some of the best places are the ones someone took a chance on creating.
Maybe that’s why I love small businesses so much. I know there’s a person behind them. Someone took the risk, signed the lease and wondered if people would show up. Someone is making payroll, answering emails at ridiculous hours, worrying about their team and occasionally wondering what in the hell they got themselves into.
I know because I’ve been doing it for 20 years.
Twenty Years Later, I’m Still Learning
With American Business Women’s Day in September, I’ve been thinking about what two decades of entrepreneurship have taught me. If I could go back and tell my younger entrepreneurial self one thing, it would be this: trust your gut sooner.
Stop trying to make everyone happy. Stop thinking you need all the answers before taking the next step, and stop measuring your success by what everyone else in your industry is doing. Your business will change. Your team will change. YOU will change, and that’s not failure. That’s growth.
Success isn’t just about revenue or how big you can build something. It’s about creating something that aligns with your values, taking care of your people, serving your community and protecting your own energy along the way. And maybe most importantly, you’re allowed to take up space.
The other thing that’s gotten me this far? Staying curious. I ask a LOT of questions. 🤣 I want to know why something is working, why it isn’t, what our numbers are telling us, what our guests need, what our team needs and what we could be doing differently. I don’t believe being a business owner means being the smartest person in the room. I think it means being willing to keep learning.
I’m still asking questions, changing my mind and trying things that sometimes completely flop. Then I get back up and try something else. Maybe that’s why I love traveling the way I do, too. I want to know what’s around the corner, try the restaurant I’ve never heard of and talk to the person behind the counter. Curiosity has shaped the way I experience life, and it turns out it’s shaped the way I’ve built my business too.
The Right Humans Matter
One of the biggest turning points in Trixie’s came when I realized talent alone isn’t enough. You can teach techniques, systems and skills. You can provide education and opportunities for growth. But you cannot teach someone to care.
Once I stopped hiring simply to fill a chair and started hiring for work ethic, energy, character and alignment with our values, everything changed. I realized I wasn’t just building a salon. I was building a culture. We don’t always get it right, Lord knows we don’t. 🤣 But protecting the culture we’ve spent 20 years building has become one of my most important responsibilities as a business owner.
The right humans will always be more important to me than simply having a full roster. And when I look at where those right humans have taken Trixie’s, I’m pretty damn proud.
Twenty Years of Caring
If you had told me 20 years ago, when I first opened Trixie’s, that this little salon would someday partner with retirement communities, senior living communities, memory care centers, cancer centers, hospice organizations and other healthcare communities, I’m not sure I would have believed you. I knew I wanted to do hair. I knew I loved people. I had no idea where those two things would eventually take us.
Recently, two moments reminded me exactly why we do this work. More than 62 braids of hair were donated to Wigs for Kids through our partnership with Children’s Cancer Connection. Each one represents a guest who was willing to sit in that chair, cut off their hair and give a piece of themselves so a child facing cancer could feel a little more like themselves. Hair grows back. The impact of that kind of kindness doesn’t.
We also announced our newest partnership with The Lighthouse Memory Care of Des Moines, a boutique memory care community opening this fall in the Drake neighborhood. Their philosophy is that dementia care should still be full of life, music, art, connection, familiar faces and dignity. We couldn’t be more honored to bring salon services, love and a little extra connection into that mission.
Twenty years in, I know this much for sure: being a hairdresser was never just about doing hair. It’s about making someone feel seen. It’s a child donating their hair, a resident sitting in a memory care chair, a guest who simply needs an hour to feel like themselves again and a team that understands the privilege of being part of those moments.
If Trixie’s leaves any kind of legacy, I hope it’s simply that we cared.
And sometimes the people who sit in our chairs become part of that legacy, too.
I was reminded of that in the hardest way recently when I had to say goodbye to my beautiful friend Roberta. Calling our time together “hair appointments” would honestly be a stretch. They were part therapy session, part life advice, part catching up, part entirely inappropriate conversation and a whole lot of laughing until our bellies hurt.
Roberta showed up for me during some of the hardest seasons of my life. She believed in me when I doubted myself and my business, and when Danny died, she gave me a safe place to cry without trying to fix anything. She simply listened and loved us through it. I would give anything for one more of those appointments, but I’m incredibly grateful for every single one we had.
That’s the thing about 20 years behind the chair. Eventually you realize the people are the story. The team members who become family, the guests who become friends, the communities that welcome us in and the people who show up for you when life gets hard. Those relationships are worth more than anything I could put on a spreadsheet.
A Little Extra Sparkle
And because apparently we hadn’t had enough emotions lately, we also had to say goodbye to Dolly Parton. There was absolutely no way we were letting that pass quietly at Trixie’s. So we did what felt appropriate: we brought out the pink, the sparkle and a whole lot of Dolly spirit.
I’ve always loved women who aren’t afraid to be fully themselves, and Dolly certainly gave us that. Big hair, big personality, a huge heart, and absolutely no interest in making herself smaller for anyone else. After 20 years of learning to trust my gut, stop trying to make everyone happy, and understand that I’m allowed to take up space, I’d say that’s a pretty damn good reminder.
Here’s to the Next Backroad
Maybe that’s the thread through all of it. The floating cabin in Sabula, the sunshine in Lake Havasu, the weird martini you didn’t plan on ordering, the small business you almost drove past, the salon chair, the employee who becomes family and the guest who becomes one of your people. You don’t always know which ordinary moments are going to become the ones you remember.
So take the trip. Take the backroads. Walk into the little shop. Order the damn dessert. Support the business someone was brave enough to start. Ask questions. Change your mind. Surround yourself with good humans. Tell your people you love them. And trust your gut a little sooner.
Twenty years into owning a small business, I’m still learning. I’m still asking questions, still changing, still trying new things and still curious about what’s around the corner, both in business and in life.
And I think that’s exactly how I want it.
Here’s to the next backroad. ❤️
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