Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Rodgers and Francesca Martins de Castro.
Nikki and Francesca, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
We both started as artists and creatives, somewhat of misfits in our younger years and found our way to the beauty industry. We met at a salon in Roswell eight years ago, Soda Salon + Gallery. Though we were in different seasons of life, we connected over our love for art and hair and forged through our twenties working together in a couple of different salons but always ending up together riding the same wavelength. The ties of soul sisters grew stronger over time, and as we faced the pandemic together in our last space that wasn’t our own- a certain fire was ignited in us to do something new and necessary. Over many giggly girl’s nights and creative brainstorming sessions, we built a business model we could believe in and birthed together our business baby- Seven Stone Collective, Beauty + Well Being.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s been smooth in the sense that we feel like we’ve been floating down this river of business ownership. Yeah, sometimes we bump into things, but we just keep on floating and it’s been a fun ride. We’d say the struggle is just balancing the labor of love that this whole process has been. Really caring about what you’re doing means a lot of intention and energy goes into it, and curating the team to fit it and protecting the vibe has definitely granted both of us some lessons. Once accepting the steps to forming a team – ‘forming, storming, norming and performing’ – it became a little easier to move through the motions of this. We have learned to love and accept the different adjustments it teaches us both to make. Maintaining the perfect balance of home life and work life- we each experienced our own struggle there, because it’s easy to fall out of balance when you feel love and responsibility for both things so much. It helps that we are such close friends because it makes it easier in the business relationship to check in with each other on the personal things like this and basically just hold each other accountable to maintaining the balance. Always supporting each other where and when we can. We’ve said this whole time we don’t know how other people do it alone. Our partnership is perfect- yin + yang!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Being a Beauty and Well Being ‘Collective’, we really do have a varied and strong offering of services. We specialize in hair, skin, and soul + keeping the vibes high. We carry out our services with a passion for our craft and utilize only the highest quality and ethically sourced products. Being sustainable as a business has been a top priority for us, and we are proud to say we throw away 1-2 bags of trash a week. We recycle everything in the building, from paper/plastic to hair trimmings, and even our color is disposed of through a service that keeps it out of waterways. No nonreusable plastics in the building, LED lights, just making and taking every step we consciously can to protect our planet. In our space, we can feel good about looking good. We have an array of practitioners with their individual skill sets supported by a unique service menu. Between our staff we have over 90 years of experience. Offering customized skin and hair care, with bohemian looks and organic styling services, craft hair cutting, funk + groove fantasy coloring. We can add hair with luxury hair extensions or take it away with hair removal services. Add lashes, or lift and tint the ones you have. We also recently opened ‘a healing space’ next door where we have been able to add reiki, soul coaching, and therapeutic massage offerings to our guests. We have been able to build this space from hosting monthly women’s circles for the last year. We’ve been building a community of people who care about both the external and internal beauty, and supporting your local artist and planet as you do.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Wow wow wow, where to even begin. First shout-out has to go to our partners. These men have supported both of us- every step of the way. From listening to our chaotic creative minds ramble on as we developed this dream, to having two hairstylists be their foremen on site for salon projects, holding space for our worries and anxieties along the way, and even putting their own dreams of entrepreneurship on the back burner to make sure their loves launched first. We simply would not have gotten everything accomplished to open and function highly without Sage + Stokes.
Our clients were definitely a huge support too. Knowing they were cheering us along and following us wherever we ended up was a huge help. Even when the space was totally unfinished and we didn’t have a front desk or all our products, they were still ecstatic every time they came in, constantly appreciating the evolution of the space and cultivation of the vibe. We wouldn’t be here without you guys!
Also, our co-horts; the stylists we’ve grown up with. They have been a constant support in so many ways: hyping us from the start, never feeling competitive or left out, letting us pick their brains on salon structures, systems, and designs, giving us honest feedback, coming to our events, and even sending us guests when they couldn’t see them or thought our space would serve them better. We are so grateful for our community of badass b*tches who we’ve come of age within this industry. Sarah Alley, Jessica Gerster, Ashley Acklin, all of you! You babes have all supported us in one way or another along this journey, and we are so grateful.
And of course, our product line Davines with the highest quality ingredients- and people. All the people Prestige Salon Products. Our VIP Gerry ‘Ger-Bear’ Taylor who helped us every step of the way, espially starting out: stocking color and products, advising us on orders, giving us the inside scoop, and always hooking us up with the best education for ourselves and the staff.
We Love You All SO MUSH!
Pricing:
- A wide range of hair care rituals: $50-$555
- Skin Care Services/Facials: $77-$200
- Lash + Brow Lifts + Tints: $70 +
- Intuitive Massage: $110 +
- Reiki + Soul Coaching/ Intuitive Readings: $55-$222
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sevenstonecollective.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/sevenstonecollective/
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/7z1i1x9syfvxxinuxogcwx0bk?si=7b43bc7b86e848be
- Other: tiktok.com/@sevenstonecollective777
Image Credits
Samantha Brooks, Sarah Alley
