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Are you ready to reopen your salon? Listen, as Jennie and her guest, 2020 Faces of Sola Katie Oakes, discuss what the new normal looks like after returning to her salon since reopening after her state-mandated shutdown. Katie is from Savannah, Georgia, and just reopened her salon on April 27th, after being shut down for COVID-19. We wanted to bring her on the Sola Stories Podcast to share her experience with us about her reopening journey.   Katie has been at Sola for about three years and was actually honored as our 10,000th Sola professional at the West Palm Beach Sola Sessions in 2018. She started out sharing a studio, but after two years, she had built her business large enough that she was able to transition into a large studio by herself.  Listen as Katie shares what she did to prepare to reopen her salon, her enhanced sanitation practices, and how she’s adjusting her day-to-day routines. She talks about how seamless the transition has been to her post-quarantine salon procedures, how surprisingly comfortable she feels wearing a mask throughout her day, and how supportive her clients have been throughout this time.  After two six-day weeks in a row, Katie has now been able to condense her schedule back to her regular five-day week in the salon. Katie says now that her business is back up and running, she feels like life is getting almost back to normal.   In This Episode [00:56] Welcome to the show, Katie! [01:44] Katie shares her journey to Sola that started almost three years ago. [03:16] Katie speaks about sharing a studio for the first two years with Sola before getting into her own space. [04:47] What has your experience been with COVID-19 in Savannah? [07:23] Katie discusses her sanitation procedures before and after clients, and how she runs her day-to-day business. [09:16] Jennie speaks about getting a mask you are comfortable in and the availability of masks on the Sola Store. [10:16] Are you adjusting your time slots and or having your clients wait in their cars? [11:58] Katie talks about the physical updates she had to make to get ready for reopening. [13:12] Katie speaks about how the retail side of her business is being handled. [16:35] Have you changed your pricing or added any COVID fees to cover your costs? [18:42] Katie discusses how she communicated with her clients and how she handled rebooking. [22:47] Katie chats about how thrilled customers are that she is open. [23:24] Katie shares how excited she is to be open, and she feels like life is almost back to normal. [26:15] Katie, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing your journey with us.   Stay Connected Sola Salon Studios Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram Connect with Jennie  @jenniethewolff Connect with Katie   @hairbykatieoaks