Veronica
“I cried with every client when they came back. I was just so, so happy. I can’t tell you how happy I was. I didn’t think the day would ever come.”
It’s fairly common knowledge in Albuquerque that in 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in the Sundowner Motel, an old motor lodge located along a somewhat deserted strip of Route 66. Except for a small plaque that rests on the outside of the Sundowner’s housing complex today, you’d hardly know that the building was home to one of the greatest innovations of the 20th century.
The story goes that Gates brought Microsoft “home” to where his family was, and what was born in Albuquerque grew up in Seattle. It’s hard to imagine how Albuquerque’s economic landscape may have changed had a tech giant been headquartered in this small southwestern city. Today, there are no Fortune 500 companies in the state of New Mexico. It is, instead, driven by small businesses – a state where handshake contracts are still commonplace, where businesses are proudly run by families, and where small businesses are committed to supporting each other and their communities. And for these small businesses, customers are family – expected familiar faces who show up as much for the friendship as they do for the goods and services.
During the initial COVID shutdowns, the Albuquerque small business economy faced immediate challenges. Most businesses closed overnight, uncertain of how or when they could reopen. In those early months of the pandemic, before PPP funding was available, small businesses survived by doing what they had already known how to do so well: create a community of support, embrace their clients, and ready themselves for the very instant that they could once again open their doors and go back to work.
Veronica is a stylist and the owner of Joseph’s Hair Salon. She has worked at the salon for 41 years and has owned it for 39. Her sister, Audrey, is the salon’s manager. Throughout COVID, Veronica stayed in touch with her customers even when the salon was closed, connected with her employees daily (every employee returned after shutdown orders were lifted), and helped her elderly clients get vaccinated in those critical early months of vaccine access. This is her story, in her own words.
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About a week before COVID really shut things down, we had a customer who was running for office come in. She had a meeting at Hotel Albuquerque with other political people. She told me, “The Governor’s going to shut all businesses down. And she is going to shut your business down.” I got mad – and I like this customer – and I said, “The Governor can’t close down my business. This is a private business. She’s not gonna do it; I don’t believe you.”
The next week, we were shut down. March 22, 2020. I was hysterical. But, we thought, “We’ll be back in two weeks. They’ll clear this mess up and we’ll be back.” I remember driving home and it looked like a ghost town. I thought, “Whoa, maybe this is something.”
When we closed down, we were fortunate to pay all of our bills that month. But we had rent due April 1st. Audrey didn’t want to open up mail that was coming in because it was another bill and another bill. We paid everything off and we had $200 left in the account. So, there was a letter in the mail – it wasn’t a bill – and we weren’t sure if we should open it. We finally did and it was from one of our clients. He gave us a check for $1,000. At the same time, we also got a bill for income taxes and it was like $700, and we paid that. So, we had $500 in the account. The next week, another bill came for $1,200 from the IRS. That’s when Audrey was on it with PPP, and getting money in. That was her full-time job when we were closed down. We got it and we were able to pay everything. The next month, our client sent us another $1,000 and we said, “That’s it! We’re good, we’re good, we’re good.”
I stayed in touch with our clients every single day. I’d be on my elliptical all morning, and calling clients letting them know about the schedule if we opened the next month. We just kept rolling over their appointments. It was so nice to stay in touch with everyone – I felt like I didn’t lose them. I made a list and called. I live alone and stayed in touch with my family, but staying connected with the clients felt really good for me.
When we were closed, we just started cleaning. We wanted to stay busy, because we thought we’d be back open right away. We started getting letters from OSHA and the State Board, so we started getting rid of furniture and curtains. We couldn’t have any kinds of drapes, cloth materials, any paper items. We had to get rid of all clutter. So, we came into the salon every day and cleaned. We filled up the trash so many times – we took things to the dump and to Goodwill. We got rid of a ton of stuff, just to keep the salon as simple as possible.
We literally washed the walls from floor to ceiling – I was filthy every day. We painted; we cleaned the carpets and washed the floors – I don’t know how many times. I was so proud of that. We were ready to open back up about two weeks after shut down, but we’d watch to see what new rules were put in place. We’d go buy different cleaning supplies and make sure we were in compliance with any changes that came through.
One day, I came into the salon to check the phones, water the plants and such. My daughter was with me and we went looking for bleach. We went in one of the rooms, and there was water coming up from the drain in the floor. We thought maybe we had spilled something, so I didn’t think too much of it. The next day, we came back and I checked the same room. There was water everywhere. Just then, my brother came in and I asked him to take a look; he said it was our water heater. I went to the back of the salon and water was everywhere – flooded the carpet. It was a mess. At this point, our PPP money hadn’t kicked in; we had $500 in the account. I had money in my savings, so I could take care of it, but I knew it would be thousands of dollars. I tried calling the plumbers and no one was even answering the phones.
I called my sister – her boyfriend, Steve, is electrician – and asked if he knew of a plumber and explained what was happening. They both came over right away, and he called his plumbers. One of them arrived immediately and took care of it right away. And, Steve paid the bill. Isn’t that amazing? I had seen that plumber every day for a week, and he wouldn’t take any payment because it had been taken care of. But I had to give him some money anyway out of my pocket. I cried when he left, because I felt like he had become a part of us. Everybody was being so good to everybody.
Every week when the Governor would come on television to make an announcement, we’d all get together and open a bottle of wine, and listen to what she was going to say. And, she wouldn’t say I wanted her to say. My reaction was to burst into tears. When we finally heard the news that we could open on June 1st, I wanted to put up the Christmas tree! I called all the girls and said, “Ok, we’re coming back! Everyone’s coming back! There are rules and we’re going to have a meeting. They’re strict rules – we have to follow them and I’m here to reinstate them.”
I was so nervous and on edge. Everyone had to stay six feet apart – no one could touch each other. We had so many rules and guidelines to follow, and I would get so nervous and so upset if someone broke the rules – if their masks weren’t on right. Nobody liked me and I didn’t care! I said, “I worked too hard to open this place back up. I don’t want to close back down.”
We were disinfecting everything. The rule was, if you touched something, we cleaned it. If you sat somewhere, we cleaned it. Clients were watching us, too. I had a client tell me that someone didn’t clean something well-enough, so everyone had an eye on us. You just never knew what was going to happen, and you didn’t want to do something wrong and get closed down again. I would even bring my lunch in a plastic bag – a sandwich and a piece of fruit – and I would go to my car and sit there and eat. I didn’t want to take my mask off in front of anybody.
On June 1st, there were so many clients who were afraid to come back – who didn’t want to come back in right away. We just put them on the list, and I’d talk to them. They wanted to know what we were doing and what our protocols were. I just kept checking on them to see if they were OK. The other really hard part was when we finally did get to see our clients again, we couldn’t hug each other. We love to hug here and we love our clients. It was hard to fist pump and I’m not a handshaker. I wanted a hug. A real hug.
We made private rooms, so a husband and wife could come in together and they wouldn’t have to come in contact with other clients. We had people sit outside and get their cuts outdoors. One woman we did right by the door, so she could sit inside with the door open right next to her. A lot of people, if they had colors processing on their hair, they’d sit outside on a beautiful day. People could come on off hours when we weren’t open – if they wanted to come before or after work when no one else was in the salon. I had one client who we’d get in and out before anyone else was in the salon. We did everything we could.
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I was scared for everybody. For my own health – for the business. Coming back to the salon, I was afraid that I’d come into contact with someone who was sick and then I’d pass it along, especially with the elderly clients since not everyone was vaccinated right away.
I’m healthy; I’m 61 and I don’t work as a first responder, and I got a call about a vaccine from the DOH. I kind of ignored it because it wasn’t my time yet. They were still doing people over 75, healthcare workers, teachers. Then my client came in and she’s 81 and her husband is 91. She said, “I’m so sick of this. I haven’t gotten the vaccine – I’ve been on the phone with DOH all day.” She does not have a car. She does not have a computer. She does not have email and she does not have a cell phone. She lives in an apartment complex with her husband. She took public transportation – in those crowded busses – to come to the salon during COVID. She has COPD and she just stopped smoking two years ago.
I told her, “I’m not getting my vaccine until you do. You need to get your vaccine and then I’ll feel OK about getting mine.” I said, “You know what, let me see if I can figure this out for you.” She said, don’t bother – she had been on the phone all day. I didn’t want to push it at that point, because I didn’t know how she was feeling. Maybe she wasn’t actually excited about getting the vaccine? So, the next time she came in, I asked how she was doing. She said, “I can’t believe I haven’t gotten called yet. I’m really scared and I want the vaccine.”
I told her, “Let’s do it. You’re my client and I don’t have anyone after you.” She said, “They’re gonna keep you on hold like they do me.” I said, “That’s OK. We’re gonna leave the phone on while I’m doing your hair and we’re just gonna wait. We’ll stay on hold for as long as it takes.”
Finally, a guy came on and I explained the situation. I told him that my client was with me and he said, “OK, well, can we have access to your phone?” I said, “Yes! Yes! You can have total access and I will take full responsibility for the phone call and getting her to the appointment.”
About an hour after she left, someone called me back. I called my client right away and we set up her appointment. We both got our vaccines together that same week.
I had two other clients – one has cancer and the other has lupus and rheumatoid arthritis – so they both really felt like if they got the virus, they were going to die. I said, “OK, let’s do this. We’re gonna go to the Pit and we’re gonna wait there until they give us the vaccine.” We went and stayed in the car until it was closing time. I walked up to the guy in the front and explained the conditions my clients had. I told him that they didn’t have appointments – but they really needed the vaccine. I asked if they would have any leftover at the end of the day.
He said they probably wouldn’t, but we could wait and see. So, we waited and waited. I said, “It’s just two people – just two. They really feel like they’re going to die if they don’t get this.” He finally said, “Ok, last person left and we don’t have any extra.” We wound up waiting a while longer just to see, but there was nothing left.
I wish I could have done more. I had another client who couldn’t get a vaccine, so I started calling her to see what I could do. People didn’t have transportation or any way to get out. I was watching TV to see how I could help bring people to get vaccinated. I certainly couldn’t go give a shot, but I could do something. I felt like everyone was pitching in – helping people with food or checking on their neighbors. And, I remembered what one of the newscasters at the time said: “We just need to do our part. It’s all we can do.” So, we did.
