Before & After: Ellee Price Learns from Local Entrepreneurs Through Co-Op
Before & After is not only the name of a local salon and spa, it also serves as an apt description for LaRue County High School senior Ellee Price’s experience learning from the entrepreneurs who started it all.
Christy Waddle and Kathy Okeson co-own Before & After Salon & Spa located in the Hazel building on the square in downtown Hodgenville. When presented with the question of participating in the Co-Op program with LaRue County Schools, Waddle described their motivation as one of duty, “We believe in this community and this is one of the ways we can invest in it. It’s part of our responsibility as local business owners to help invest in the next generation, helping them understand not only the skills needed in the workplace but also that you can go your own way and be an entrepreneur.”
The Co-Op experience for students at LaRue County High School allows for students to be in the workplace and see what it’s like to interact with the public through a particular lens of a chosen job field. Okeson explains the toolkit that Price is being equipped with in her work as a Co-Op student, “While she might not be going into the career that we have, she can learn people skills, how to interact with the public, and how to partner with a team. We want to let these kids know that you can open your own business, be your own boss, and grow your personal business to support yourself. This is a great place to begin learning all of the skills necessary to do that, time management, overcoming obstacles, and prioritizing tasks when things get busy.”
“Some of the skills I’ve learned since I’ve been here have been communication and management skills. I’ve also learned how to talk with people in the community and then turn around and manage the schedules that operate here. There’s more than 10 employees here so it can be a challenge to arrange and maintain all the logistics of calendaring appointments” reflects Price on her time so far at Before & After. “I’ve learned a lot from not only the women I get the opportunity to work with but also the women from the community who come here for services. It has brought a lot of awareness to me in how real businesses are run. What I have learned in the classroom, I am now getting the opportunity to participate in, in real life.”
What makes LaRue County special is the sense of community that is sewn directly throughout opportunities like this - partnerships between students and community members who mentor them, investing in their future through real-world experiences. Perhaps this is best summed up in Waddles closing thoughts, “We want our community’s teenagers to know, if you want something - don’t stop, go after it.”
