For thirty-five years Emily Benckhuysen has been enjoying her career as a hair stylist and doing what she loves best – giving someone a new look. More importantly, Emily went out on her own to open Embellish Hair Studio 20 years ago this year. Emily, proud of her Stittsville heritage, is a third generation descendant of the well-known and respected Bell family.
With an existing clientele, Emily made the decision to open Embellish Hair Studio in 1999. At the time, she was a single Mom with three year-old twin girls and wanted to be home with them. The convenience of having her new hair studio located in the basement of their home kept her close to her girls and worked well for the family. Then business grew — she moved to larger quarters and renovated the garage to accommodate Embellish. Emily has seen her business consistently grow over the years and some of her clients have been experiencing her styling talent for 30 years. She is now in her fourth location and being newly built in 2019, intends to remain. Emily happily told us, “I finally have my studio set up exactly how I want. I can’t imagine retiring. This is way too much fun.”
Always up-to-date on the current hair trends, Emily gains her knowledge during online courses from the best leaders in the hair industry. She specializes in cuts, highlighting, perming, foiling, facial waxing and ear piercing for women and men. She no longer cuts children’s hair under the age of 16. Emily prides herself on high-quality service and customer satisfaction – “I will do everything I can to meet your expectations.”
It has been a challenging time being closed over the past few months — Emily is not one to sit idle for long. Now that the green light has been given for hair salons to open, Emily is eager to reopen the doors of Embellish. She is extremely looking forward to again welcoming her existing clients and new ones as well.
With the reopening there will be noticeable changes — masks will be donned and sanitizing protocols in place between each customer. All public health regulations will be followed as set out during this exceptional COVID-19 period. Appointments are scheduled to allow 30 minutes between each client so not more than one is in the studio at any given time. Emily made clear, “Because I’m a sole proprietor it is not like the big chains and big shops. It is pretty simple really.”
Emily and her husband, Paul, find themselves to be empty nesters now that their three children have moved on with their lives. Well, not really empty nesters, they have filled their home with four fur babies – two cats, Taz and Tillie, and two dogs, Berney and Bert. I would be remiss if I did not mention that the pets do sometimes make cameo appearances in the studio, but if you have allergies or are not fond of dogs and cats, they are kept at bay in the house. They are always welcome when this Editor visits!
Enthusiastically, Emily added, “I hope to be working for many more years. I have the best clients you could ask for.”
Stittsville Central congratulates Emily and Embellish Hair Studio on their 20 year anniversary and look forward to having you in the community for many more years to come!
Embellish Hair Studio is located at 6416 Fernbank Road and open for clients Wednesday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and on Saturday from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm by appointment only. To book your appointment, call 613-831-1249, send an email to emilybell66@hotmail.com, or visit the website www.embellishhairstudio.com. You can follow Embellish Hair Studio on Facebook here.
Great article! Congratulations, Emily!
Congratulations Emily on 20 years in business! I have truly appreciated your hair styling services (and conversations) since moving to Stittsville in late 2015.