Entertainment - Entertainment News

POSTED: Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008

Joelle Adams: Hair stylist works out of converted Airstream

Joelle Adams runs The Hairstream Studio, a salon business, out of a converted 1968 28-foot Airstream Ambassador.

Though the salon is mobile and serves various events, it is often parked off of the Mount Baker Highway in Glacier. Adams takes appointments, but also turns on a spinning barbershop pole to let customers know when she is open. To contact the Hairstream Studio, call 599-2443.

Here is her story, in her own words:

"I approach hair in the same way that I approach art. It's kind of a meditative process, really. I enter the same state that I do when I'm working on a painting that I do when I'm working on a haircut. It's like a sculpture. It's just another artistic medium for me.

"It was my husband's idea actually — he's such an idea man. He said, We should turn our Airstream into a salon and call it the Hairstream. And so, that's all I needed. I just kind of took it and ran with it.

"I want to be able to give people a good haircut, but I also like to just spend quality time with people. When I schedule my appointments, I leave longer time buffers in between so I can have good conversations with folks. It gives people an opportunity to get together and relax and talk about things that are going on in their lives and that's kind of what I strive for in all of my services.

"To run a business in a town like Glacier, it takes a bit of creativity, but it's very worth it to try and make this business work here because this is where I want to be. I moved up here in 2002 because I was happy here. I was working for the Forest Service and had a place in Seattle. When I would go back to Seattle, I wasn't happy, but every time I'd come up the highway to come here, I was. But to take the leap to move out here, just to commute to somewhere else to work was not very appealing to me. It didn't fit with my lifestyle any more. I wanted to plug myself into the local economy here.

"I really do believe that you should go where you want to be and make your life work around you there. I love to hike, I love to ski, I love being outside. I love the river, I love the mountains. There's great people out here in Glacier, a strong sense of community, and I love it. And I think that, if you enjoy things on that level and you do what you really want to do, things always tend to work out. It might take some time, but it always does work out."