A Troy Crawford Concept

After 15 years of working as a hairdresser at two of Omaha's top salons, Troy Crawford decided to open his own ten years ago. One Drake Place offers a full range of hair and nail services and spa services, In June 2002, the salon doubled in size to 5,000 square feet, and the staff increased too, from eight employees to 43. And they are more than just employees to Crawford-they are family. In 2000, one of Crawford's team was diagnosed with breast cancer. The staff wanted to do something to help and created The Ribbon Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money to purchase wigs for cancer patients who can't afford them. It also contributes money to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which has received more than $100,000 from The Ribbon Foundation since 2001.

One Drake Place adds special seasonal services to entice its clients: The salon featured pumpkin peels and scrubs last autumn, for example, and margarita manis and pedis in the summer. The salon also boasts a five-room day spa offering facials, body wraps, pregnancy massages, microdermabrasion, Myontology and Japanese facials, which include Japanese massage movements, lymphatic drainage and deep tissue work.

The decor of the salon is comfortable clients sit in overstuffed chairs when having pedicures, for example-reflecting the warm enveloping modern atmosphere the salon exudes. Crawford, employs a well-educated staff; that include a cosmotology instructor and a platform stylist for American Crew, and he brings in educators every month or two and sends his stylists to industry events. But what really sets the salon apart, says Chris Hamilton, manager of One Drake Place, are the salon's fundraising events: Girl's Night Out, invitees donate money and participate in an auction to raise money for The Ribbon Foundation, receiving a mini spa treatment in return. The 200+ attendees of the Martini Party are treated to a live band, food and drink for a donation. "The events create a lot of excitement. They not only get a lot of new people into the salon, they raise a ton of money" says Hamilton. "We are blessed that we get to do this job. We make people happy on a daily basis, but to help someone in need, to make her feel themselves again, it's amazing, so powerful"