IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR

By Marjorie J. Hurst

 

I really didn’t know the subjects of this story, Ms. Zela & Daughters, too well but I had decided a while ago that I wanted to do a story about them working together in their family hair salon business.  I know from first-hand experience that it can be very tricky working with family members so I was extremely curious about how the four of them managed to make it work.   

       So when Ms. Zela (that’s what we call her) suggested that we meet over breakfast at the House of Pancakes in West Springfield because she had a taste for pancakes, I agreed and thought to myself that at least I would enjoy the food whether or not the interview went well.  (She later called me back to say they would be happy to come to my office since she realized that she and the girls had the day off and I had to work but I assured her that meeting at the House of Pancakes was fine with me.)

       Well, I was totally unprepared for what a great time I had interviewing them.  It was delightful.  We talked and ate and laughed and I learned a lot about Ms. Zela & Daughters.  I learned specifics like the fact that Ms. Zela (Zela Otey) has been working as a hair stylist for 28 years and that her two oldest daughters, Shalandria (Shay) Newman married to Lloyd with three children, and Cazania (Kaye) Boyce-Hillian married to Donald with two children, both of whom, by the way, were named by Zela’s sister, Bobbie Rennix, knew they wanted to be part of the hair industry from the time they were youngsters and their mother glamorized the profession and allowed them to help her and follow her to trade shows.  Both girls graduated from the High School of Commerce in 1984 and went directly to Mansfield Beauty Academy, the same school their mother graduated from, and received their degree in cosmetology and then served as an apprentice under their mother learning the business.

       Shay and Kaye laughingly joked that younger sister Rhonda Jones, who is married to Kenneth and has two children, on the other hand, decided that she wanted to go to college and go into hotel administration/travel and then after she had “spent all their mother’s money,” she decided that they were having too much fun and she quit her job which she says “wasn’t fast enough for her” and went to Jolie Academy in Ludlow to get her cosmetology degree so she could get in on the fun.  Rhonda laughs right along with her sisters and admits that what they say is true but, in her defense, she says she paid herself for Jolie Academy!

       And now the three daughters and their mother operate Ms. Zela, Daughters & Company at 35 Pearl Street in Springfield, Massachusetts.  They have been at that location since 1988.  After learning about the family specifics, I had two burning questions that I wanted answered:  (1) How do they handle competition among themselves?  (2) What happens when there are disagreements?

       After being with the four of them for about two hours, I instinctively knew the answer to my first question.  They do not compete among themselves.  To the contrary, they enjoy helping each other out.  Whatever competition there may be is an individual thing as they try to perfect their own skills and be better today than they were yesterday.

       I also knew the answer to my second question by watching how the girls related to their mother.  They affectionately joked that they all were “slaves to her,” including their late father, Thomas E. Otey, who died five years ago.  What really came through, however, was the enormous respect and affection that they have for their mother.  And whenever there is a disagreement or problem, they take it to the back because Ms. Zela does not allow “chaos out front.”  When I asked Ms. Zela what happens if they still don’t agree after they have taken it to the back, she told me that that rarely happens but if it does, what she says goes.  And in my humble opinion, that’s how it should be.  It is also obvious, however, that Ms. Zela thinks the world of her daughters and enjoys their company.  They all work together as a team.  They help her and they serve as her backbone.

       Another point that became very clear in the interview is that these women love their work and their customers.  They treat their customers like family serving them hors d’oevres during the holidays and sharing their burdens and joys.  What they have is a family –friendly salon where they believe in healthy hair--taking good care of their customers’ hair as well as their customers’ psyches.  No one is turned away.

       The source of this admirable matriarch’s strength is her personal testimony:  “For I am blessed, better than blessed, for I thank you, Lord.  We are blessed, better than blessed, for we thank you, Lord.”  Ms. Zela also “thanks her mother and father, Annie and Shelbert Anderson, for their love, caring, wisdom, values and guidance because if not for them, she would not be the person she is today.”  And, Ms. Zela, I’m sure that your daughters thank you, for if not for you, they would not be the persons they are today. n