Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA -- If you're getting your hair styled by Jeannette Brown, don't be surprised if she asks how you'd like your "fringe."

After more than two decades in England, the native Walla Wallan who recently opened her own business -- Brown's Salon-- is still working to bridge the dialect divide.

"Fringe," by the way, is more commonly known stateside as "bangs."

The opening of her salon in the Die Brucke Building caps 20 years of learning her craft by training in cities across Europe and owning her own salon in Yorkshire, England.

Brown moved to England at 6. She spent a good portion of her summers in Walla Walla during her childhood years and continued to make return trips here.

She returned to Walla Walla about nine months ago to be close to her family. But starting her own business proved to have more challenges than the language.

Initially, the state would not recognize her overseas licensing. She was told she would need to go back to school for two years in order to be recognized as a cosmetologist in Washington.

As a mother and entrepreneur who'd been trained to teach various techniques in England, going back to learn what she already knew was not a path she wanted to take.

She was told the state would recognize a license from another state. So she tested in Oregon as a hair designer, nail technician and aesthetician, meeting Washington's definition of a cosmetologist.

Meanwhile, she got to work on converting a suite in the Die Brucke building into her new salon.

The space, just outside of the Macy's juniors department and most recently used as an office, needed plumbing and structural changes to accommodate her full-service salon.

It opened in early June and offers all all hair, tanning and spray tanning services.

In addition to those, the salon also offers waxing and the label.m hair care products used in England exclusively at Tony & Guy salons.

Services range in price from $10 for a lip wax and $20 for a blow dry to $100 for full head foil.