Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 9-6-19

Feature
Consultant Purchases Business She Once Advised
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
A Tampa business- woman will soon celebrate the first anniversary of a business she and her mother purchased. It’s a business that she had been the busi- ness/marketing consultant for its owner.
Ashley Rodriguez and her mother, Latricia Jor- dan-Morris, an instructor in the Hillsborough County School District, are now owners of Scarlett Ibis Nails & Spa. The business’ first an- niversary is in November.
Offering a variety of serv- ices, the business is located in New Tampa. The busi- ness’s name comes from that of a beautiful bird. The scarlet ibis is a gregar- ious bird, living, traveling, and breeding in flocks. In flight, ibises form diagonal
John and Ashley Ro- driguez, and Latricia Jordan- Morris.
lines or V-formations. Graduating from the University of South Florida in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology, Mrs. Rodriguez says she used the skills she learned in Corporate America to transi-
NAILS
tion into her own business. In addition to Scarlett Ibis Nails & Spa, Mrs. Ro- driguez and her husband, John Rodriguez, are own- ers of Changing Faces Mar-
keting & Rapport Services. Before taking over own-
ership of the nail shop, Mrs. Rodriguez says she was the business consultant through the Changing Faces business to the previous owner for several years. The owner, of Indian descent, “just became overwhelmed with the busi- ness and asked if I would take it over.” She and her mother took over the busi- ness.
“We heard so many sto- ries of people being mis- treated and talked down to by other nail shops’ owners and their employees, we wanted to do something dif- ferent – give people a differ-
ent treatment,” she said. The nail spa employs up to 15 women to assist its clients.
Mrs. Rodriguez
started her business career in 2015 by doing resumes for various people. “I wanted to pour back into the commu- nity by helping some in their career paths – helping with start-up solutions to their businesses. “Budgeting is one of the first things to con- sider in start-ups,” she said. This helps with maintaining the business, she explained.
For additional informa- tion, go to support@chang- ingfacesmrs.com.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-A