Owner of salon, spa rescues her dream from a nightmare

Metamorphosis: (noun) a striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances.

When she chose the name for her new business, Suzanne Curry-Walker was thinking about the types of transformations that occur when you get a haircut or spa treatment.

What she got was a more-subtle shift from hopeful entrepreneur to seasoned business owner.

Curry-Walker is the owner of Metamorphosis Day Spa and Salon. It took her two-and-a-half years to get the salon built in South Meadows. She even paid $10,000 a month in rent on a building she couldn't occupy for a year.

Curry-Walker's story is one of perseverance. But in the end, the transformation was worth the struggle.

The dream or nightmare started in 2004. She'd been working as a hairstylist for about eight years. She'd had a successful career as a sales manager for Energizer Batteries, but when the company downsized in 1998, Curry-Walker knew it was time for a change.

"I didn't want anyone else in charge of my fate," she says.

With a severance package that would soon run out, she decided to go to beauty school. Her sales colleagues were surprised at her choice, but her creative side had always wanted a chance to shine. From day one, she knew she'd own her own salon.

"I treated (beauty school) like it was a job. I went full time, and I took every class I could on growing my business and my clientele," she says. She worked early, late, whatever it took to take an appointment. In just one year she'd built a solid clientele.

Those clients stuck with Curry-Walker while she labored to build her own salon. She remembers how during the construction of Metamorphosis she'd have to leave her clients to check on progress or sign paperwork.

"My clients were so awesome; I'd say 'Hang on, I'll be right back' and they were fine with it," she remembers.

But the construction phase lasted longer than anyone anticipated.

Terrible winter weather and a long legal battle with a former partner who also was a contractor for construction of the spa facilities meant Curry-Walker was paying rent for many months on space she didn't occupy.

"There was no way I was going to walk away. It just wasn't an option. I never give up," she says.

That attitude is what Matt Lucchesi, one of Curry-Walker's clients for 10 years, believes makes her so successful.

"Grindstone and perseverance...that's why she's made it. I don't think she's ever really tried to throw the 'Hail Mary.' But she's got the ground game. She keeps getting first down, and she just keeps going," he says. "When the chips are down, I want Suzanne on my side."

Today, Metamorphosis has been open for about 30 months. Curry-Walker has a staff of about 29 technicians (some contractors) and her shop is open seven days a week, 12 hours a day.

But she's far from resting on her laurels. After more than eight years as a master instructor for Schwarzkopf and its line of hair styling products, she stopped teaching. It was one of the hardest things she's done.

"I hate to disappoint anyone. Schwarzkopf trained me, so I felt as if I couldn't stop teaching. But there was no way I could get Metamorphosis where I wanted it without giving it 100 percent of my focus," she says.

Her plans for expanding the salon, including the retail and spa areas, keep her working behind the chair full-time. Her plans to buy a Harley Davidson chopper (she sold her last one two years ago because she had no time to ride it) and travel with her husband Gary will wait a little longer. For now, charity events such as the St. Baldrick's Foundation, Cancer Golf Tournament and others fill what little spare time she has. But all the work helped her achieve her ultimate goal.

"I wanted to create an atmosphere where you could stay in town, but have a retreat of sorts; get a haircut, have a luxurious spa experience, with great service. Everyone is all about service since the economy is bad, but where were they before things were tough? Making the customer feel like king is most important. I'm old school. I'm happy every single day people walk in my door," she says.

She's creating some balance in her life, but being a workaholic comes too easily.

"I love what I do. I get to come to work and see clients and friends people I have been doing since I got out of beauty school. The hours are tough, but the people are grateful and happy. How can I say no when I can help someone look like a million bucks?" she asks.