Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Adam.
The eighties were a scary and exciting time in Poland. The war of freedom from Russian “influences”, to say softly, was in full bloom. The Solidarity Movement drew young Elizabeth. She was the daughter of an expatriate, who at 16 years old was send by the Russians to a coal mine for political reasons in 1943 and the great granddaughter of a soldier who fought for Polish independence from Russia in the 1863 January Uprising. Patriotism was deeply rooted in her soul. Her father wanted to spare her from the oppression of the communist regime. It was the father who pushed her to leave Poland. 24-year-old Elizabeth Adam immigrated to Chicago in 1981 with four hundred dollars to start a new life in a free country. In Poland, she had finished two years of Esthetic School and worked at the renowned Medical-Esthetic Center at the Grand Hotel in Warsaw since 1976 performing facials, makeup and body treatments.
Starting over in a new country was difficult due of the language barrier and lack of money. Luckily, President Regan gave Polish immigrants legal status due to the political tensions and Martial Law in Poland. Her parent’s model of hard work, her father as a dentist and mother as a nurse, assisted her in adapting to a new country and pursuing her goal for a better tomorrow. Barely able to speak English, she started taking English classes at St. Wladyslaw Church and then at Wright College.
In 1987, she opened Elizabeth Adam Skin Care Clinic Inc. Location was very important to her, so she rented one room in a nail salon on the tenth floor of 70 E. Walton in an old Elizabeth Arden building. She was as comfortable with Chicago’s Downtown clientele as she was with her clients in Warsaw. She loves people and that fact helped her succeed. In addition, choosing great skin care products was her priority. The French always had the best skin care and makeup, so she chose a French line.
Hard skillful work and quality skin care products quickly grew her clientele. Word of mouth was her best form of advertisement, as clients raved about her to family and friends. After the first year, she was performing about ten facials a day and knew she had to expand her business. She then hired Izabella, her first employee. They shared the room as Elizabeth continued to rent, which was occupied from eight o’clock in the morning to eight o’clock in the evening. Two years later the number of clients exceeded the capacity of the single room. Since there was another empty room in the same nail place, she decided to rent it and made a verbal arrangement with the owner and hired another aesthetician. Nicki came on board and it took three months to train Nicki up to Elizabeth Adam’s European standards. However, in this time, the empty room was rented to someone else. That fact did not discourage Elizabeth, it encouraged her to grow further. So, Elizabeth rented the entire space on the eight floor of the same building. She hired a massage therapist, manicurist and created her own mini spa. However, the happiness of owning this little business did not last too long. Opportunity came knocking again to Elizabeth. On the second floor of the same building was the renowned Jeann Pierrre Coofure Salon and Spa. Elizabeth was a client of this salon, and she found out that the owner was retiring and the business was for sale. It was a big decision: twenty employees, eight thousand square feet, a huge rent, and a big risk. She took it. No one in the beauty business on the Gold Coast believed that this little Polish aesthetician would last more than three months. Ninety percent of the employees left and rent became a problem. Juggling credit cards and loans, with prayers and hard recruiting, she survived. With a combination of returning Jeann Pierre and new employees, Elizabeth slowly began building her business and confidence for the future.
The business bloomed for another eleven years. One year before the lease expiration, Elizabeth started looking for a new location. 70 E. Walton was getting too old and needed a total renovation. She also heard rumors that the building was for sale, but they were denied by the owner. However, one of Elizabeth’s client showed her the real estate listing. Listened to her gut, she began to look for a new location just in case.
She found the perfect one at 845 N. Michigan Ave. at the famous Water Tower Place. The building had indoor parking, a shopping mall, and many restaurants and stores. More importantly, the space had beautiful, huge windows bringing natural light to the space, allowing hairdressers to create beautiful, and natural hair tones. Adjacent to Water Tower, the Ritz Carlton Hotel gave the possibility of new clients. She decided to take the space and for a year she was running two salons. Both salons were very successful. Her husband Krzysztof quit his job as an engineer and joined forces with Elizabeth to help manage the finances of the quickly flourishing salon and spa. Chicago Magazine voted Elizabeth Adam’s the best facial in Chicago. She was also nominated as one of one hundred women making a difference in Illinois.
When it was time for lease negotiations with the owner of the Walton location, she learned from her previous mistakes not to work alone, and hired a lawyer. After a few months of negotiations, they agreed to a total renovation of the place and set up the terms of a new lease. They met for the last time in Elizabeth’s lawyer’s office to sign the lease. She sighed the lease and her layer said that she may go, and he will finish with the owner of the Walton location. They shook hands and she left. Plans for the renovation of the Walton location were enormous. She had picked the new paint colors, ordered custom made cases, cushions, new chairs, just installed a new air-conditioning system in her space and was ready to occupy the charming private elevator that would bring her clients to her space. One year passed by quickly. Four days before the old lease expired, and the new one started, Elizabeth was surprised by a fax from the owner of the building stating “I understand you have no interest in the space anymore. You have four days to vacate the space.” There was a few thousand-dollar penalty for every additional day she would stay. She could not believe it. She called her lawyer. His response was “Sorry, I misread the owner.” Elizabeth was devastated, and did not know what to do. Elizabeth’s Walton employees were like family, and so she tried to combine the Walton and Water Tower employees, but she could not accommodate all of them. It was heart breaking experience. “For two years, I was afraid to walk down the stairs” said Elizabeth “I thought I was going to fall I was trembling so much”.
What does not kill you it makes you stronger.
Elizabeth used this experience to fuel her passion further, and the Water Tower location evolved with time. To meet the expectations of today’s spa goers, Elizabeth added to its existing beautiful salon and spa’s 5,000 square feet space an additional 2,500 square feet. Now the 7,500-square foot location has a completely separate spa that includes eight treatment rooms, a separate men and women changing rooms with lockers and showers, and a beautiful, peaceful quiet room where you can refresh your mind and body with a glass of water or a cup of soothing tea. The word spa comes from Belgium and means healing through water. Elizabeth Adam made sure that water services are the heart of the spa. Her exclusive Spa Oceana Capsule, the only one in Chicago, is a big hit in beautifying and relaxing both women and men.
Education is a major factor in success, claims Elizabeth. She is always studying and learning new skills and services in both USA and Europe. The Les Nouveles Esthetic convention in Paris sets the latest trends and the Bolonia show in Italy is the largest beauty show in Europe. Elizabeth gets the core of her inspiration from these events. Besides being an esthetician, Elizabeth Adam graduated from the National Collage of Naprapathic Medicine in Chicago and is a licensed doctor of Naprapathy. Knowing anatomy and physiology of the human body helps Dr. Adam create services that are unique and healing. Her innovative treatments like Bioresonance scan your body of energy blockages and set specific treatments to unblock the energy flow, restoring homeostasis. Stress releasing treatments like Shirodhara from the Far East induce alpha waves in the brain for total relaxation. Nutrition is a big part of Naprapathy, so Dr. Adam adopted nutritional programs to enhance the effectiveness of her beauty programs for various skin and body conditions, and her detoxifying/sliming programs aid in weight loss.
“Creating a peaceful atmosphere, where every client feels at home is our goal.” states Elizabeth. Spa services are created to give clients a unique, relaxing experience and ritual. The large variety and uniqueness of services gives clients the opportunity to have a new experience each time they are in the beautiful salon and spa. Don’t be surprised to see Elizabeth performing services. She believes her success will continue if she does not lose contact with her clients and employees. Her hands-on approach and strive for the latest and unique services yields amazing results. Also, being a spa operator gave her another perspective helping her to see eye to eye with her employees. This has created a passionate, family team with many employees happily staying with Elizabeth Adam’s even since the early days on Walton, creating a wholesome but professional family business. Without this team effort from the many wonderful and skilled operators, Elizabeth Adam’s would not have the individualized and welcoming environment that many of the corporate and chain salon and spas lack these days.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has been fairly smooth with bumps here and there. Two of the biggest bumps were when we were unsuccessfully sued for using my birth name as the name for my Salon and Spa by a competitor with a similar sounding name, and the second was when our lease was given to another company four days before the lease expired without notifying us, and we were given four days to vacate an 8,000-square foot salon and spa.
People’s dishonesty was my major obstacle. I love people so that always hurt the most. As devastating as these obstacles were, they made me stronger and actually pushed me to expand my business. To me, obstacles shape my character, and they gave me the perseverance to endure through all the other small challenges we have had along the way. It was those two major bumps that have kept us in business ironically, and as a result we are celebrating Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa’s 30th anniversary this year!
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa story. Tell us more about the business.
Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa is located in the heart of the Gold Coast at Water Tower Place. The salon specializes in haircuts, hair color, make-up and more. Our European Spa offers the best in facials using prestigious Sothy’s de Paris products, relaxing massages, waxing, slimming wraps, manicures and pedicures, spa rituals, days of beauty, hydrotherapy, Bioenergy, stress release and more. You can explore faraway places without an expensive vacation right here, close to your home at our spa. By the time you are finished you will be floating on a cloud!
I am best known for my facials and body wraps. There is a great variety of facial treatments addressing specific skin conditions. Since every client’s skin is different, every treatment is individualized. A relaxing, firming, lymphatic drainage or stimulating facial massage is also chosen depending on the client’s needs. Time of the year also plays an essential role in the type of services that we perform.
Our intimate place allows us to know our clients by name and lets us address all the client’s individualized needs. The best client experience, friendly atmosphere, superior quality of service, uncompromising products, know-how and our consistency to strive for excellence, sets us apart from others. Our goal is to continue to be a leader in the beauty industry for years to come through helping others in improving their appearance with honesty, heart and the best customer experience as possible!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I believe that you create your own luck. Even when bad things happen that are out of your control, it’s how you handle this that will determine your path in the future. I have had good experiences, and I have had bad experiences during my 41 years of being an aesthetician, and 30 years of owning Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa. No matter that happens, there is always a way to turn bad luck into a learning experience that will in turn bring me good luck in the future.
Contact Info:
- Address: Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa
845 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 908E, Chicago, IL 60611 - Website: elizabethadamsalon.com
- Phone: 312-944-4311
- Email: elizabethadam@comcast.net
- Facebook: Elizabeth Adam Salon and Day Spa
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