Q AND A WITH SARA JUNE GILMORE, FOUNDER OF SARA JUNE SALON

Sara June Gilmore in Her Salon

Q:  How did you get the idea to start your own salon?

A: I was working for a great salon called Soon Beauty Lab in Carroll Gardens for two years and had built a large following there. I fell in love with Brooklyn and wanted to keep my life here. But, I tend to get bored if I do the same thing for longer than a few years, so I started dreaming about what could keep me here in Brooklyn. Owning a salon was an obvious solution.

Q:  What's great about being a small business owner?

A: Owning a business is nothing like I thought it would be. It isn't better or worse; it is just constant. It is always on my mind. I like that it gives me purpose and drive. I like that other people are depending on me to provide a wonderful place to work, and I like that clients are enjoying a delightful space to get beautiful hair.


Q: What is challenging about being a small biz owner?

A: The challenges are many. One of my personal challenges is learning how to manage my time efficiently. I have been doing hair for 15 years and so have never had a desk job. It proves difficult to answer emails, order color and product and manage payroll without getting distracted. I’m learning, though!

Q:  What drew you to working with people's hair?

A: I honestly never knew that I would be doing hair for my work. As a kid, I loved watching my hair lady part my hair with clips and chop chunks of hair off my head. I thought it was dramatic and wonderful to look so different so fast. I enjoy reinvention and newness. Getting a new cut or color is one of the fastest way to feel different and fresh. I think I love that the most. I also love people so much. I learn a lot every day from my employees and my clients. It’s inspiring.

Q:  What do you love about living in Brooklyn?

A: I love the people everywhere. I like the energy that almost colliding into hundreds of people every day gives me. I like human interactions without actually interacting. It's a constant dance, and I love it.


Q: Is there anything about living here that is challenging?

A: One of the challenges of living in Brooklyn is how hard we all work. Work occasionally wears me down to a point of depression, and then I look out at the people around me and realize they are all working just as hard. It helps me energize again and get back to work:)

Q:  I know that you were raised as a Mormon, and that you no longer practice that religion.  How does that upbringing shape how you think about things and approach your everyday life?  
A: One of the things I love about being raised Mormon is the belief in continual growth and personal development. It shaped me in a way that makes me face my weaknesses and try to master them. I love that about the religion. I also love that I came from a family of 8 kids. I definitely learned how to work with many different personalities and to love them all.

Q:  What do you love to do when you are not in the salon?

A: Camping is one of my favorite summer activities. I can’t wait to get to the mountains upstate.

Q:  What are some of your favorite places to hang out?

A:  The park in Sunset Park and my roof are my two favorite spots. I also love The Sackett and The Gowanus Yacht Club.

Q:  Where do you see yourself and the salon a year from now?

A: The wonderful thing about Sara June is that our team is full of very talented and experienced stylists. We are growing incredibly fast, which is super exciting! I hope that in a year from now,  Sara June will be known as the place to go to get the best hair in Brooklyn - or in NYC for that matter!

For more information about Sara June Salon, visit their website:  http://sarajunebrooklyn.com/

This Q and A marks the first interview in what will be a series of interviews with owners of local barbershops and salons.  Stay tuned!

A NEW, AFFORDABLE SPACE FOR CO-WORKING IN THE GOWANUS NEIGHBORHOOD

Mmmmmm..........freshly-baked cookies!

Sometimes, it's nice to have the quiet of home to get thinking and work done.  But it can get too quiet, y'know?  Sometimes, it can be fruitful to go to the public library and work on projects om a livelier atmosphere.  But there, you only get a half an hour at a time on their computers and it can get pretty raucous, especially after school lets out.

It seems like a happy medium (with a whole lot of other perks thrown in) is co-working.  Folks can work independently, but get to be around other self-starters, entrepreneurs, etc.  With co-working spaces, there can be nice touches like a shared kitchen and eating space, copy machines, and the like.

I was excited to find out that a nearby dinner church, St. Lydia's, served as a home to a co-working arrangement.  This offering popped onto my radar after I took a great workshop from the Founder and Pastor, Emily Scott.

I paid a post-workshop visit to Emily at St. Lydia's, and checked out the space for myself.  It's a friendly-looking storefront with tons of light, and is loft-like yet still cozy in feel.  There is a beautiful kitchen in the back of the room.

There are two great ways you can try out St. Lydia's co-working space.  One is that you can request a free, one-day trial.  Another is that you can participate in Get It Done Tuesday, an all-day event that brings people together around work, goal-setting, yoga, walking, and eating.

For all the deets about co-working at St. Lydia's, CLICK HERE!!!

* Coworking at St. Lydia's: 304 Bond Street, Brooklyn; Monday - Friday 8 am - 6 pm
* Email: Stlydias(at)stlydias(dot)org

SAVE THE DATE FOR GOWANUS GATSBY, A FUNDRAISER FOR DOUGLASS GREENE PARK

Gowanus Gatsby, a Flapper Fête

Friends of Douglass Greene Park to present a Brooklyn in the 20s themed

soiree & awards dinner on October 5, 2013

Brooklyn, New York -- On Saturday, October 5, 2013, the Friends of Douglass Greene Park will host the Gowanus Gatsby, a Flapper Fête fundraising benefit and its first-ever awards dinner. To be held at the Gowanus Ballroom alongside the canal, it will include celebrity hosts, a buffet dinner with open bar, an awards reception with live entertainment, dance instruction, a dance party with live DJs, aerial performers, slide shows of Brooklyn in the 20s and of Douglass Greene Park and its surroundings. There will be costume and dance competitions, and other activities reminiscent of the roaring twenties. Brooklyn Boulders and Homage Brooklyn will have climbing and skateboarding demo areas on ground floor. Don’t miss out on this historic and fun-filled hipster meets Gatsby event!

The benefit will celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of the park’s renovation on its Third Avenue side and highlight the ongoing development of this vital and multi-faceted public park located on a full city block between 3rd Avenue and Nevins Street, and Douglass and DeGraw Streets in Gowanus.

The Douglass Greene Park is used by hundreds of families living in Gowanus, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Cobble Hill. Just a few blocks from the new Barclays Center – the park has a skate area, a children’s playground with a water feature, picnic tables, the popular “Double D” pool, free swimming lessons, basketball courts; and is a cooling center and hosts a free lunch program during the summer.

The Friends of Douglass Greene Park, a 501(c)(3) organization, works with community and business partners to enhance the quality of life in the area through programming & special activities for all ages, creates much needed green space, works with the NYC Parks Department to assure completion of the park’s renovation, was successful in its appeal to the NYC Council in 2010 to restore funds to keep the park’s “DD Pool” open, and advocates for the renovation and accessibility of the pool.

The following persons will be present to receive awards for their enormous efforts on behalf of Douglass Greene Park:  Honorees: Bill de Blasio (NYC Public Advocate & former Councilmember District 39/to be confirmed), Brooklyn Boulders/Lance Pinn, Building on Bond/John Kole, Jared Lewis & Phil Morgan, Homage Brooklyn/Michelle Sauer and Jose Portes, Stephen Levin (NYC Councilmember District 33), Joan L. Millman (NYS Assemblywoman 52nd Assembly District), Charlene Nimmons (President of Wyckoff Gardens Resident Association), Sue Wolfe (President of Friends of Douglass Greene Park & former President of Boerum Hill Association), David Yassky (NYC Taxi & Limousine Commissioner & former Councilmember District 33)  and Recognition: Martin Maher (Chief of Staff for Brooklyn/NYC Parks & Recreation), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn Borough President),  Jo Anne Simon (founding member of Friends of Douglass Greene Park & Democratic District Leader and State Committeewoman for the 52nd Assembly District) and Gowanus Ballroom/Josh Young.

(Lists in formation) Sponsorship: Boerum Hill Association, Brooklyn Boulders, and Homage Brooklyn; Blues/Jazz: Vocalist Riva Nyri Précil and jazz band; Aerial Performer: Melissa Canella; DJs include: Sharon Taylor; Creative Director: Artist/animator Mac Premo; Producer/Communications: Michelle Karshan; Host: Friends of Douglass Greene Park.

Please support the Friends of Douglass Greene Park -- and your community -- by making a donation, purchasing tickets, or becoming a corporate sponsor for this event.  

Choose your tickets to the awards buffet dinner with live music: Champagne Fountain, Jazz Fanatique, Flapper Femme Fatale, Art Deco Daisy, Tassle Necklace Pearls, The Green Light or the Gowanus Grinder tickets for the dance party only!

For more info and to purchase tickets go to

http://gowanusgatsby-flapperfete.brownpapertickets.com

For more information on the work and current activities of the Friends of Douglass Greene Park, go to

www.FriendsofDouglassGreenePark.org

Interested in becoming a Corporate Sponsor of the Gowanus Gatsby event? Please contact Michelle Karshan at Michelle.Karshan@gmail.com

Editors: For further information or images, please contact Michelle Karshan at Michelle.Karshan@gmail.com or by telephoning 917-853-0433. 

Find us on Facebook at Friends of Douglass Greene Park

LET THE GAMES BEGIN: ROYAL PALMS SHUFFLEBOARD CLUB IN BROOKLYN, NY

I could tell from the get-go that Jonathan Schnapp knew about fun. When I first met him at a party in the backyard of By Brooklyn last summer, he was rocking t 70s-style jumpsuit.  We got to talking and he told me and a few other folks that he was planting the seeds to build a state of the art shuffle board club in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn.  So I leaned in to hear the story behind this idea.

Schnapp grew up in Mamaroneck, and every winter his folks would pack up and take their family to Florida to see the grandparents in Century Village.   There, Jonathan would hang out at the pool and play shuffleboard with the elder folk.  "There were shuffleboard courts for as far as the eye could see," he recalls. 

As an adult, Jonathan returned to Florida with friend Ashley Albert to serve as a judge in a BBQ competition.   While there, they found the Mirror Lake Shuffelboard Club in Saint Petersburg.  Friday night was all about the "St. Pete's Shuffle," where people of all ages would gather under the stars to play the game together.

It was through this magical experience at St. Pete's that Jonathan and Ashley decided to open up their own shuffleboard joint  in Brooklyn.   They spoke with Jim Allen, the owner of the country's biggest shuffleboard supply company.  Seeing the possibilities for Jonathan and Ashley to help create the new face of shuffleboard, he offered to outfit them with all the game-related equipment they needed to launch their business in New York.

At this very moment, Jonathan and Ashley are poised to begin construction on Royal Palms, a dream-becoming-reality on Union Street between 3rd and Nevins Streets.  I recently visited them there in what is now a large, open, vacant space.  They graciously served me a seasonal sample of Boylan Soda's seasonal Shirley Temple flavor as I learned about co-owner Ashley's multi-faceted career as a voice-over artist; leader of The Jimmies, a popular children's rock ban; and founder of a company that makes Twitter necklaces.

Ashley and Jonathan are excited about the possibilities for intergenerational interaction that Royal Palms offers.  Already, they are working with the Good Sheppard after school program to partner children with elderly adults from the neighborhood for a monthly shuffleboard tournament.

They are also working hard to stay on a conservative budget so they can keep the experience affordable for all who come in the door.

Jonathan makes is clear that his is a club that respects the actual sport; the aim is not to be ironic.  The courts will be tournament-quality.

I am personally excited to have this project in the neighborhood.  It takes a lot of smarts to operate a social club that pulls in and is appropriate for folks of all ages and I think this one dynamic duo that can pull it off.