Capaldi brings the expertise of an 18-year-strong businesswoman and can count her operation as one of Salon Today's Top 200. After a recent move and relaunch, the community-oriented salon owner is feeling recharged and rejuvenated. Here, she talks about her best practices and how she thrived throughout the recession.

Debora Capaldi, John Capaldi, Lauren Inglese, Oribe, & Annie Oliver

How did you get into the hair industry?
I think it started when I was in college. I always had a love for art, but I got involved in a theatre group. I got pushed into helping them do makeup, and I said, "This is where I'm going." I was in school at Northeastern in Boston as a speech pathologist, an audiologist, and I realized that beauty was actually my passion. I wanted to be in the hair business, and of course I needed a job going through college, so I worked at John Dellaria hair salon as a receptionist. And that was it. I had the love then, and I always wanted to have a salon and be in that environment. I ended up going not to beauty school, but esthetician school. Then, I just pursued it, and that's it.

How come you didn't become a hairstylist?
You know, that's a funny question. I just didn't, and to this day I don't have a knack with hair, but I can play with makeup until the cows come home. At the time, in Boston you could go to school for just skincare and you didn't need a cosmetology license, so that's why I chose that field. I had already gone through five years of college, so to get back into the beauty school and all of that, I wasn't ready for it. I just wanted to be a salon owner.

After you graduated did you open a salon immediately?
I moved to Arizona right from Boston. I had worked for Lancome cosmetics for eight years in Boston, and I used to teach makeup for a school, the one I had attended in Boston. Then when I moved here, my husband and I had the opportunity to decide what business we should pursue. We needed to work. He had always been in the automotive business, and I was in the cosmetics business. I wanted a salon and he wanted an automotive facility...and we both started looking at spaces. He said, "Well, let's go away for the summer and let's just see when we come back if the properties we both chose for our businesses are still available - whatever space is still around will be the business we'll go into.

When we came back from our vacation, the space that I was looking at for a salon was not available - but the space that he was looking at to open the automotive-repair shop was, so that's the business we chose.

Four years later, we sold the automotive business, and I said to my husband: "That's it! I cannot deal with oil changes anymore. I only know how to sell lipstick. I'd like to open a salon now." That's how it came about.

He worked in the salon thereafter?
My husband always worked in the salon - well, not in the salon but on the salon, I should say. He would always support me and help with the key decisions. You know, a man is still great with contractors and getting electricians. So when we built the salon 18 years ago, he knew all those things to do. I'm just the person who deals with the employees and the customers. That's my job.

You've been listed in Salon Today's Top 200, and you've been one of the top hair salons in Arizona for a long time. What do you think are some of your secrets of your success?
I think it's being a role model. I really have worked on the salon, and I work at the salon all the time. I'm there for my staff and for my clients. You never have to wait to talk to me. I will immediately get on the phone; I don't say you'll get an appointment with me today or the next day. We get on, we discuss the situation and rectify it immediately. So I think that's the biggest part of success. And people have always said it to me, like vendors, "You know, the really great part of you having a successful salon is that you're always on-hand." I'm always here! So that's a big part of my success.

Why did you decide to open a new salon this year when your other salon was so successful?
We were all in our comfort zones but my lease was coming up after 18 years, and I probably would have still been there, but you know what? Things happen in funny ways. My landlord was procrastinating so it gave me the opportunity to go into the area and research what else was out there. And so I started, and let me tell you, it was quite a scary endeavor. I went down many roads and hit dead ends, but all of a sudden another door would open, and I'd find something else. So I think the most important thing is that I took the leap and got a fresh start, and it's the best thing I ever did.

Now I'm in a new location, a beautiful location, and my clients are happy. Everything is new and fresh. It's a new start because of where we were going with the economy and everything. This was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of what's out there. It was the scariest time, but the best time to do it. So I took the leap, and I made the change. You can kind of get in a rut, and I was in a rut. So my landlord did me a favor.

Do you think that the team was invigorated by the move?
Oh gosh, the hardest thing ever was change. People don't like change. I think the last year of change was hard - in part the "not-knowing." But finally, when we made the decision to move - and signed the lease and got the salon in order - everything fell into place.

It was still very hard; people are just afraid of change. They really should embrace change - it's inevitable - and often it is positive. It forces you out of your comfort zone and gives you a chance to learn and grow. So we all went through that, as well as the clients and stylists. I think that it was a really big time for us.

As an owner, how do you deal with helping stylists overcome change? Any tips?
I think they have to believe that it will not hurt them. People are sometimes fearful, and you know what happens when you're fearful. I was going through the change, too, and I'm thinking, "What can we do to make this better?" So I would reinforce the positive and say: "Look at what we're doing. We're starting at a new place. We're getting a new beginning. It's our chance to grow again."

Did you lose any customers with the move?
No. The thing is, my clients are now interested. They want to know about the new place, they want to see it... so not only did we not lose any, but we've also been gaining a lot of clients.

How are you gaining clients? How are they finding out about you?
We are just starting the PR and the opening plans...but we're on a busy, busy street. I was on a corner of a center for 18 years, and now I'm visible. So the visibility is the best thing that's ever happened!

People are just driving by and noticing. Word gets out in this town; I'm sure it's like that in any town with hairdressers. Like a new restaurant opens, a new salon opens, and it's the buzz! Everybody wants to go.

I don't have as much foot traffic, but there are two phenomenal restaurants next door and a furniture store. So I have people venturing in from those places, and behind me there are 400 units of condos, townhomes and brownstones being built.

Are you doing anything for the restaurants? Like doing the waitresses' hair and putting it on the menu...hair by Pucci?
Absolutely. They do a women's Tuesday night happy hour, and we put a flyer out and give out complimentary gift certificates or giveaways. People can register for that. We haven't stopped doing that for two years now. Since the economy started going out, we thought of all different ways of promoting and working with our neighbors.

What are some of the ways you promote the salon?
Well, the best thing we did was have these little gift cards and complimentary gift certificates written up. When stylists have down time, I'll tell them to go on the road to the close-by neighborhood stores and restaurants, and give out these certificates. They carry them with them. Everybody has them in their purses...and in that manner we never stop advertising. It's an inexpensive way to promote the salon without having to put an ad in the newspaper or a magazine for $2,000.

I don't really believe in discounting, but I believe in giving away. Like, "get a free haircut with color." I always tell my team that cuts don't cost anything, so give a client something. And now with the economy, we've noticed when we've been calling people that their biggest reason for not coming as often... is that they don't have as much disposable income. So you have to give away right now. These people will be the first to come to you when they have an interview and they get a great job. I think people are often very reluctant to give away things for free. They'll say, "OK, maybe I'll do it 30 percent or 40 percent off" but there's nothing better, in my mind, than when you give someone a taste of what you can deliver, at no risk to them, and then they become a customer for life.

So when you opened the new salon, what did you do differently and why?
First of all, we don't call it downsize, it was smart-size. That's different because I didn't have a handle on the space before. It was way too big, and if felt very unorganized for me to handle. I felt like I was going to a much cleaner and easier space and didn't want to waste any of it. People don't realize that every square inch can be measured in dollars.

I knew exactly what to do this time. Get a space, work with an architect, work with a builder and actually sit there and say: "This is what I want, and this is what I have. These are the people I have that I want to fit in there." That's the architect's job.

So not only did I do it differently in that sense, to simplify things, but also I wanted to make it a better place. I did it by going more eco-friendly. I said, "If I'm going to do this, then I'm going to go and help the world." It's a contagious feeling when you choose this avenue. And we chose as much as we could: Some examples include...our flooring, our tiles, our rugs are all recyclable. Our paper and all of our marketing is all recycled. My paint is eco-friendly - my lighting, my energy. I'm using LED lighting and that takes less energy.

People love it. My clients think it's a better location, so it takes them less time to get here. So they're saving on energy, too. It is contagious, and we use these various ways to recycle. We come from a generation that didn't do that, and now we're becoming more aware. That's why we chose to go that way. All the resources are there; you can find it everywhere now. Just go online and you'll find things. It's amazing.

Who did all the research on the green elements?
Luckily, I have two people who are very eco- and economy-conscious: my architect and my PR person. And I chose them for those reasons, as well. They taught us a lot. They already had a lot of the means and resources. Also, my husband would spend hours on the computer in the middle of the night because he couldn't sleep, and just research. Flooring! "Where can I get the flooring? I want this color!" You don't even need to have an architect who's aware of these things. You can do it yourself.

Is there anything else that changed with the move aside from location...wardrobe, hiring practice? Was it a re-launch? Or just a change of space?
Oh, it was definitely a re-launch. We figured if we're going to do this, then we're going to change everything. It's the perfect opportunity to change whatever you need. First thing I did was re-write our employee handbook, which I advise everybody to have as a guideline, whether it's about talking gossip, hours or dress code - whatever it is. You create your own manual handbook. So we created a new handbook and had a meeting before we left. That was the opportunity, to change.

Our dress code was also more enforced. We enforced how the front desk was going to operate. We enforced everything. It was our opportunity to change. I would recommend that to everybody.

On your website and in your materials, the word community comes up a lot. Is there some important meaning there to you?
I think community is really important. It's part of my mission statement, as well. Without community, you don't have anything. I'm involved in my community because then my community gets involved in me. So whether it's a charitable event or a fashion show, we are giving to the community, and they, in turn, recognize us for this, and we get it back. It's a win-win situation. You have to be involved.

Pucci gets a lot of press. You're in 944, business journals, Elle...Do you have an active PR strategy?
You have to work both ways. When times are tough, sometimes you need a push, so you have to hire a PR agency. There are agencies out there where you don't have to sign a one-year contract; they will work month-to-month. They'll help you get press, and we don't necessarily know how to do that.

But there are also times when you have to do it on your own. Like when you go out there and do a fashion show or something for the community.

What's important, I think, when you're doing any kind of press or advertising is that you need to do something that will elevate you to another level. That will give people something to talk about. Now I can use my PR firm because I'm going to have a grand opening, and we're doing something new. When 944 came, that's because I got Oribe. Oribe was the newest thing in town. I was the only one who had it, and Oribe was coming. Do you know what that was like? That was the biggest thing in town. So those are the things that you can do on your own. You have to pitch a story to the press on your own, and if you can't, and you need a little push, you get a PR firm.

Do you currently have a PR firm?
Yes, I'm working with one now and focusing on my new location: why we're so wonderful, why we've been around for so long, about our grand opening and why we're so eco-friendly.

Any recommendations for owners on finding the right PR firm for them?
Interview them...rigorously. Actually, I found my new team through a client. Clients are our best resources.

What is the future for Pucci? What will the next 18 years be like?
Oh wow, you know, the first 18 years went by really, really fast. That's such a tough question because I can only hope for the best for everybody and for myself. I'm trying to learn to live in the moment. I'm trying!

What are your own personal luxuries?
Right now in my life, I think spending time with my husband and Olive, my Boston terrier, who is the cutest and sweetest little dog in the world. I love spending time with them. But you know what I love most - other than saying "I want a massage" or "I want to get my hair done" or whatever? I want quiet time. I love to have the day to do errands. The time that I'm quiet, and I don't have to talk.

Who inspires you?
Well, of course my husband inspires me. A lot of people inspire me. You're inspiring me right now with these questions. I try to instill in everyone, and my employees too, to find the good in people. I don't go by first impressions. I try to find the good; everybody has some good.

But I've got to say that throughout the tough times, it's your partner, or whoever they are. My partner has not missed a beat. His encouragement and positive behavior has never stopped. And when I was down, he brought me back up. He keeps me on-core, so he definitely inspires me.

What's your favorite Oribe product and why?
I just love it all...the feel, the smell, the luxury of the whole line. Superfine is one of my favorites. It gives me just enough lift, and I can layer it while I'm blow drying my hair. It gives me the volume that I need, and it doesn't weigh my hair down, and I have shine.

What's your present state of mind?
Simplicity.