“I’ve been there through the worst of the worst and the best of the best with my clients, sharing their life stories,” says DeeAnn Schueller owner/operator of Expressive Hair in Eden Valley.
DeeAnn has been a hairdresser for almost 30 years, and has literally known some of her clients from before they were born to now having their own families. Face it, they get to know us pretty well when we are a regular in their chairs. I don’t know what makes you “spill” everything you know the minute you sit in that chair, but you all know we do that. It probably helps that DeeAnn is known as being pretty chipper and cheerful, and that she truly cares about her clients.
DeeAnn attended Model College of Hair Design in St. Cloud, right out of high school. She’s worked in a number of salons over the years: St. Cloud, Cold Spring, Richmond, and as Assistant Manager at Great Clips in Litchfield. She operated the first Expressive Hair in Richmond from March 2000 through December 2007. DeeAnn then rented a space at Totally U on Main in Richmond from January 2008 to July 2020. The second Expressive Hair became a reality in Eden Valley in June 2020. Many of her clients promised to follow her here and it appears that they did.
I was curious how Expressive Hair ended up sharing the space with the Voice and ML’s Massage? Clearly the moons were aligned. When businesses were able to re-open after COVID restrictions were lifted a little, and with interest in owning her own business again, DeeAnn heard the Edge Salon and Spa owner had sold their home, planning to move, and the business was for sale. Everything fell into place in just a few days. DeeAnn inquired, looked at the location and equipment, made the offer which was accepted, all over the Memorial Day weekend. DeeAnn continued to work through June in Richmond while preparing her new location, and she opened in Eden Valley after the 4th of July weekend. When it’s right, it’s right.
During the following year, she inquired about bringing Mary Lou’s Massage into the location. The building Mary Lou had been renting was being sold and she was needing a new home. What a good fit this was. If you’re lucky enough to visit their location on a Wednesday afternoon – you might just catch all three in the office. P.S.: I’ve heard Mike -Jacobson is a pretty great landlord.
DeeAnn offers a number of services including perms, cuts, color, braiding, facial waxing, highlights, lowlights, and shampoo styling. She doesn’t really have a favorite thing to do, it kind of depends on the day. She doesn’t do much of the “fancy occasion or up-dos” any longer, due to her crazy-busy lifestyle. Between being the owner of a busy salon, busy with community events (like co-hosting a Chamber mixer with her office mates), and still keeping “family” as her top priority, it doesn’t leave a lot of extra time in a day. In addition, Expressive Hair also offers a nice selection of quality hair care products for sale.
One organization DeeAnn has worked with over the last eight years is Children With Hair Loss (CWHL) based out of Michigan. She’s had numerous clients during these years offering their hair for this great cause. Minimum cut length has to be at least 8 inches to be considered. In addition, on a number of occasions, DeeAnn has had the honor of doing the final hairstyle for loved ones who have passed. It’s been a peaceful and loving experience for her.
Another way she’s chosen to support our community is with her involvement with the EV-W Schools. She’s done hair for the actors in several plays including “Grease,” “Sound of Music,” “High School Musical,” and “Snoopy, the Musical.” She’s also known to have spent some time helping in the Eagle Boosters Booth.
I wondered what unusual requests she’s had over her years in the business. Turns out, having children and other family members (husband Rich stepped in for a test run in the chair on the day before she officially opened her shop) comes in pretty handy when you’re needing a “guinea pig” to try things out on. I bet they have stories. Tori had 11-inch -liberty spikes for her senior year powder puff game. If you saw the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles sporting their stylish mullets and racing stripes for playoffs last year; DeeAnn and her daughter Tori did the hair for 20 players in about
2 1/2 hours. Sounds like it got a little crazy, but a lot of fun too. This year, she gave several of the football players faded Mohawks. Her daughter Lexi fell victim to one-inch sections of rainbow-colored peekaboo highlights. All three children have served their time in the chair during their lifetimes so far.
Family is incredibly important to DeeAnn. She is a wife and mother of three: Tori, Lexi, and Rylan. She’s a grandmother to little Ellie, and is very excited to have another grandchild on the way in May. She’s a dog mom, has grand-dogs as well as a couple of cats including a black and white named “Cow” (seriously). One of the perks of being an owner/operator of your own business is that it gives you the flexibility to work around important family events, sporting events (wrestling is her favorite, but I’m guessing some of you knew that already), etc. She’s willing to lock the door, if needed, for family priorities. It sounds like this family is close-knit and involved. I hear they are not afraid to get involved in the antics, especially for Halloween.
In case she wasn’t busy enough, she has a favorite hobby. If you don’t find her behind her chair, you might just find her behind a camera lens. I’m guessing she could have had a career with that as well, had she chosen to do so. She’s done many family photos, some high school senior photos, and her daughter Lexi’s wedding photos.
One thing she’ll tell you is that she really hates to increase prices and has been able to keep most low for some time. With the increases in pretty much all of her supplies, recently she’s had to make some changes just to keep up, as much as she dislikes having to do it. Example, men’s cuts have only increased $3 in the 25 years she’s been in business. That’s quite the deal, and shows just how much she cares for her clients.
DeeAnn’s favorite thing about owning her business in Eden Valley has been to meet and get to know so many people from the area that she’d not had the chance to meet before, even though she lived here and attended school in Eden Valley. Working in other communities for most of her career had made that difficult. She would invite any new businesses to come to Eden Valley, describing it as a nice, down-to-earth little town.
Contact information
Expressive Hair – 103 Stearns Ave. East, Eden Valley; (320) 420-2947 – call for appointments; leave a message.
Business hours
Mondays: noon-7 p.m.
Tuesdays: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Wednesdays: noon-8 p.m.
Fridays: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Open some Saturdays.
Closed Thursdays and Sundays.