At the start of iterating her firm in a space she and her partner own, she can’t help but think of her prior entrepreneurial attempts, including the Los Gatos business she co-founded that carries her name.
Jayne recalls, “I saw that this building was for sale last year and didn’t think much of it,” when she was running a successful business near Highway 9 and Graham Hill Road. I requested to talk to the owner from the realtor. It was a match made in heaven.”
She has a lofty goal but has carefully planned how to get there. Jayne & Co. quickly expanded from a single-chair salon to six.
On one side of the new building will be eight chairs. She expects an ice cream shop in the other self-contained section in a year, or sooner if they can acquire funds. Her salon will remain Jayne & Co. Felton Creamery is their registered frozen dessert business.
“It was one of those things that was scary,” Jayne says of the large purchase. “But I’ve learned fear is just a feeling. It no longer hinders me. Going through the motions and everything fitting into place has been amazing. It’s asking for what you want, and I feel like I have excellent karma right now. And this building is ideal.”
She anticipates açaí bowls and boba drinks. She imagines the Spanish modern interior design as she sits on the overturned gray bucket draped in a beach towel. While the creamery opening is far off, the salon shift is imminent.
I’m thrilled about my future and growing,” she said, hoping to open by the first week of December. “My goal is to run the business, out of the chair, since I’m doing everything.”
This has been a lengthy journey. Practical Magic was her first haircare business, started with her mom in Live Oak. She was 19 then.
“I was a beach bum and didn’t want to work as hard as my mom wanted,” she says. “Get up in the morning, go to the beach, and hang out all day.”
Her sober, hardworking life in the San Lorenzo Valley is a far cry from her late teens and early 20s partying. The mother-daughter duo sold the business after two years.
“Fast forward to 2012,” Jayne adds, referring to her second firm, Taylor & Jayne, which she started in Belmont with Michele Mirassou. The salon had two chairs. Woodside and Burlingame residents were their faithful customers. “It was very different,” she adds of her first two firms. It was great.”
Following two years of unemployment, she had three youngsters to care for. They tried a new location after three years cutting hair in Belmont. “We lived in Los Gatos-San Jose and decided to move and open a salon in Los Gatos,” she recalls. “We were nervous about it.”
She doubted clients would travel to the South Bay. No need to worry. “All of our clients followed us,” she says. It was amazing.”
From Salon Owner to Volunteer Firefighter
Business was steady, so Jayne focused on parenting. “Michele and I had a great partnership,” she adds of the Blossom Hill and Harwood roads three-chair business. “The biggest thing was being closer to home and family. My kids were young. And Michele had 2 kids. We became more interested in our kids’ lives.”
Jayne bought a house in Twain Harte, located in Tuolumne County’s “Gold Country.” She says she drove back and forth, working at the Los Gatos salon, staying with her mom and Mirassou. “All salons closed.” Covid-19 impaired her economic vision.
“It was scary. First they shut us down, then they allowed us back in. It closed again, she recalls. I wrestled with, ‘Is the salon going to open back up?’ I opted to attend fire academy.” She applied to Columbia College Fire Academy and left Taylor & Jayne.
“It was a hard decision, but I was happy I did it,” she says. I enjoyed school. I liked fire academy.” She became a Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District volunteer. “It was incredible,” she says. “I could have waited forever for salons to open or joined the pandemic response. I think doing hair helps people.
I kept assisting however I could.” Her husband left in 2021, triggering some soul-searching. “It was probably the lowest and hardest point in my life,” she recalls. “I wasn’t sure where to go. I returned to Santa Cruz. I was staying at AirBnBs.”
Additionally, she understood that at her age, it would take a long time to achieve excellent money in the fire industry. She was lucky to have a Capitola hair salon chair from a friend.
When she reconnected with Soto, her current partner, from her “running around” Pleasure Point days, her party days paid off. “I definitely fantasized about still doing fire,” she admits. “But I needed to get back on my feet and do what needed to be done.” Making Dreams Come True
Jayne volunteered at Henry Cowell Redwood State Park. While traveling through Felton, a “For Rent” sign caught her eye. She says it was hanging off a black and white building, “very much my style.”
She eagerly told her lover. She should check it out, he said. “I think it would be awesome.” She had no home then. It was hard for her to imagine starting another business.
Turning Dreams into Reality
She met with the owners anyway. She started thinking when she compared the rental cost to her haircare ledgers. I thought, “Dang!” “I could make that much a month by myself,” she says. Her new handyman lover helped change her salon’s address.
“I just kept doing the next step,” Jayne explains. Since I had nowhere to live, I slept here for 30 days. We renovated it.” Thinking about that time makes her emotional while she conducts her new business move.
I was still struggling with my divorce. Life wasn’t easy. I think I was persistent and made it happen. My partner always remarked, “I believe in you.” “And I will help you,” she recalls. “I felt it would be a successful business.” Indeed, it was.
From the day I opened, I was blown away by all the clients who said, ‘Oh my god, we needed a salon like this here.’ That attracted stylists who wanted to work there. I’d make some money, buy another chair, station, and stylist. That stylist would get booked,” she says.
That continued. I moved from one chair to six chairs and six stylists. And all are booked quickly.” Jayne says she built what would have taken three years elsewhere in three months. The supporting network and like-minded stylists she attracted are to her credit.
“It’s just created an amazing environment,” she says. “It’s about the client. Enhancing their beauty. The best. Lucky me.” Jayne thinks demographic trends are helping her too.
“A lot of people have moved here from Silicon Valley,” she says, referring to the work-from-home trend that has increased San Lorenzo Valley population. People desire to live in beautiful places. It didn’t have the same high-end amenities as Los Gatos or the rest of the Bay Area when they arrived.
When I opened, they said, “Oh shoot!” I’ll try her, she says. “Many mountaineers don’t want to leave.” A perfect positive storm created a lively salon scene.
“Convenience, 25 years of hair experience, and my desire to take care of clients were the factors. That was the winning ticket, Jayne says. “I needed them and they needed me.” She still has Belmont and San Francisco clientele that travel.
“Just with the success of the business, and how it’s growing, and the amount of clients and stylists that have inquired about working with us, I thought it would be great to expand,” she says. “I thought it would be awesome to own and build equity in the business and building.”
