Published: August 04, 2008 07:14 am      

Talk of the Town

Making it downtown: Downtown Ashland has seen major transformations during the past 30 years. This story is one in a yearlong series examining longtime downtown businesses that have managed to survive — and sometimes thrive — in an ever-changing economy.

ASHLAND — Joan Johnston is confident that over the last 26 years, her salon has made many Ashland women the Talk of the Town for a day or so.

Johnston is the owner of Talk of the Town at 337 16th St. The business, which celebrated its 26th birthday in May, is as strong as the friendships of the women who work there and their clients.

“I love my job. I don’t know if I will ever retire,” Johnston said. “It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve had great times. I’ve met so many people that have come and gone. I say I’ve made half the women in Ashland beautiful at one time or another.”

Johnston first opened the salon in 1982 with stylist Billie Fannin.

“We just started a business,” Johnston said. The pair wanted to keep more of the money they made from styling hair, she said.

“It was just an adventure. We just wanted to try to do it,” Johnston recalled.

Having two people back the business was easier than one, she said, adding the pair were good friends and had worked together for almost 10 years at the House of Glamor before setting out on their own.

When the salon first opened, it included a tiny boutique in the front of the shop, which Johnston’s sisters ran. After five years, they closed the boutique business, and after 10 years, Fannin moved on and Johnston became the salon’s sole owner.

In 1999, Madonna VanHorn, another good friend of Johnston’s, joined Johnston after closing her own beauty shop on U.S. 60.

“They add a new meaning to friends forever,” said VanHorn’s 14-year-old grandson, Austin Allen.

“We work great together. We’ve been together through thick and thin,” Johnston said.

“It’s enjoyable to come to work everyday,” added VanHorn.

Johnston said she has been lucky to have her good friends as employees.

“I’ve never had to be a boss to anyone. If they wanted to make money they made money,” she said.

Johnston said she’s also been lucky to have good clientele. Even after some of Ashland’s major employers left and “the town moved away,” Johnston said, faithful customers kept returning and bringing their friends.

It’s the people, Johnston said, that make her job a passion. It’s the women whose hair she has styled for years whose children she’s watched grow up and then styled their hair and watched them have children that makes the job special.

“It’s a personal business,” explained VanHorn. “Some of your customers become your best friends.”

“My clients have watched me grow old and go through trials,” Johnston said. “We serve as a therapist many times and my customers have served as mine, too.”

But no matter the subject, the salon always keeps the same light-hearted, positive attitude.

“If you are sick or feel bad, getting your hair done really makes you feel better,” Johnston said. “We laugh, we tell jokes, we have fun. It’s not serious. My business has survived because of the fun things we do.”

CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.