SPRUCE PINE — After nearly two decades of wanting to work with skincare and makeup, Mitchell County native Amber Gardner’s dreams have finally come true with her new business.
Gardner, 35, opened Mountain Escape Spa in downtown Spruce Pine earlier this month and even though it was a risk with the ongoing pandemic, she has no regrets.
“It was kind of crazy to jump in and do this right now, but I couldn’t be happier,” she said.
Following the birth of her first child 16 years ago, Gardner said she began suffering from panic attacks and insomnia. To quell her anxieties, she spent her sleepless nights watching television and flipping aimlessly through the channels.
“I got on QVC one night and that’s when they were doing makeup on people, so suddenly I got really interested in doing that,” she said. “From there, I started purchasing makeup and skincare products and started getting better and better at it and more and more into it.”
Gardner told her mother and grandmother that she wanted to go into cosmetology and esthetics, however, they urged her to go into nursing for more financial stability. She listened to their advice and became a certified nursing assistant and medical assistant.
But, after several years in nursing, she finally decided to pursue her passion.
“Finally, last year, I said, you know what, I’m going to go back to school and I’m going to do what I wanted to do all those years ago,” she said.
Gardner graduated from the Esthetics Technology program at McDowell Technical Community College earlier this year and wanted to open her own business, but worried about how successful it would be with the ongoing pandemic.
After losing her job at Flick Video, which closed up its tanning beds for the winter, Gardner was quickly pining for something to do.
“I was at home for two weeks and I looked at my husband and told him how I was so bored out of my mind and that I have got to find something to do,” Gardner said. “He suggested I just go look around and see if I could find somewhere in my budget.”
A friend told her about a suite for rent in downtown Spruce Pine and things moved quickly from there.
Gardner called the landlord on a Saturday, went in the following Monday to sign the lease and within two weeks, she was open for business.
“It just dropped in my lap real fast and I thought, ‘Ok, let’s do it’,” she said. “It just kind of happened.”
Gardner said business picked up quickly and has stayed up despite the pandemic.
“It’s been busy so far,” she said. “I’m very, very blessed and grateful for it. I’m just so happy because you never know, especially right now with the virus, if people are going to want to get out because they are worried about safety. It was really a roll of the dice to see if people were going to come in or not.”
To keep people as safe as possible, Gardner wears a mask, sanitizes the room and equipment with hospital grade sanitizer after every client, keeps hand sanitizer in her room and uses Lysol on the waiting area and doorknobs.
Additionally, Gardner was certified in sanitization methods this past summer through the Barbicide Certified Safe Service Establishment Program.
Mountain Escape Spa offers an array of services, including several types of facials, eyelash lifts and facial hair and underarm waxing.
The spa is located upstairs at 205 Locust Ave, Suite D. To make an appointment you can visit mountainescapedayspa.glossgenius.com or call Gardner at 467-2193.