Teresa Hufford: successful entrepreneur, educator, student and single mom she worked her way through the ranks, going from stude

Teresa A. Hufford, owner of Heads Only Salon in Eagle River, hadn't originally planned to go into the hair care business. Convinced by a friend to take a cosmetology course, she soon found herself attending beauty school and later working at a salon. And though she may not have intended to take this career path, Hufford's hard work and entrepreneurial spirit has enabled her to succeed in what is often a very competitive field.

"If I wasn't doing hair, I have no idea what I'd be doing as a career," said Hufford, who is a stylist as well as the owner of the salon on Business Boulevard. "It's what I've been doing all of my life."

A graduate of Chugiak High School, Hufford took the course in cosmetology as an elective through the Martin Luther King Jr. Career Center, which is sanctioned by the Anchorage School District. After attending Trend Setters School of Beauty in Anchorage, she worked for two years at other salons before joining Heads Only Salon as a stylist.

"I was an employee for many years before I bought the salon three years ago," said Hufford, 32, of the business that offers hair care services including cuts, coloring, perms, and highlights, as well as the creation of updos and formal hairstyles. The seven-chair salon employs five stylists and two part-time masseuses as well as three part-time receptionists.

In addition to her role as salon owner, Hufford is also an educator for Nioxin, a skincare system for the scalp. "In my side career with Nioxin, I travel to different salons in the area, including Fairbanks, and teach classes on the product's use and benefits," said Hufford, who underwent a year of training out-of-state before becoming a product educator.

A single mother to Makayla, 12, Hufford also attends school at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she is two classes away from receiving her bachelor's degree. "It's hard to work full-time, raise a daughter and go to school part-time," said Hufford, who has taken classes in the marketing program off and on for the past 10 years. "I really want to finish, though since I bought the business, things have been pushed back a little bit."

As owner of Heads Only Salon, which she describes as "classy and chic with a small-town atmosphere," Hufford finds the independence and freedom of owning her own business exciting. Though she does her own payroll, bookkeeping and inventory, she finds employee relations the most difficult part of running a business. "It's a lot different being on the management side," she says of dealing with her staff. "Luckily, most of the employees have worked here a long time, so it was a fairly easy transition, but sometimes hiring new people is a challenge."

Hufford also has had support from Heads Only's previous owner, Phyllis Gardino, who still works at the salon. "She has been very relaxed and flexible about the changes I've made and has answered any questions I've had," said Hufford, who adds that she has worked hard to keep the salon's warm, family oriented atmosphere. "Our clients have also been wonderful, which helped the transition go smoothly."

As for the future, Hufford hopes to continue to increase the salon's revenue, and possibly add an aesthetician and a nail technician to the staff. "A dream of mine is to expand the salon one day to include a day spa," she said. "I would like to see something like that in Eagle River, and I think that there's definitely opportunity out there."

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