Elizabeth Tate puts hair color on Sonja Sartin's hair at Hair A Go Go on Thursday.* Name: Elizabeth Tate
* Position: Owner
* Location: Hair A Go Go
* Best part of the job: She embraces the joy in having a career centered around making people feel beautiful. "It's pretty awesome. And it's a big responsibility. For me, that is my most favorite part about the business, is being able to touch people and being able to change them. Seeing that smile - you know when you've got it right, when they can't even control the smile. You can tell you've really helped give them a different feeling."
* Worst part of the job: "When I have to be that person who says, 'No, that's not acceptable.'" This can apply, she said, to employees and to clients. "I had to tell someone that I couldn't do the haircut she wanted because I didn't want her to look like Mrs. Brady. I'm not afraid to say to someone 'I can't do that to you. You're going to look like you're from the 1980s, and not in a good way.'"
* Best advice: She summed it up in one word: Think. "I figured out the other day that when I train an apprentice, what I'm waiting for is for them to think for themselves and anticipate. Don't ever wait for anybody else to give you permission to do anything. I want my employees to anticipate the needs of other people on the staff (and) our clients in a respectful, thoughtful way." Asking questions and being willing to take the hard road, she said, is vital. "Sometimes it's not easy."
* On being a female business owner: "[There's a line] between assertive" and pushy. "That's one of the most interesting things about being a business owner as a woman. [It is] challenging. There are real things you have to face that I never anticipated. So knowing when to assert myself when I need to, and know when to pull back when I need to."
* On making people look good: It's a big responsibility. And trendy is not always best. "When I was in my 20s, I would have given the newest, coolest thing I could possibly imagine. But as I get older, I know there are people who want to just look beautiful. They don't care about cool," she said.
- Contact Holly Leber at hleber@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6391. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/hollyleber.