It’s not hard to guess
Miranda Epp’s favorite
color. But the owner of The Pink Papaya and the founding president of the fashionable fund-raiser Pretty in Pink is also taking a liking to another hue — the green of success. In August, Epp and her husband, Ryan, opened their new salon and day spa in downtown Fayetteville. The business is already on track to generate $1 million in revenue in its first year. Also in its debut year, Pretty in Pink netted $42,000 for the Ozark Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and, in its second year, is already showing signs of selling out. Instead of resting on her laurels, Epp is eagerly anticipating her next big challenge, whatever it may be. Raised in Siloam Springs, Epp opted not to attend college. The decision was a smart one for her, she says. "I wanted to be financially independent when I was 20, not waiting tables and paying off school loans," she said. So, she worked for a marketing company and later waited tables while attending beauty school. Epp chose the profession because "it was what I was good at, and my ultimate goal was to do something in marketing which is what this business is," she said. "If you can sell yourself, you can sell anything."
At 28, Epp has already accomplished a lot.
She is a mom to 5-yearold Addyson, a boss to 23 employees and hairstylist to a dedicated clientele, the retention of which she credits to her personal touch. "I really truly like to touch everyone I meet on a personal level. I like to help," she said.
Whether financial, professional or personal, Epp delights in advising and assisting others. "My main goal is to help everyone else around me reach their goals," she said.
She encouraged her mother, Sherri, to embark on a third career as a senior esthetician at the salon and has even had clients ask her for advice on where to have their cat groomed. "I want to be a positive influence and I believe you should surround yourself with the type of people you want to be. … Why waste time on being negative? Negative gets you nowhere. And I don’t accept no for an answer. I just rephrase the question."
She certainly didn’t accept no during the renovation of the warehouse where her new salon is now located. Her husband built all of the building’s walls and added custom touches with a water feature and heating fixtures. He started sleeping on boxes at the building because at home, Epp would wake him every few hours so he could get back to work. Her father, the head of a construction company, helped her hire two workers that she drove equally hard, even threatening to fire her father if her deadline wasn’t met. Even the electrician was subject to her refusal to relent. "The electrician’s wife thought he was cheating on her because I wouldn’t let him leave until he was finished," she said.
Her determination paid off. In five weeks, all renovations and inspections were complete, and The Pink Papaya opened smack-dab on schedule.
Epp designed her salon as if she were the customer, she said. She wants clients to feel like they’re entering her living room and to have unique experiences such as chocolate pedicures, Brazilian waxes and massages while floating on a hot water-filled pillow. The brightly colored walls are decorated with photographs and paintings that Epp acquired by trading services with local artist Christina Mariotti.
An "education junkie," Epp frequently travels to classes across the country. During an Intercoiffure hair class in New York City last year, Epp found the inspiration for Pretty in Pink in the form of a hairstyle fashion show. "It inspired me to do the same thing," she said. "By the time I flew from New York City to Chicago, I had it sketched out."
She pitched the idea to her good friend Alison Levin, executive director of the Ozark affiliate of the Komen foundation, and "by the time I hit Arkansas that night, it was all worked out in my head," Epp said.
Although she didn’t know anyone at the time who had been affected by breast cancer, Epp chose the Komen Foundation as the event’s beneficiary because it was the organization she personally donated her time and money to. She has served on the Ozark Race for the Cure’s steering committee and experienced firsthand the foundation’s generosity to the community.
It took five people three months to organize the first event. In its second year, the event is backed by an established nonprofit organization complete with a board with Epp as president and a steering committee.
This year, the board set an eyebrow-raising goal of $150,000. Epp has no doubt they’ll reach it. After all, all of the event’s 70 tables costing $800-$2,500 each have already sold out, and only 150 individual tickets remain.
This year’s event kicks off at 5:45 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Fayetteville Town Center with a VIP arrival and cocktails followed by general admission at 7 p.m. A silent auction will take place throughout the evening, and the fashion show featuring one-of-akind designs by Northwest Arkansas designer Jordan Crowson takes the runway at 8 p.m. "He did a fantastic job last year. His designs are innovative, and they sell," Epp said. "And he’s a local, and this is a local event."
Crowson, a graduate of the University of Arkansas apparel studies department, is currently working on marketing and distributing his collection. He sews his own gowns and works out of his Fayetteville home.
The evening will be capped off with a live auction of donated items.
The fashion show highlights not only Crowson’s clothing collection but also makeup and hairstyles, said Epp, who has been an Aveda representative for eight and a half years.
After a 6 p.m. rehearsal the day before the show, Epp and 15 of her Aveda co-workers from across the country will regroup at 4 a.m. the day of the event to begin coifing the hairdos of some 70 models. After wrapping up the benefit, she’s off to Washington, D. C., to groom the Boozmans for the presidential inauguration, then she’ll fly to New Orleans to attend a class and then it’s off to …
Life is hectic, but Epp wouldn’t have it any other way. "I run on adrenaline," she said. PRETTY IN PINK When: 7 p.m. Feb. 5 Where: Fayetteville Town Center
Tickets: $50 • Tickets are available at The Pink Papaya, 509 W. Spring St., Suite 215 in Fayetteville. For details, call 521-7465 or e-mail mirandadawn5@hot mail. com.
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