POULSBO — When most North Kitsap residents think about commuting to work, the image of traffic or long ferry lines surely pops into their minds. For Elyse Trevors it was a bit more extreme at times, a drive to Sea-Tac, a plane ride to New York to color and style hair for anchors at CNN and other clients, and, finally, a flight back home.

The three-day jaunt that Trevors made once every few months several years ago doesn’t seem to evoke any bad memories from the New York native though — just a ready smile. Actually, a lot of things seem to make her grin and laugh.

It’s this infectious behavior and warm surroundings that make visiting the Omo Salon such a treat.

Amidst the plants, comfortable furniture and tasteful decor though lies 27 years of experience, wrapped in a heart of gold.

“My arms are starting to hurt,” Trevors said, poking fun at her extensive career as a stylist.

While she owned two successful salons in Manhattan in the early 1980s, her “New York state of mind” changed quite a bit when she came west for the first time — as did her priorities.

“I came out for a wedding,” Trevors said, noting that a client invited to the gathering in the San Juan Islands.

“I said great, ‘I love Puerto Rico,’” she explained with a laugh. “I’m a city girl. It was quite a shock to be here. It’s a far cry from the bridges and tunnels of New York.”

Even though she ended up a few miles further north than expected, Trevors fell in love with the scenery here: the water, the bald eagles, the orcas, and most importantly — the chef on the yacht.

“The chef made me eggs Benedict and we got married a year later,” she said.

Trevors moved from New York to Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, to Kingston and finally to Poulsbo. Along the way, she has since divorced, but is still and will always be a “mother of three.”

She is also a hair stylist, although she is quick to point out that being “super mom” is her number one priority now.

“I’m mom first and then it’s Elyse the hairdresser,” Trevors said, adding that her kids; Ryan, 11, Dylan, 9, and Cassidy, 7, all pitched in to help create the unique salon in the Lindvig Building.

“One customer told me, ‘I walked in and this place just wrapped itself around me,’” she said of the Omo or “On my own” Salon.

The Front Street business opened earlier this month after Trevors’ family and friends pitched in for a three-week marathon to open the salon on time.

“It was just a blank room. The salons I bought in New York were already set up. This was much more fun,” she said. “Everything just fell into place — that’s when you know that it was meant to happen.”

Gail Loo, a former co-worker of Trevors, who spent several years styling hair in Silverdale also just happened to fall into place at Omo.

“I’m just glad to be working with Elyse again,” Loo explained, adding that due to their differing shifts at Omo the two are more like “ships passing in the night.”

While Trevors came from back east, Loo ventured to Kitsap County from southern California.

“Gail’s husband lives here,” Trevors said, explaining that Loo’s hubby was in the Navy, before adding with a laugh, “It wasn’t the Hollandaise sauce.”

The Omo will surely expand its staff in the future, according to the owner, but Trevors admitted there isn’t any big rush. Finding an experienced stylist is one thing, finding one that you can work with day in and day out is quite another, she said.

“I’m looking for people who have the same integrity that I do — customer service is number one,” she remarked, adding that styling hair is just part of the experience at Omo. “Color work is really our line of expertise.”

Cutting hair and making people look great on a daily basis surely isn’t a simple task, but as, super mom joked, “It’s easier than staying at home with three kids.”

“Or one,” Loo added with a laugh.