Portland spa owner opens Newport salon Entrepreneur Debbie Elliott credits success to team approach, attention to clients

NEWPORT – Debbie Elliott came home to central Maine on Wednesday and took the area by storm. A visionary who is considered a leader in the beauty industry, Elliott chose to open her second million-dollar spa and salon in Newport, near her hometown of Hartland.

But this was no ordinary grand opening. As a testament to Elliott’s respect and power in the beauty industry, friends came from California, New Jersey, Vermont and New York to celebrate the opening of the Debbie Elliot Salon and Day Spa. They toasted the entrepreneur’s success with wine and oysters Rockefeller, shrimp and scallop strudel, crab cakes, eggplant Neapolitan and duck hors d’oeuvres.

The governor sent a letter of support and dozens of area residents and business owners flocked to the giant pink mansion on Route 2 in downtown Newport.

But before the doors opened at noon, Elliott – who works seven days a week, is in the process of obtaining her doctorate degree in leadership and change, and still finds time to make cookies for her staff – bustled around the spa, overseeing the finishing touches.

Don’t think the 50-year-old Elliott is the Martha Stewart of the salon, however. She is not one to take control and not let go. In fact, her mentoring and team approach with her employees is revolutionizing the beauty industry and brought in $1.3 million in sales this year to her Portland spa.

“She has a greater vision than most,” said Dennis Gullor, who owns two New Jersey spas and traveled to Maine to celebrate Elliott’s opening. “She is a legend in our industry, taking a leadership role in staff development and a team approach with employees.”

Sarah Hancock has worked for Elliott in Portland for five years. Fresh out of beauty school, Hancock needed a job and began as a nail technician. “I really didn’t think this was the industry for me. I’m not cutthroat, not competitive,” she said. “But I discovered it’s not like that at Debbie’s.”

What Hancock discovered is Elliott’s business philosophy. With 37 employees, Elliott uses a team approach. No one pays booth rent or works for commission. They are all 40-hour-a-week employees receiving insurance, benefits and flexible time off.

“You can’t have a team when you are fighting for the client coming through the door,” she explained. “My employees are all focused on the same thing, the client.”

“We develop people,” Elliott said. “I find, in this industry, there is such a lack of help. We have changed that. We do career development. This keeps our employees growing. We give them management opportunities, training opportunities.”

And it is clearly working. For five years in a row, Elliott’s Portland spa has been named one of the top 200 salons in the America by the prestigious Salon Today magazine, and she is regularly tapped as a motivational speaker for beauty industry events.

Elliott admitted Wednesday that the climb wasn’t an easy one. When she wanted to expand and went seeking a bank loan, one banker told her no one would pay $30 for a haircut.

“That’s the attitude that is killing small business in Maine,” she said. “There are all kinds of out-of-state entrepreneurs who come here with capital and blow us away. We have to be competitive.”

“Banks told me that you can’t grow by 30 percent in one year,” said Elliott. “Well, I grew by 117 percent in my first year.”

Questioning whether central Maine women will spend $39 for a haircut or $80 for a massage? They already are, said Elliott.

Before she even opened the doors Wednesday, Elliott was booked full for the first three days. “Many of our customers in Portland came from zip codes here in central Maine,” she said. “They kept telling us that if we were closer they would come more often and bring their friends.”

The renovations on the spa, which is located in a 13-room mansion built just after the Civil War, began last February and include massage rooms, waxing stations, the hair salon, a boutique and rooms for facials, manicures and pedicures. All of the equipment, from the free-floating sinks to the massage tables, are state-of-the-art.

The spa offers everything from full-day packages for entire bridal parties or groups to stress relief treatments to the traditional cut and color. Maternity massage, reflexology, Shiatsu and hot stone therapy are also offered. Unique services such as bust firming, mud wraps, Parisian body polish and acne treatments are also available.

The salon can be contacted at 368-2068 or at www.debbieelliott.com.