Two new downtown hair salons are aiming to keep West Dundee a well-coiffed place.
Luke Lashbrook and Mike Beardsley own and operate Brook & Beard Academy, 103 S. First St. Less than a block away, Nubia Bonilla has opened BE Hair Loft & Academy at 102 S. Main St.
Both teach new skills to burgeoning professionals in addition to offering client services.
“I envision my salon as a place that not only specializes in very high-end color transformations and extensions but also as a place for education,” Bonilla said.
Bonilla, of Algonquin, is a third-generation stylist — her parents once owned a shop they named after her in Hanover Park. Working as a stylist for 12 years, she had a salon in Hoffman Estates before moving to West Dundee.
Bonilla developed a fondess for the village after many stops at Elder + Oat for coffee and having a baby shower at Bleuroot restaurant, both of which are also on Main Street, she said. When an “available” signed popped up on a corner building, she decided to jump.
“I love this community,” she said. “I was captivated by the building. It dates back to the 1880s.”
BE Hair Loft & Academy, with six stylists in addition to Bonilla, opened in October. In addition to working with clients, she offers classes and certification programs through which other stylists can learn niche services and employs new cosmetologists so they can build their skills.
Over at Brook & Beard Academy, which opened in late December, Lashbrook and Beardsley take care of their clients while also training others to become barbers. Their ties go way back.
“Mike is the third generation of his family to be in the barber business,” said Lashbrook, of Crystal Lake. “We grew up together, went to the same church and our dad’s are both pastors.”
Lashbrook initially pursued a career in logistics but found it to be draining, he said. After three years or study and training, he received his barber’s license in 2020 and set his sights on starting his own school.
Along the way, he wound up working with Beardsley at shops in Algonquin, Huntley and McHenry. Lashbrook convinced Beardsley, a Lake in the Hills resident with 15 years’ experience, to join him in the academy venture.
“He’s the whip behind the horse,” Beardsley said of his friend.
It took about six months to meet all the state’s requirements to open the academy, and they found their West Dundee location through one of their salon contacts, Lashbrook said.
“When we saw it, we realized it would fit closely with what the state would require for us to operate our school here,” he said.
The pair offer a program that requires 1,500 hours training over 10 months to three years to get a barber’s license as well as 500-hour and 1,000-hour programs through which barbers can train to become instructors and a 500-hour program through which cosmetologists can get their barber’s license.
They’re planning to work with Bonilla on offering a course on coloring at their location.
Brook & Beard Academy has 16 students enrolled so far. Four are full time, training and studying 30 hours a week at the West Dundee shop, and the others are taking fewer hours as they switch careers or plan to use their skills as a side job, Lashbrook said.
One of the benefits of the school is they can have students provide services at discounted rates. Haircuts given by students are $15 for adults, $12 for children and $10 for seniors. Beard trims are $5 and washes are $3.
As for the appeal of being a barber, Lashbrook said for him it’s the camaraderie you build with your customers.
“You wind up becoming friends with the people whose hair you cut. So I get paid to work with friends six days a week,” he said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
