Bloom Salon was 20 years in the making

EASTON — Rose and champagne balloons, floral arrangements, laughter and door prizes marked the festive atmosphere at the grand opening of Bloom Salon by JCM on Friday.

Around 50 guests gathered to celebrate the realization of the vision of the business’s three founders.

This has been a 20-year process for two of the women, Josie Mauk and Cameron Rogers, who went to beauty school together. Rogers’ niece Morgan Lapp, who is from Hawaii, rounds out the trio. She apprenticed for two years with Rogers.

The three of them each have a chair in the news salon and each bring their special touch to cutting, coloring and styling hair.

“We do everything hair related — color, cut, highlighting, blonding and perms. We do men’s cut, men’s color, facial waxing. A lot of men get a color that blends,” Mauk said.

Mauk and Rogers bonded over their love of hairstyling while at Delmarva Beauty Academy school together. Mauk said even then they talked about going into business together.

“The moment I started cutting hair, I just embraced all of it. I just loved it so much that Cameron and I would talk about owning our own shop together. And now that we do, we say how much we love it. We don’t care if we have to work extra hours or if you are cleaning up at the end of the night for an hour. It just means something totally different when it is actually yours,” Mauk said.

“Cameron and I have been working together for about 20 years and Morgan is Cameron’s niece. The three of us had always wanted to open our own place together. We were just waiting for the right time,” Mauk said.

After a couple of months of searching, the perfect location for their Salon revealed itself at 341 North Aurora Street in Easton.

“We have two extra rooms in the back that are empty that we would have availability to rent out to add something extra,” Mauk said.

They also have an extra styling chair.

“For now I don’t think we are really looking to fill our other chair. But we would be looking to fill those extra rooms with an aesthetician or massage therapist,” Lapp added.

Lapp came up with the salon’s uplifting name.

“We are all blooming out into our own and branching out into our own and liked ‘Bloom’ so we decided to stick with it,” she said.

The name has carried over into the space’s decor.

There is a distinct, organic vibe in the salon. The floors are blond wood, and there are exposed wood shelves. There is botanical art on the walls.

“I would like to say that we are bright and welcoming and try to have a serene and a calm atmosphere,” Lapp said.

The salon’s founders said they are motivated by a love of hairstyling. But it isn’t just about hair, they said. It is about people.

“You can almost see sometimes when people are leaving, they are just standing taller. Like they are grinning from ear to ear. It is just the best,” Rogers said.

“We are constantly getting to know people and different personalities and trying to make everyone feel the best they can when they leave our door. Being available to someone not just to do their hair but listen to them is important,” Lapp said.