OREM, Utah — Autumn Spencer opened Seasons Salon and Day Spa when she was just 21 years old.
“My grandma owned a salon and wig shop, and so we just dreamed this up together one day when I was 13," she said. "Seasons is named Seasons because autumn was her favorite season.”
One early November morning, she lost everything in a fire.
“It's 100% destroyed, so we lost everything," said Spencer. "All of the equipment and 17 years of blood, sweat and tears.”
Her dream was lost in the ashes — until stylists from other salons in the area, like Mike Kowallis, the owner of Relik Salon, started reaching out.
“She's been a friend for years," Kowallis said. "To watch your business go up in flames is one of those things, I tried to put myself in her situation. If that happened to me, what would I want? What would I need? How could I help?”
Kowallis taught Spencer in hair school almost two decades ago. He offered her space for her stylists in his salon so she could keep her business alive.
“It's always exciting to watch somebody build something from the ground up," he said. "It's exciting to watch somebody that's passionate about something take their ideas and their vision and make it a reality.”
A few weeks after the fire, Bill Fairbanks, a building owner in Lindon told Spencer he had a space that could work for her.
“It's part of my business, so that's good, but that's not what I was after," he said. "I could see what she had to go through there. That was a terrible experience, and I wouldn't wish that on anybody.”
Spencer has been designing the new space for her eight-businesses-in-one salon from the beginning.
“If we could have the perfect place, this is what it would be," she said. "That's what we're trying to put here.”
Seasons is expected to be open for business at its new home in just a couple of months.
