8 minute read
BUSINESS
Scottsdale.org l @ScottsdaleProgress /ScottsdaleProgress
New salon combine self-care, coaching
BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
Southern Scottsdale resident Melissa Pruett thought changing the world and saving lives was as a scalpel-gripping heart surgeon, cutting people’s chest open and performing heart surgery.
Instead, Pruett is changing lives with a microblade pen and her thriving self-care studio MELT by Melissa, which celebrated the grand opening of its new location on the corner Main and 75th Street on Jan. 11 and the grand opening of the Gypsy Cup coffee shop tucked inside the studio on March 1.
“So many women leave changed after one service; the way that those women carry themselves into the world is totally different. And that, in a small way, is my way of changing the world,” Pruett said.
Melissa Pruett is the founder and owner of Melt by Melissa, a selfcare studio that recently opened its new space in Old Town Scottsdale and will opened its second location in Uptown Phoenix later this year. (Chris Mortenson/ Progress Staff Photographer)
Pruett founded Melt in January 2014 in a shared, closet-sized treatment room.
She has since grown it into a successful, multi-faceted business, one that occupies a 2,600-square-foot space in Old Town Scottsdale.
But owning a self-care salon that specializes in brows wasn’t Pruett’s initial goal in life.
“I was planning on going to med school my whole life to be a heart surgeon,” she said. “I never thought of a plan B.”
Pruett decided she’d move from Oregon to Arizona to do some soul searching before she pulled the trigger on medical school; little did she know that would entail taking on unexpected jobs, including car salesperson, �itness and nutrition coach, and waxer.
���MELT ���� 30
Progress publisher acquires New River newspaper
PROGRESS NEWS STAFF T imes Media Group, a Valley-based company with community weekly newspapers and websites throughout Arizona and California, has acquired The Foothills Focus, a community news weekly based in New River.
In addition to New River, the publication covers several other North Valley communities, including Anthem, Black Canyon City, Cave Creek and Carefree.
According to Times Media of�icials, the acquisition brings its weekly Valleywide circulation to 285,000 printed copies, information it says is supported by its most recent AMA independent circulation audit. The company also operates several community news websites in the Valley, including EastValley.com, WestValleyView.com, Phoenix.org, Scottsdale.org, Ahwatukee.com, ChandlerNews.com and others with a cumulative monthly unique visitor count in the Valley of more than 500,000.
The company said its online audience numbers are also supported by its most recent independent audit by AMA.
At a time when many newspaper-centric media companies are curtailing circulation and managing declining operations, Times Media Group has famously continued to expand its reach and footprint, mostly through the acquisition of other similar media groups.
“What we have found is a model for success in dif�icult times, and that model relies heavily on highly motivated media professionals, adherence to practical cost structures and a valuebased community news engine at its core,” said Steve Strickbine, Times Media Group’s founder and president.
Last year, Times Media Group acquired several high-pro�ile and storied news titles in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas, which included the Downtown Los Angeles News, the Pasadena Weekly, the Argonaut and the Ventura County Reporter, among others.
John Alexander, the founder and publisher of The Foothills Focus, said his decision to sell his publication to Times Media wasn’t a dif�icult one.
“I have watched what they’re doing for a long time, and after some consideration, really believe this to be a great path for us,” he said. “It allows us to grow and allows me more time to meaningfully reconnect with the community and to build even stronger relationships with our advertisers."
Alexander, who founded the paper in
2002, will continue to act as the Focus’s associate publisher, and work out of the publication’s main of�ice in New River as he has for nearly 20 years.
Asked where he thought the community news industry is headed in the everchanging digital age, Strickbine said:
“The bottom line is that where there are crises, there also often exist out-of-date ways of thinking or paradigms. Our approach, our people and our commitment to giving communities the news they need, and that they can increasingly �ind in few other places, adds up to a pretty simple value proposition, one I believe readers and advertisers understand inherently and that they’ve come to trust. “At TMG we hold the responsibility of being good stewards of that trust at the very center of our mission. “In other words, our future is bright,” he said.
30 SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MARCH 8, 2020 BUSINESS “When I decided to go to aesthetic school,” Pruett said, “everyone in my program were all there to do facials and real skincare, which they loved. And I loved ripping people’s hair out about waxing. Something about it was so ful�illing to me and so satiating, which sounds really creepy, but I loved frosting people with this warm wax and there’s a true art to it when you’re removing it.”
But, after spending less than two months waxing in a corporate environment, she quit and started MELT.
MELT fuses Pruett’s two passions: coaching and her niche, brows.
MELT not only specializes self-care services such as brows, microblading, lashes, botanical skin care, sugar hair removal, and organic spray tans ranging in price from $12 for a lip wax to $850 for microblading; but Pruett also coaches people through Melt Academy.
Through Melt Academy, professionals can take courses on microblading and lash extensions.
“I’m not running a school. I’m not running a licensed program. I’m not running any sort of certi�ication. I make it really clear to the girls who do come to me that I’m really just coaching him. It’s more of like a mentorship program,” Pruett explained, adding that the people who register for Melt Academy are already licensed professionals.
“These are women who are empowered. These are women who have honed in on their craft. These are women and men who are able to live a really beautiful life doing what they love,” she said.
Pruett maintains the relationships she forms with these women and men, too. For example, one woman who attended the Academy moved to Denver, and Pruett continues to coach her.
“We are on a call once a week. I’m coaching her on building her brand and building a business,” Pruett said, adding, “I’m here for you as someone who’s actually gone through what you’re going to go through, and I’m here to teach you how you can avoid some of the hard lessons I had to learn.”
Pruett also has a full cosmetics line of brow and lip products, which she sells instudio and online.
Launched in September 2016, the cosmetics line boasts more than 20 different products, ranging from brow gels, brow powder shades, and brow brushes, to liquid matte lipstick, gloss, eye cream, and more.
“My products are formulated in Toronto and Canada because, in Canada, they’ve banned over 1,600 known toxins and carcinogens from their cosmetics that are heavily regulated; whereas here, we’ve banned, like, 11,” Pruett explained.
Pruett also sells Suzi Provenché’s skincare line, Joëlle Martine, which is comprised of 12 products, including cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and more, that range in price from $35 to $95.
In October, Pruett will open a second Melt location at a redevelopment project located on Missouri Avenue in North Central Phoenix called The Frederick.
Currently an of�ice building, the midcentury building will be transformed into a neighborhood retail center consisting of a restaurant, a cafe, and eight small businesses.
“I have chills, literally, because it’s going to be really freakin’ magical,” Pruett said. Pruett also plans to launch a podcast with Gypsy Cup co-owner Linsay Smith. “A big goal for ours is just to have a greater reach, not just with me doing the service on one person or her serving a coffee to one person, but to really get out all the good juice to more people through our voice and engage with our community,” Pruett said.
They haven’t decided on a name for the podcast yet, but Pruett does hope to empower others through the podcast.
“We’re both on this path of not just being women entrepreneurs and building that life, but we both have these lofty dreams and visions,” Pruett said.
In the meantime, Melt will continue to do what it does best: help its customers look and feel their best.
“Self-care is not a luxury; it is a human right, and we all need it,” Pruett said. “Now, time is more precious to people than money, 10 out of 10 times. We’re seeing the shift and people actually understanding, in order for me to do all the things I want to do and to be the person I need to be, I need to take care of myself �irst.” MELT ���� ���� 29
If You Go MELT by Melissa Where: 7500 E. Main St. Call: 480-819-8535 Website: meltbymelissa.com
8151 E. Morning Vista Road Scottsdale, AZ 85266 www.ScottsdaleContemporary.com 5 BEDS | 8 BATHS | 9,100 SQ FT | 5 - 15 ACRES MOTIVATED Seller!Offering an AMAZING deal at a million dollars below build cost! NO HOA estate sized property in North Scottsdale. Privately gated grounds, expansive views. High-end floor to ceiling commercial grade glass, steel, and concrete elements. Fishing pond, fountains, one-of-a-kind pool, pool cabana, home theater, & vineyard. Room or RVs, car collections, equines & more. SE MOTION VIDEO. 8151 E. Morning Vista Road Scottsdale, AZ 85266 www.ScottsdaleContemporary.com 5 BEDS | 8 BATHS | 9,100 SQ FT | 5 - 15 ACRES MOTIVATED Seller! Offering an AMAZING deal at a million dollars below build cost! NO HOA estate sized property in North Scottsdale. Privately gated grounds, expansive views. High-end floor to ceiling commercial grade glass, steel, and concrete elements. Fishing pond, fountains, one-of-a-kind pool, pool cabana, home theater & vineyard. Room for RVs, car collections, equines & more. SEE MOTION VIDEO.
OPEN WEEKENDS
Hosted By PRIVATE CLIENT GROUP
