SILVERDALE – Who said friends can’t be business partners? Certainly not Michelle Townsend, Kellie Culbertson and April McClure.

After years of working for others, the three experienced hair stylists have opened up their own shop, Three Arrows Salon, in Old Town Silverdale.

“Every one told us that it wasn’t a good idea to go into business with friends,” said Townsend. “But all three of us had a similar vision of what we wanted this salon to be and we knew it would work.”

The trio opened Three Arrows Salon on Jan. 2 after several months of renovations to the building where they are located. The name they chose for their business has very special meaning.

“We were trying to come up with a good name that represented all of us,” Townsend said. “I started doing some research online and found out that crossed arrows are a symbol of friendship.”

So Three Arrows it was, denoting the three women who are business partners. Townsend said they all knew each other and had worked together at various salons throughout Kitsap County. As is the case for some professional stylists, they all were thinking about how they would run a salon if they owned one.

“We needed to take this on,” Townsend said. “We needed to do things our own way.”

So they went looking for a location. They found a space in Old Town Silverdale, next door to Monica’s Bakery and decided it was perfect. Although there are a half-dozen or more salons in Old Town, the trio wasn’t worried about competition. They knew that many of their clientele would come with them to the new location. And they knew their salon would be different from the others.

“We had a concept for our place that included very open spaces, very clean design and we wanted the salon to be gender-neutral, a place that both women and men would be comfortable coming to,” she said.

With the help of family and friends, the remodeling work was done in about two months. The walls were painted an off white color and the floors are exposed wood. The work stations are made of old, reclaimed wood and the color bar was recycled from a beauty school that had closed.

“It was important to us that we use reclaimed materials in our salon,” Townsend said. “Just as with our product line, we are very conservation conscious.”

The line that the salon promotes is Davines. The Italian-made product line is sensitive to nature and sustainability. Founded in Parma, Italy in 1983 by the Bollati Family, Davines Group started as a research laboratory, producing high-end hair care products for renowned cosmetic companies worldwide.

After a decade of honing its expertise, the family began creating their own brand of Davines hair care products exclusively for salons. And in 1996 founded a skin care line for premier spas.

“What we like about Davines is that every ingredient is listed on each container and they are all natural,” Townsend said. “And they smell amazing.”

The company is a carbon neutral business and all products are packages in a high quality food-grade plastic that can be recycled. And, Townsend added, the company works with local farmers in Italy to keep plants that are native to the area growing.

While being your own boss can have its advantages, owning your own business can have some disadvantages, the women said.

“What been the most surprising to us are all the little things that when you work for someone else, you take for granted,” said Culbertson. “Little things like remembering to buy toilet paper for the restroom.”

An advantage, however, is that they know each other and trust each other. So, when one of them needs time off, the others take care of the salon and nothing goes sideways, they said.

The three have another stylist that works with them, Danielle Stogdill. So far, all four women are busy, but they are taking new clients. Many of their clients did follow them to the new salon, coming from as far as Bainbridge Island and Tacoma. They see “soccer moms, to students, to professional women, to moms with children,” Townsend said.

And in fact, some of the women now bring their husbands to the salon for haircuts.

Their prices are competitive with other salons in the area. Haircuts for women run $45, men $30 and children $20. They also color hair which ranges from $95 to $145. What’s popular right now are highlights for the upcoming summer season.

“A sort of peachy natural color,” said McClure. “And the popular cut is the long bob.”

They do their own booking appointments and they have an accountant to help them keep records.

They have weekly meetings to talk about what’s going right and what’s going wrong.

“It’s kind of like a marriage,” Townsend said. “You have to be open and communicate. If we don’t do that then things can fester. We want to know if there’s a problem so we can address it right away.”

They think that’s one of the key things to keeping the business on track.

“It bothers me when people say friends, especially women, can’t work together,” Townsend said. “We’re here to prove them wrong.”

The salon is at 3478 NW Byron St., Silverdale. Call 360-692-2800 to book an appointment. Go to www.threearrowssalon.com to find out more.