Meet Amanda | Hyde Park Moms


What’s your favorite thing about living in the Hyde Park area? THE WALKABILITY!! We absolutely LOVE our location, we can be to Oakley Square, Hyde Park Square and Mt.Lookout square in minutes!
 
Child(ren) and Age(s)? Ace will be 3 next month and his sister, Rory, is due in June!
 
Favorite things to do with your kids around town (can be outside of HP)?  I’ve got a high energy kiddo so you can find us anywhere that he can RUN! Pogo Play, local parks and Lilypad are current faves. I’m so ready for the warm weather so we can enjoy the zoo and the pool at the Cincinnati Sports Club again this year!
 
Do you have a favorite local store, fitness class or restaurant and why? As a business owner, I love being able to support other small businesses. The Spotted Goose and The Blue Manatee are two of our faves. Joseph Beth is another favorite for the kid section. We frequent The Oakley Pub a lot, especially during patio weather with my son and love the patio at Teller’s when we get that rare night out sans kiddo!
 
Are you involved in a business venture, a local organization, a creative endeavor, or in the corporate world? Please share!  Yes! I own a salon in Oakley called Haven Modern Hair Studio. We recently rebranded from a salon we had operated under for over 10 years in the area, Bella Rey Salon. It was simply time to move on and change direction. We had always leased space and a building fell into our laps that we knew we had to take advantage of it. On a wing and a prayer we purchased, gutted, renovated and opened the new salon February of this year. It has been a DREAM so far, I literally pinch myself that this is what I get to call “work”. I’ve also had the pleasure of a wildly successful Rodan+Fields business that has grown leaps and bounds the past four years. My team is all over the country and because of my leap of faith into a business model I knew nothing about, but knew I could learn, I’m able to venture out and try other things i’m interested in that I wouldnt have been able to if I was behind the chair 6 days a week still. I recently teamed up with a local mama to start the Second Chance Outfitters resale event. I knew what I wanted in a resale but couldn’t find it….so we made it! Our first sale was Saturday, April 27th at Withrow High School with over 55 local moms and vendors with pop up shops for the day. I am so excited about the success of the event – stay tuned for more!

 
How has this community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now? The community is THE reason why we have been able to attain the level of success that we have. I truly believe that word of mouth and referals are the ONLY way to grow a business in today’s world. Word travels SO fast….if you are good to your customers, they’ll be good to you. They are seriously the reason why our salon has grown the way it has, everyone that walks in our door is family. Period. The same with my Rodan+Fields business. Go above and beyond, people remember it. Its my pleasure to serve the guests and the customers I have…I don’t ever forget that they CHOOSE to come to us and they can CHOOSE to go anywhere else. There’s a reason they keep coming back, it’s because we value every single one of them.
 
Tips for Balancing it all? Motherhood, career, family and social life? Ha! If you find out, let me know! In all seriousness…I saw a quote the other day that said “The problem today is that the modern mom is expected to work like she doesn’t have kids and raise her children like she doesn’t have to work.” I think there is so much validity to this. I LOVE what I do. I love my children but I don’t think they have to be mutually exclusive. Yes, mom guilt gets me sometimes. However I know that I was someone before I had them….and she is still important. What I do away from home is what allows me the time freedom that I currently have, the flexibility in my schedule, my SANITY and the ability to say YES more than I have to say NO. Also, finally not being afraid to wave the white flag of defeat. My first year of momhood I was a complete martyr, it served no one. I finally learned to ask for help, it doesnt make you less than. I was tired of surviving, I wanted to thrive and in the end, people truly WANT to help.
 
What is the best advice you have received as a mom? Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
Cloth diapers make the best burp cloths!
My pediatrician told me in the beginning, you have something I don’t. You’ve got that mom gut. You will know this little boy better than anyone. If your spidey sense says something is going on, tell me. If I say its nothing and you still have that nagging feeling, tell me. That mom gut is something that will serve you well but you have to learn that its ok to stand up for your kiddo and advocate. We’re a team. I’ve never forgotten that and it has definitely helped me to advocate for my child for the past three years
What is the best advice you would like to give to a NEW mom?
I think the mom gut advice I got from my ped. So often we brush things aside because we don’t want to be “that mom” or we think people will think its silly, etc. THAT is silly! You will know your child inside and out, front and back, no one will know them like you do. Its a gift, truly. Use it. You are their biggest advocate.
 

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