Ep. 37 - Alexa Hill - Owner of the Common Room Indy
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Episode Summary
In this episode of Third Space Indy, host Michael Zarick talks with Alexa Hill, owner of Common Room Indy, a salon in Castleton that she describes as a “weird, gay, funky” safe space designed to feel more like a true community hub than a sterile, typical salon. They discuss the idea of “third places” and why salons naturally fit that definition through consistency, conversation, and trust. Alexa shares her 15-year journey in the hair industry, her business education, and how she ultimately took the leap from working in other salons before opening Common Room Indy.
The conversation covers how her unapologetic, values-forward presence online helped the business grow, including a viral Instagram reel that brought in like-minded stylists and clients. Michael and Alexa also talk about being explicit about political and community values, creating visibly safe spaces, supporting businesses aligned with those values, and the importance of clarity when choosing where to spend money.
00:00 Cold Open
01:29 Welcome to Third Space Indy
02:56 Meet Alexa Hill & Common Room Indy
05:45 Designing a Salon That Feels Like Home
07:47 “Therapy” in the Chair
09:17 The Gift of Gab
12:44 Why Hair Matters
17:39 From Cosmetology to Owner
20:59 Building the Team
24:18 Community Support & Local Spots
27:57 Choosing Castleton
29:16 Traffic, Parking, and Convenience
30:31 Serving Everyone
31:44 Why Hair Costs What It Costs
35:10 Hair Color Is Chemistry
36:17 Sponsor Break + Defining a ‘Third Space’
37:56 The Common Room Book Club
41:01 Indy Book Crawl
44:04 Being a Good Neighbor
46:58 Burlesque Classes at She Shop Fitness
49:31 Question for the Next Guest + Where to Find Alexa & The Common Room (Wrap-Up)
Episode Transcript
Alexa Hill
[00:00:00] Alexa Hill: You know, I understand that I speak from a place of privilege as a white, cisgendered, queer person in a heteronormative relationship. Like I, I know how privileged I am to be able to be like. F*** it. I'm just gonna like make this funny, reel and put it on Instagram and
Let people know who I am and like, I think that if you have that ability, it is so important. the time for being coy and kind of like, you know, putting your rainbow stuff out during pride month, like the time for that is over. Like we need to be like, Hey, this is what I'm about, like. F*** ICE.
F*** this administration. This is a safe space for you. Fascists are not allowed in my business. Like you gotta just be.
[00:00:44] Michael Zarick: I see that all over actually.
[00:00:45] Alexa Hill: Oh,
[00:00:45] Michael Zarick: there's one right there. Oh, no. Nazis in Valhalla.
[00:00:47] Alexa Hill: Oh,
[00:00:49] Michael Zarick: that one's pretty funny.
[00:00:50] Alexa Hill: yeah.
So I think, I think that if you have that ability, it's important to just do it because it's not safe anymore to question or to be unsure about the, the places that you are
visiting or spending your money with?
[00:01:04] Michael Zarick: Who wants to support a Nazi?
[00:01:06] Alexa Hill: Not me. There's a lot of things I'd like to do to them and support's not it Support's not one of 'em.
[00:01:12] Michael Zarick: We won't speak on that.
[00:01:12] Alexa Hill: No. No we won't. No, we won't.
[00:01:29] Michael Zarick: Hello, my name is Michael Zarick and this is Third Space Indy. In 1989, a man named Ray Oldenberg wrote a book called The Great Good Place, and in this book he coined a term called The Third Place.
This is a place outside of your work and outside of your home that you can go. Relax, be with others and just be yourself. So I've made it my goal in this podcast, Third Space Indy, to find people all over Indianapolis who are doing their very best to create these types of spaces. Today, my guest is somebody who was very confused when I reached out to her, I think.
Um, but it was a pure act of chance. I was honored. Yeah, a pure act of chance. Uh, I made a joke prior to hitting a thousand followers on Instagram that I would interview my thousandth follower, whoever it would be. And I think, didn't I tell you this?
[00:02:20] Alexa Hill: Oh, maybe you did.
[00:02:23] Michael Zarick: And by a pure act of chance, uh, my guest today was my thousandth follower, but also importantly, the owner of a salon, which I think of as one of the premier.
examples of a Third Space. Mm-hmm. So I've spoken too much and so I'd like to introduce my guest today. Her name is Alexa. I actually don't remember your last name.
[00:02:46] Alexa Hill: Hill. Hill.
[00:02:47] Michael Zarick: Alexa. Hill. Hill, yep. Um, the owner?
[00:02:51] Alexa Hill: Yes. Owner. Mm-hmm.
[00:02:52] Michael Zarick: Founder. Do you use the term Founder? What term do you use?
[00:02:55] Alexa Hill: Owner.
[00:02:56] Michael Zarick: Okay. Yeah. The owner of Common Room Indy,
[00:02:58] Alexa Hill: I'm very humble.
Very
[00:02:59] Michael Zarick: humble up here in Castleton.
[00:03:00] Alexa Hill: Yes. Yes. We're
[00:03:01] Michael Zarick: often. The middle of nowhere.
[00:03:04] Alexa Hill: Yeah. You know, it's central though. It feels very central. I'm from Lafayette, so I have a lot of people that come down. Okay.
[00:03:09] Michael Zarick: Central to you then?
[00:03:10] Alexa Hill: Yes. So yeah, it feels central.
[00:03:14] Michael Zarick: Yeah. How you doing?
[00:03:15] Alexa Hill: I'm great.
[00:03:16] Michael Zarick: Yeah. You were so welcoming when I walked in.
I was so happy.
[00:03:19] Alexa Hill: Good.
[00:03:19] Michael Zarick: Um, so I just wanna talk about like, why I reached out to you just a little bit. Mm-hmm. And then we can get into it.
[00:03:25] Alexa Hill: Cool.
[00:03:26] Michael Zarick: Um, so. It was pure. I, if it was not somebody I was comfortable interviewing with, I probably wouldn't have reached out to you, but I opened up your page and just, oh God.
Saw your, your personal Instagram and it became mm-hmm. And the Instagram of your, um, company as well. Mm-hmm. Um, and it was immediate, immediately clear to me that you are in the business of creating space for people where they can feel comfortable in themselves, no matter what that means for them,
[00:03:56] Alexa Hill: for sure.
[00:03:57] Michael Zarick: But also on the output of like making them comfortable with themselves when they leave with a haircut or a style of any type of thing. Yeah. And that was immediately obvious. W maybe, uh, your way of communicating that on your Instagram mm-hmm. Is a little more, um, eccentric.
[00:04:16] Alexa Hill: Sure. Sure.
[00:04:18] Michael Zarick: But I, it was obvious to me and I was like, oh, this is a, an incredible act of serendipity, which is one of my favorite words for the past few years.
[00:04:24] Alexa Hill: Yes. Love it. Love it.
[00:04:25] Michael Zarick: Yeah. Yeah. So first sort of actual question is like, I guess maybe talk about The Common Room in yourself. Sure. Um, and then we can go from there.
[00:04:37] Alexa Hill: Well, The Common Room, we're only a couple years old and I have been blown away honestly. Like I said, I'm very humble. I didn't know, I did not expect us to blow up like this.
Um, but it's been truly amazing and I love like what you said, like that you felt, you know, so welcome when you first walked in, like hearing those things and um, you know, building what I've built here. Like that was kind of my whole point of doing this. Um, I've been in the industry for 15 years and I've been in.
All different kinds of salons and, you know, worked with all different kinds of people. And, um, you know, as I've gotten older and gotten more comfortable with who I am and the direction I wanted my life to go. That included my business. And I said, you know what, it's time, it's time to open up a weird, gay, funky place.
Yeah. For people to feel safe. Mm-hmm. So, you know, I, I made the, the plunge. I took the plunge, and here we are two years later. Mm-hmm.
[00:05:45] Michael Zarick: A lot of salons in my, I don't go to that many salons. I go to a barber shop. But I feel like, in my opinion, like they're very sterile feeling. Ooh. And a lot of like white and stuff like that.
But I walked in and there was a, the reason I said it felt comfortable was because mm-hmm. There was character to it.
[00:06:01] Alexa Hill: Sure.
[00:06:01] Michael Zarick: You've added stuff, you, there's like, mm-hmm. I mean, the coffee machine was the least of it, but like there is decoration and there is character that Yeah. I think represents at least what I think you are, and that immediately makes it feel like.
Less businessy and more like, Hey, I'm inviting you into my space. Totally. which I'm gonna share with you.
[00:06:20] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:06:20] Michael Zarick: Does that check out?
[00:06:21] Alexa Hill: Absolutely. I mean, to me, this truly is a Third Space and like mm-hmm. I, I was familiar with that term. You know, I've been familiar with that term, and that's kind of like what I did wanna embody here.
I mean. And this is no shade to anyone. I love all my stylists out there. I love you guys. Um, but you know, the, like boho wide brand stylist aesthetic can be found, um, a lot of places and not everyone is comfortable walking into those places. And like I said, I've worked in places that maybe I loved, but it didn't feel necessarily like me.
And, you know. I, I want a place that my clients, no matter who they are, feel good coming in and they can relate and they can, you know, read my signs and be like, hell yeah, this is, this is the place for me. And I think, you know, again, you can find the, the sterile, white, cutesy, pretty aesthetic everywhere.
We're not about that here. It's all about just being yourself, being free, seeing yourself in your stylist and in the places you spend your money.
[00:07:33] Michael Zarick: So to me, the reason I was so happy, you are who you are. Uh, but in the topic of like salons mm-hmm. And places where you get your hair cut, like to me that's a quintessential Third Space example.
Sure. Because one of the definitions of the Third Space is consistency. And um, the other thing that I think of is, um. Conversation is the main activity that occurs there.
[00:08:03] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:08:03] Michael Zarick: And when I think of a barber or a person, what, what's that? Stylist. Stylist, okay.
[00:08:09] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:08:10] Michael Zarick: Um, somebody who does hair.
[00:08:12] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:08:14] Michael Zarick: Um, a lot of times that's the main thing.
You're interacting with them because there's only so much you can do and your hands are occupied in that way.
[00:08:21] Alexa Hill: Totally.
[00:08:22] Michael Zarick: And you're just talking and there's this sort of, um, so my funny, okay, so my. Mother-in-law goes to my barber because I suggested her, she's, you know, has shorter hair and so she can do it.
Um, and I was like, oh, like how's Tina doing? I always say that when at the barber and she's like, I can't tell you because we have like, you know, it's,
[00:08:41] Alexa Hill: oh, it's like HIPAA baby.
[00:08:42] Michael Zarick: Exactly. No, that's what I was gonna say. Is it like, there's no, there's no, uh, nothing. It's like the. It's almost stronger than HIPAA in a lot of ways.
[00:08:51] Alexa Hill: Absolutely, absolutely. I do a lot of like best friend groups or siblings, so a lot of times I got the tea. I've got the tea before you come in. But when you tell me I'm like, I had no idea. Yeah. It's it's real. It's real. We are tight, we are locked in and absolutely. Conversation. I have people that. Honestly, they're like, I don't need my hair done, but I, I do need to come to therapy, so can I just go ahead and come to my appointment?
Mm-hmm.
[00:09:17] Michael Zarick: And I saw that you are a self-proclaimed yapper.
[00:09:20] Alexa Hill: Oh my God.
[00:09:20] Michael Zarick: Which is perfect for a podcast, by the way. But would you say that as a child, the interest in hair or yapping came first?
[00:09:29] Alexa Hill: The Yap. Oh, the yap. Yeah. I, I was born with the Gift of Gab Baby. The gift of Gab. I've had it, the hair was secondary.
[00:09:38] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
[00:09:38] Alexa Hill: And honestly, I didn't even know that I. Was into hair and stuff. Um, until after I had gone through cosmetology school. I had graduated with my, you know, bachelor's and all these things, and I started to think, I'm like, when people would ask, when did this start? I'm like, you know what? Actually there was that time in sixth grade that I chopped off my friend's hair.
Or there was that time that we went to, you know, Kroger and I box colored everyone's hair at the sleepover. So like. It's been there too, but the gab came first.
[00:10:12] Michael Zarick: That's funny. Um, is there any, um, well, I guess, what does it mean to you to be able to like, provide a space for people to come in and like just talk about their issue?
Like you're a secondary therapist basically in a. Maybe a primary for some, but maybe that's unhealthy.
[00:10:31] Alexa Hill: You know what, again, I've been doing this for 15 years. I've learned to compartmentalize and my best friend is actually a social worker. Mm-hmm. So it's funny 'cause we talk about that. Like, you know, she's like, you have to do the same thing I do when you talk to these people and like, leave it, leave it at the door before you go home.
Mm-hmm. But, um, I mean, it truly means like everything to me to have created a space where people do feel comfortable coming in and like. I mean, truly, a lot of times people's stylists are, like I said, I mean, we hear things that even their closest friends maybe don't hear. I mean, I've heard the good, the bad
[00:11:10] Michael Zarick: you are like, oh my God,
[00:11:12] Alexa Hill: I, and listen, I am also, when I say I'm a yapper, I mean I need substance.
I need you to tell me everything. And my clients know that and they respect that. So, you know, there's no such thing as TMI in here like. When I say it's a judgment free zone, like I truly mean that, and it's truly an honor for me that people trust me with the biggest parts of their life. It means a lot to me, so,
[00:11:43] Michael Zarick: mm-hmm.
[00:11:43] Alexa Hill: Yeah, I love that part of my job.
[00:11:46] Michael Zarick: Are, are you a consumer of like bad television?
[00:11:50] Alexa Hill: Um,
[00:11:50] Michael Zarick: or, or do you get your fill from like normal daily interactions?
[00:11:55] Alexa Hill: I would say. This is my bad television. This is my reality. This is my reality show here. So that's
[00:12:03] Michael Zarick: so good.
[00:12:03] Alexa Hill: I don't, I don't need, I don't need the cheap stuff.
Then you feel like I've got the good local, got the good stuff.
[00:12:08] Michael Zarick: Locally grown, bad tv.
[00:12:10] Alexa Hill: Yes, absolutely.
[00:12:11] Michael Zarick: Uhhuh. My dream is that like, um, Love is Blind goes toLouisville or Indianapolis, oh God. Where the likelihood of me knowing somebody is increased like exponentially.
[00:12:21] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:12:22] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm. That is my dream, because then it's like.
I feel like it becomes better at that point.
[00:12:27] Alexa Hill: Right. I mean, I, I'm not on L'S blind, but I did know a few people from, uh, Lafayette who were on Jerry Springer in the past, so it's kind of the same,
[00:12:36] Michael Zarick: you know, knowing people that I know from West LA or Lafayette or West Lafayette mm-hmm. Kind of checks out.
Mm-hmm.
[00:12:41] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:12:42] Michael Zarick: That's funny.
[00:12:43] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:12:44] Michael Zarick: Um, what do you think about, this is gonna, this sounds, so I'm interested to see how you take this question, but I don't know how to ask it properly. Like, like what does it. What about hair? Because
[00:12:58] Alexa Hill: I mean, the technical part of my job I love and I'm passionate about.
Mm-hmm. And, you know, I, um, for me this is, I always say like, I truly am so lucky to like, have a, a job that I genuinely love and am passionate about. And I, I'm a super, like, creative person. Um. I'm very crafty. I'm always, you know, trying to pick up polymer clay is my, my most recent thing and little miniature book nooks.
[00:13:28] Michael Zarick: Let's
[00:13:28] Alexa Hill: go. Yeah. Love em.
[00:13:29] Michael Zarick: Someone asked me a question this morning,
[00:13:30] Alexa Hill: Uhhuh,
[00:13:33] Michael Zarick: uh, and I found the question unsettling, but I understood it entirely. I love
[00:13:37] Alexa Hill: question
[00:13:37] Michael Zarick: is you, they said, do you have any hand hobbies? Oh. And I said, that's a really, you could take that in so many ways. Wow. Um,
[00:13:46] Alexa Hill: that's, yeah.
[00:13:47] Michael Zarick: But, but you saying polymer clay, but also like, I have
[00:13:49] Alexa Hill: a lot of hand hobbies.
Yeah. I love that term. Okay. Noted. Stealing. Um, but I love the, you know, I, of course, like, I love that aspect of it. Um, but I also think, um, still along like the technical part of my job, like, yes, people come here and I, I unload. And I don't mean that in like a negative way, but you know, they're able to do that, but also like.
It just is what it is. Like we are humans and we wanna look good. It makes us feel good to look good. And so, um, being able to do that for people to, you know, I, I love that part of my job. Like there's nothing better than knowing that, you know, someone left here and is like, God, I feel so much better.
[00:14:35] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:37] Alexa Hill: Awesome.
[00:14:37] Michael Zarick: Um, I got my hair cut two days ago.
[00:14:39] Alexa Hill: It looks great.
[00:14:40] Michael Zarick: Let's go.
[00:14:41] Alexa Hill: It does. It really does. Thank
[00:14:42] Michael Zarick: you. Thank you. Um. When you, like I, one of my favorite parts, a lot of my perspective on this, I guess, is driven by like, pop culture in a lot of ways, but as with all things.
[00:14:55] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:56] Michael Zarick: Um, but if you look at a thing like, like Queer Eye mm-hmm.
A lot of the like true transformation that people are going through is like, they take them to the salon or a haircut mm-hmm. And they just like give them a complete, uh, makeover. In that in the head area.
[00:15:13] Alexa Hill: Sure.
[00:15:13] Michael Zarick: And then you just see their entire body language change after that?
[00:15:18] Alexa Hill: Absolutely. Mm-hmm.
[00:15:19] Michael Zarick: Do, is that something you experience similar?
Oh my gosh, fairly regularly.
[00:15:22] Alexa Hill: Absolutely. I mean, what do you look at when you're looking in a mirror, you know? Mm-hmm.
[00:15:27] Michael Zarick: Like
[00:15:29] Alexa Hill: most mirrors are showing you, you know, chest up. So it's the first thing you see. It's the first thing. Other people are like clocking about you. And I think. Absolutely like, you know, a new, a new look or just like refreshing what you have.
I think it, it gives people that like little ju little pep in their step. And I do think also that being able to come in and like spill some tea and just like know that you can be yourself and like get it all out there. And then you also look good when you leave. Come on, come on. It's great.
[00:16:08] Michael Zarick: Yeah. I, um.
For example, when I got my hair cut two days ago, I was like, oh, my hair looks fine. Like it was long. Mm-hmm. Fairly long. Mm-hmm. Um, and I didn't really feel like I needed one, but I'm gonna see my grandma this weekend, so I was like, I gotta clean up for grandma.
[00:16:23] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:16:23] Michael Zarick: Um, and I walked out and I was like, dang.
[00:16:26] Alexa Hill: Yep,
[00:16:26] Michael Zarick: that hits.
[00:16:27] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:16:27] Michael Zarick: I, I need to show you something though. Wait.
[00:16:28] Alexa Hill: Show me.
[00:16:29] Michael Zarick: I'm gonna show you my id.
[00:16:30] Alexa Hill: Oh gosh.
[00:16:34] Michael Zarick: Sorry. It gets me every time. Uh, so I used to have,
[00:16:39] Alexa Hill: I love the stash.
[00:16:40] Michael Zarick: Really?
[00:16:41] Alexa Hill: I love the stache.
[00:16:41] Michael Zarick: That's so funny.
[00:16:43] Alexa Hill: stache are in right now.
[00:16:44] Michael Zarick: My, so my wife also likes the mustache,
[00:16:46] Alexa Hill: Uhhuh Uhhuh.
[00:16:47] Michael Zarick: That, that was the main feature I was trying to highlight, actually. So I'm glad you brought it up.
[00:16:51] Alexa Hill: Of course.
[00:16:51] Michael Zarick: Yeah. Um, I had the mustache for like three-ish years.
Mm-hmm. Two or three. Um mm-hmm. And one day I just got fed up with it and I shaved it off. And as soon as I did, I said, oh God. I said, this is my face. I said, thank God it's gone.
[00:17:07] Alexa Hill: Oh.
[00:17:07] Michael Zarick: Uh, but my wife was like, I like the mustache.
[00:17:09] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah. It's like, yeah. staches are in. I found
[00:17:11] Michael Zarick: refused. I just don't, I wish I had like, 'cause I'm half Lebanese half
[00:17:17] Alexa Hill: mm-hmm.
[00:17:18] Michael Zarick: Or like Syrian, half Lebanese, Syrian. And I feel like Middle Eastern men have such strong facial hair and I don't have that.
[00:17:24] Alexa Hill: Oh yeah.
[00:17:25] Michael Zarick: At least stereotypically.
[00:17:26] Alexa Hill: Sure.
[00:17:26] Michael Zarick: Um. Anyways,
[00:17:29] Alexa Hill: it's, it's about the confidence when you wear it, not about how much is there. And that one, it looked great. It looked great.
[00:17:35] Michael Zarick: That's funny.
I'll post that on the, uh, as on the Instagram. So people get, or like a visual guide in the show notes, What, what was like your journey of like, at what point? Were you like, yeah, I wanna start my own place.
[00:17:50] Alexa Hill: Um, oh, I always knew that this was the move. I, um, so I went to cosmetology school, um, my senior year of high school.
[00:18:02] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:03] Alexa Hill: So graduated high school, immediately got my license, immediately got my, um, associates in business and entrepreneurship.
Went on to get a bachelor's in marketing,
[00:18:13] Michael Zarick: so you were locked in.
[00:18:14] Alexa Hill: Don't waste your money though. Don't do it. You don't need it.
[00:18:17] Michael Zarick: Oh, the bachelor, the business
[00:18:19] Alexa Hill: thing. Yes. Yes. I'm not paying those student loans. That's between them and Jesus. Um, but it okay, it did help a little, but I, so yeah, to say all that, say, I knew the direction that I was going.
Um, and I just, I, I didn't know. I didn't have this vision necessarily. I don't know. It was kind of just this foggy, okay, in the future that's like where I'm gonna be kind of a thing. Um, so it didn't really like start to be a solid picture until probably 2020, I would say.
[00:18:58] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:59] Alexa Hill: Um,
[00:19:00] Michael Zarick: and how old are you now?
[00:19:01] Alexa Hill: I'm 33.
[00:19:02] Michael Zarick: Okay,
[00:19:03] Alexa Hill: now.
[00:19:04] Michael Zarick: Got it. So it's been, oh, math is hard. 15 years.
[00:19:09] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:10] Michael Zarick: You said 16 or earlier, so that makes sense.
[00:19:12] Alexa Hill: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:13] Michael Zarick: 15, 16,
[00:19:13] Alexa Hill: 15, 16 years. Yeah. Um, so yeah. What, what was the question? I got off track. Just
[00:19:20] Michael Zarick: like, how did you decide
[00:19:22] Alexa Hill: to
[00:19:22] Michael Zarick: make your own place?
[00:19:23] Alexa Hill: Okay.
[00:19:24] Michael Zarick: You can go wherever you want. I don't care.
[00:19:26] Alexa Hill: This is the, the plight of the hairstylist. Um, but yeah, that's, you know, I, I knew that eventually I would be here, um, and. You know, you go through shit in your twenties, your twenties sucks. Um, so it, it was, you know, the road, the path wasn't straight, but we got here eventually. Mm-hmm. And then, um, in 2020 I was actually working at a shop that I like loved.
I love the owner tangled up salon to Teress Wallace is the owner. She's amazing.
[00:19:56] Michael Zarick: Is that here?
[00:19:56] Alexa Hill: Um, she's got a location in Fishers and a location in Carmel. Mm-hmm. Yeah, she's great. Um, and. I had been outta the industry for a couple years. I kind of like was, you know, going through some things, um, and got back into it.
And, you know, I, I told myself if I'm gonna go back into the salon, like I'm doing it, I'm, I'm doing what I set out to do, you know, when I first started this. Um, and I'm so thankful that I landed at her place because she was just so, like, she was a breath of fresh air. She was so supportive. Um. She really supported us through lockdown.
And then, um, you know, 2020 came, we went back into the shop and I was able to bounce some ideas off her and she was super supportive about, um, me going off on my own. So I actually started in a studio at Sola, um, and it felt, you know, this was the next natural step to take. So here we are.
[00:20:59] Michael Zarick: Yeah. How do you feel as like a.
Like a leader of like a space. How do you find employees for a salon that fit your like vision?
[00:21:12] Alexa Hill: Well, to be honest, so I, I actually opened up with, um, one of my girlfriends, um, her name's Patricia Spellbound Skincare.
[00:21:20] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
[00:21:21] Alexa Hill: Um, her and I immediately, she moved in across the hall from me at Sola. Um, and I already at Sola felt kinda.
Different, you know, I had a different vibe than a lot of the people. Sure. So when she moved in across the hall, I was like, oh my god, my god. A partnership, a friend. Um, so that just kind of naturally happened. We opened this together and I mean, it was hard. Like it was hard. The first I had, um, you know, it was, I, I had to really be patient, um, and.
Honestly, like, I think that I put out enough of who I am and the vibe that you, you know, who I am, people aren't gonna reach out to me who don't agree with, you know, what I represent. Um, so once I, uh, kind to be honest, I had a reel go viral on Instagram and I think that that kind of like put me on the map.
Um,
[00:22:24] Michael Zarick: do you remember what it was?
[00:22:25] Alexa Hill: I do remember what it was.
[00:22:26] Michael Zarick: Are you willing to share?
[00:22:28] Alexa Hill: Sure. Oh
[00:22:28] Michael Zarick: yeah. What,
[00:22:29] Alexa Hill: what is it? Yeah, it was, um, it's pinned on my page, baby. I'm proud of that.
[00:22:32] Michael Zarick: I didn't look that closely.
[00:22:33] Alexa Hill: Um, it's the, it was something, it was so basic. It was like when you're a stylist in Indiana, but you're like this kind of stylist.
And it was like,
[00:22:40] Michael Zarick: oh,
[00:22:41] Alexa Hill: the emojis.
[00:22:42] Michael Zarick: Okay. I think I saw that.
[00:22:42] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah. Um, so, uh, it went viral and I just, things kind of popped off after that. I had two really great stylists here. I had, um, Lindsay and Kendall here, and I mean. Them coming again. They knew, they knew what we were about. Mm-hmm. And I knew what they were about, and it just was so natural for them to join the team.
Um, so after that went viral, it kind of just like, I mean, I was getting people constantly like, Hey, I love your shop. Hey, do you have any openings? And I, you know, I, I was, it was a little overwhelming to be honest. Um, but I mean, yeah, for the most part. I hate to sound, you know, not to sound any type of way, but I didn't really have to like look too hard.
Yeah. You know, I, I put the feelers out there, I would announce that we, you know, had openings or whatever. Um, but yeah, once, once people really like saw like, oh, this is who this bitch is, this is what she's about and like I wanna be a part of it. Um, they just kind of came, you know, they came and I have definitely had a lot of, um.
Young, queer alternative, um, stylists or, you know, people in the industry reach out. And I would love if I could have, you know, just like a 50 chair salon and give all of them a home. Um, but, but yeah, it's been, you know, people know what I'm about and the people that wanna work for me. I feel confident that.
They fit that.
[00:24:16] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
[00:24:17] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:24:18] Michael Zarick: It's sort of like, um, well this is something I try to get across to, um, the business owners that I know who are like worried about, um, certain things.
[00:24:29] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:29] Michael Zarick: Um, you know, we're in a moment where I think running a small business is really hard. It's a lot of things are really hard right now for a lot of various reasons.
Sure. But like, um, looking for support from your community, I think. Is just as simple as like putting out there who you are. 'cause the people who want to support you will find you because of that. Absolutely. That's how I feel.
[00:24:52] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:53] Michael Zarick: Um,
[00:24:53] Alexa Hill: a hundred percent.
[00:24:54] Michael Zarick: And I've messaged businesses that I've seen, like putting out messaging that I like, whether that's like anti-ice or
[00:25:00] Alexa Hill: mm-hmm.
[00:25:01] Michael Zarick: Pro L-G-B-T-Q stuff, any of that type of stuff. Like, I've been like, thank you for doing this. I'm happy to share your stuff. Just let me know because like
[00:25:10] Alexa Hill: Absolutely.
[00:25:10] Michael Zarick: I think we need that more now than ever because. People just want to, to feel seen in a lot of ways. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. Shout out to you.
[00:25:19] Alexa Hill: Well, thanks.
[00:25:20] Michael Zarick: Yeah. Cool.
[00:25:20] Alexa Hill: I think it's important to, um, and I, I, you know, I understand that I speak from a place of privilege as a white, cisgendered, you know, queer person in a heteronormative relationship. Like I, I know how privileged I am to be able to be like. F it. I'm just gonna like make this funny, reel and put it on Instagram and
[00:25:47] Michael Zarick: yeah.
[00:25:47] Alexa Hill: Let people know who I am and like, uh, I think that if you have that ability, it is so important. Like the time for being coy and you know, kind of like, you know, putting your rainbow stuff out during pride month, like the time for that is over. Like we need to be like, Hey, this is what I'm about, like. F ICE.
F this administration. This is a safe space for you. Fascists are not allowed in my business. Like you gotta just be.
[00:26:17] Michael Zarick: I see that all over actually.
[00:26:18] Alexa Hill: Oh,
[00:26:19] Michael Zarick: there's one right there. Oh, no. Nazis in Valhalla.
[00:26:21] Alexa Hill: Oh,
[00:26:22] Michael Zarick: that one's pretty funny.
[00:26:24] Alexa Hill: Uh, yeah. So I think, I think that if you have that ability, um, it's important to just do it because it's not safe anymore to que like, to question or to be unsure about the, the places that you are.
visiting or spending your money with?
[00:26:42] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm. Who wants to support? A Nazi not me.,
[00:26:47] Alexa Hill: Not me. There's a lot of things I'd like to do to them and support's not it... Support's not one of 'em.
[00:26:53] Michael Zarick: We won't speak on that.
[00:26:53] Alexa Hill: No. No we won't. No, we won't.
[00:26:55] Michael Zarick: Um, you are close to, this is a total aside.
[00:27:00] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:01] Michael Zarick: You're close to Saraga.
[00:27:02] Alexa Hill: Yeah, baby.
[00:27:03] Michael Zarick: Is this a, is this a common lunch spot?
[00:27:05] Alexa Hill: Okay. Honestly, what's
[00:27:07] Michael Zarick: I need? I need to know what's going down here.
[00:27:09] Alexa Hill: What's more common, um, is One World for their sushi right around the corner. One world market by REI.
[00:27:16] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:17] Alexa Hill: Um, and then the place right down here, the chai place, a few doors there. Oh,
[00:27:21] Michael Zarick: the, the, the place we, the alternative spot we were thinking on.
[00:27:25] Alexa Hill: Well, no, ascend is great too. Ascend is around.
[00:27:28] Michael Zarick: Oh, coffee. Coffee. Yeah. I have that on mine. I have, there's a lot of, there's a Mexican place over here too. Um,
[00:27:32] Alexa Hill: that's
[00:27:32] Michael Zarick: on my list.
[00:27:33] Alexa Hill: Boo. And Billys maybe
[00:27:34] Michael Zarick: Boo and Billy. Yeah.
[00:27:35] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:27:35] Michael Zarick: Does that place good?
[00:27:36] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:27:36] Michael Zarick: Okay.
[00:27:36] Alexa Hill: Real tasty. Um,
[00:27:38] Michael Zarick: Castleton is so out of the way, but there's some good stuff up here.
[00:27:41] Alexa Hill: I know. And like, listen, I I live in SoBro, and like
[00:27:45] Michael Zarick: Oh really?
[00:27:45] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:27:46] Michael Zarick: We should just met your house.
[00:27:48] Alexa Hill: Uh, I mean, we could have, my dogs would have been
[00:27:50] Michael Zarick: Oh, okay.
[00:27:51] Alexa Hill: Taking over. Um, but I spend a lot of time at Gold Leaf. I almost suggested that, but, um. But, uh, I would love, I would love to be like, I love the energy of like, SoBro, I love the energy of Fountain Square and all these places, but again, it was like, you know, Patricia and I came from the Keystone Fashion Mall.
[00:28:09] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
[00:28:09] Alexa Hill: She had a big clientele in Carmel. I have clients in Lafayette, we have clients from the south. Mm-hmm. So this just kind of made sense. So you
[00:28:17] Michael Zarick: were trying to sort of appease the customers as opposed to your own uh, needs In a lot of ways.
[00:28:22] Alexa Hill: Yeah. And I, that is something that I standby. I think that, um, who doesn't want like a cutesy little shop in a cute little, you know, area?
We all do, but I think also we have to think about like accessibility for people. Um. You know, even something like a parking lot, like it's a pain in the ass to like go to get your hair done. And it's like, oh, it's two hour street parking, so I'm gonna have to go move my car, I'm gonna have to do this or whatever.
So I wanted to stay like pretty central. And that's not to say, I mean, we are growing and I'm sure we won't be here forever.
[00:29:03] Michael Zarick: The 50 chair salon is on the way.
[00:29:05] Alexa Hill: Listen, listen. Mega salon. Um, but for now. Accessibility was important. We'll see then.
[00:29:14] Michael Zarick: Yeah,
[00:29:15] Alexa Hill: we'll see.
[00:29:15] Michael Zarick: Interesting. I think accessibility means different things to different people.
[00:29:19] Alexa Hill: Absolutely. I agree with that. I agree with that. Some people are like, oh, I hate Castleton. The traffic's terrible, this and that, and I'm like, yeah, but it's nice to be off the interstate. You can go to Trader Joe's, you can go to Costco. Mm-hmm. You can knock some things out while you're here.
[00:29:34] Michael Zarick: I do not hate Castleton, and I don't hate Avon, but they can.
So all, all places can be better, including,
[00:29:42] Alexa Hill: oh,
[00:29:42] Michael Zarick: downtown Indianapolis.
[00:29:43] Alexa Hill: Oh my God, yes. Yeah, we're everywhere. Could be better. But we are in Indiana, so a lot of things
[00:29:49] Michael Zarick: we have, maybe the infrastructure is not our main focus right now.
[00:29:52] Alexa Hill: Right, right,
[00:29:52] Michael Zarick: right. Um, What do you think about,
[00:29:55] Alexa Hill: what am I,
[00:29:56] Michael Zarick: what did you think we were gonna talk about?
I'm interested,
[00:29:59] Alexa Hill: I mean. I've obviously, I told you I watched. Oh
[00:30:02] Michael Zarick: yeah,
[00:30:03] Alexa Hill: I've watched your stuff. So, I mean, honestly like it's just a yap sesh. It's just a yap sesh. I, this is my daily, this is my daily. Just sit down and talk with people. I didn't really know what you would ask for.
[00:30:17] Michael Zarick: I had a vision in my mind.
[00:30:18] Alexa Hill: Sure.
[00:30:19] Michael Zarick: Of me actually like paying you for a haircut. Ooh. And then like us, like just recording that conversation.
[00:30:27] Alexa Hill: It probably would've been chaotic. Too chaotic. More chaotic than this.
[00:30:31] Michael Zarick: How many, um, men or masculine people do you do service for?
[00:30:36] Alexa Hill: me personally
[00:30:39] Michael Zarick: or just the business?
[00:30:40] Alexa Hill: I mean, as a business we do a lot, a lot.
I have a couple stylists that, um, do a ton of like, you know, clipper shortcuts, so. Of course that gets, you know, they have a lot of male presenting clients. Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, we, we do. Anyone and everyone. Anyone. Yeah.
[00:31:02] Michael Zarick: Last time I went to what I would consider more of a formal salon was in college.
[00:31:08] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:09] Michael Zarick: And like I'm, most men are very lucky in terms of like hair, hair service.
[00:31:15] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:16] Michael Zarick: Because you like walk in, it's between, well, when I was in college it was like 15 bucks.
[00:31:20] Alexa Hill: Sure.
[00:31:20] Michael Zarick: But now I pay like 40, which I respect. I'll get to that. the last time I went to a salon, they charged me like 80 or a hundred dollars for like, I was in there for probably 15 minutes and I was so mad.
It's like you're charging me like. I, I had pretty short, I have like, whatever hair I have now, it's pretty short. And I was like, you, I, I was like, could you not adjust your price a little bit for me?
[00:31:44] Alexa Hill: Listen, pricing is hard in this industry. Uhhuh and I, I always, I am certainly, I preach to my, to my stylist.
Mm-hmm. You know, raise your prices, charge what you're worth, you know, we gotta make our money. We got bills to pay.
[00:31:57] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
[00:31:58] Alexa Hill: Um, but I also think that there are some. People maybe in the industry who get a little carried away with that.
[00:32:06] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
[00:32:07] Alexa Hill: Can look carried away.
[00:32:08] Michael Zarick: But I do wanna speak on that. Yes. Just a little bit in your defense.
Mm-hmm. I pay $40.
[00:32:13] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:32:13] Michael Zarick: Base without tip. Happily for a haircut.
[00:32:16] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm. Because, mm-hmm. Yeah.
[00:32:20] Michael Zarick: Wait, this is a shout out to Anna Darling, my wife. When I was a sophomore in college,
[00:32:26] Alexa Hill: uh,
[00:32:27] Michael Zarick: I asked my mom for a pair of clippers because I was like, I'm gonna give myself. Haircuts. Sure. Your face is killing me.
[00:32:35] Alexa Hill: No, I'm so supportive.
Tell me, how did it go?
[00:32:38] Michael Zarick: Uh, I lived in, I was an RA at McNutt in IU Bloomington.
[00:32:41] Alexa Hill: Okay.
[00:32:42] Michael Zarick: Walked into the bathrooms, which were individual bathrooms and McNutt, shout out. Wonderful. Began giving myself a haircut, immediately. Fucked it up.
[00:32:50] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:51] Michael Zarick: And then proceeded to cut off all of my hair, in which case I was a bald baby.
Um, although I didn't like. It was more fuzzy than bald. Totally. Because it was using clippers, but Sure. Um, your face is so, it
[00:33:05] Alexa Hill: it's a canon event. No, it's a
canon
[00:33:06] Michael Zarick: event.
[00:33:07] Alexa Hill: It's fine.
[00:33:08] Michael Zarick: And, uh,
[00:33:09] Alexa Hill: I've
[00:33:09] Michael Zarick: heard this story. Yeah. Follow up. Uh, my wife is just my friend at that time and she said, Michael, never do that again.
[00:33:16] Alexa Hill: Please. Never. You're lucky she's your wife now. Honestly. Good for her. She's a trooper. Went through the, the fuzzy baby stage with you and I love that.
[00:33:25] Michael Zarick: First of all, I like when my hair is at that fuzzy stage, which doesn't happen. It hasn't happened since then. Had long hair, longer hair since then. Um, but to the point of pricing, I will happily pay $40 with the understanding that that will not happen.
[00:33:40] Alexa Hill: Yeah, yeah.
[00:33:41] Michael Zarick: And $40 for, um, a male barber haircut to me like. It is still kind of pricey, but I'm hap so happy to pay it. 'cause it's like this person is trained and they are good.
[00:33:53] Alexa Hill: Well, and I think that the industry has changed so, so much and
[00:33:57] Michael Zarick: mm-hmm.
[00:33:58] Alexa Hill: If you're going to someone who's charging, you know, I charging a certain amount.
I think typically this person has probably done so much continued education. Especially like there's like cut specialists out here that, you know. I'm like, yeah, I would pay you $150 for a haircut. Mm-hmm. Because like, I see your accolades, I see the work you're putting in. And like, I know our education is not cheap, that's all.
[00:34:26] Michael Zarick: Definitely. No, I, I remember asking my barber in when we lived in Arkansas.
[00:34:31] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:34:31] Michael Zarick: Like, I think I was going through like a, as many people do, like a career crisis. I was like, maybe I'll just become a barber. And I was like, I was like, Clint, like how, like, can I work with you? And he is like, yeah, you gotta go to school.
And I was like, how much is that? He goes like. I don't remember the number you told me, but it was a lot. And I was like, all right, maybe not. I'm good.
[00:34:48] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Well, and even continued education, I mean, it's like some, like extension certification for example, like this stuff is like thousands of dollars, you know?
So it's, it's been a major shift, I feel like, from your like, you know, $50 like highlight in haircut
[00:35:07] Michael Zarick: mm-hmm.
[00:35:07] Alexa Hill: To. What it is now. Yeah. So well '
[00:35:10] Michael Zarick: cause like in a lot of ways, especially for what you guys are doing here, color.
[00:35:14] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:35:14] Michael Zarick: And um, I don't know what other words you'd use. Color, extensions, all that stuff.
You, in a lot of ways, you're like a chemist.
[00:35:21] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:35:22] Michael Zarick: You have to match up the chemicals you're using to the hair.
[00:35:26] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:35:26] Michael Zarick: Texture, color, whatever.
[00:35:29] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:35:29] Michael Zarick: And that is like. I've talked about my experience with chemistry on this podcast before. You're doing the Lord's work over here.
[00:35:37] Alexa Hill: We we go into math scientist mode a little bit.
Yeah.
[00:35:40] Michael Zarick: I,
[00:35:41] Alexa Hill: I always say, 'cause I mix up right over here and, you know, me and my clients will be deep in conversation and as soon as I go to mix up, I'm like, halt, please. I need silence. I need silence. As I,
[00:35:52] Michael Zarick: you're like, I'm doing numbers.
[00:35:53] Alexa Hill: Yes, yes. I'm doing math, I'm doing chemistry, I'm color theory. I'm like that meme with all the.
The stuff around the, so yeah. Yeah. 40 bucks. It's not a bad price.
[00:36:04] Michael Zarick: Yeah. I'm pretty simple though, and I think I'm fun to talk to. Maybe that gives me a discount. Um, all right, let's move on to what I call the canned questions.
[00:36:15] Alexa Hill: Cool.
[00:36:17] Michael Zarick: Third Space Indy sponsored Third Space is sponsored by City Rising. Uh, city Rising is Social Impact Studio that leads and supports innovative projects that strengthen, celebrate and repair people and places.
So if you are a people or the leader of a place or an organization and you are interested in improving your built or lived environment, reach out to me or reach out to Mark lata@cityrising.org and we'll get you hooked up. Thank you so much. Shout to Mark. Mark has sponsored a. Um, a question for the podcast.
Okay. Which you may know since you've been listening. Uh, what is a Third Space to you as a concept?
[00:37:01] Alexa Hill: I mean, I think it's essentially what we hit earlier. It's a place that you can go and feel, um, safe, supported, uh, free from judgment and, uh. You know, be surrounded by people that you wanna talk to, that you can talk to.
Um, it's a place to build community. I think. Um, you know, it's not, it can be not just, you know, for fun and relaxation and decompression, but especially times like now. Um, I think a lot of third spaces are kind of becoming almost headquarters, um, for. Some community work that needs done
[00:37:49] Michael Zarick: banger. Great answer.
[00:37:51] Alexa Hill: Thanks.
[00:37:51] Michael Zarick: I'm gonna ask you 'cause I think you'll have an interesting answer.
[00:37:56] Alexa Hill: Oh gosh. Okay.
[00:37:56] Michael Zarick: Other than gold Leaf.
[00:37:58] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:58] Michael Zarick: What is a good, what's a good Third Space? Uh, you said you live in SoBro, but it doesn't have to be there. I
[00:38:05] Alexa Hill: mean, okay. I hate to say it 'cause I know that by definition, this is not my Third Space.
[00:38:09] Michael Zarick: It cannot be here.
[00:38:10] Alexa Hill: God. Um,
[00:38:12] Michael Zarick: it by definition cannot be here. You're banned.
[00:38:14] Alexa Hill: I mean, what if it's like after my clients and I sit here for two hours and bother everyone just because I wanna hang out? Um, I think, um, so we have a book club here. We have The Common Room Book Club.
[00:38:26] Michael Zarick: Ooh.
[00:38:26] Alexa Hill: Um, and we like to go, we'll either go to like different bookstores, like local bookstores, or we'll go to like small, um, like coffee shops or whatever.
Um,
[00:38:38] Michael Zarick: that's cool that who isn't? Sorry to interrupt.
[00:38:41] Alexa Hill: Mm.
[00:38:41] Michael Zarick: Who's including in the book club? Is this like employees or is anybody?
[00:38:44] Alexa Hill: Um, anybody? Um, if you wanna join it, just, you have to send us a DM so I can send you the invite because sometimes we do host it. Um, like I hosted it at my house and I totally, like my address was on display.
So you're like, I
[00:38:58] Michael Zarick: am not posting that on
[00:38:59] Alexa Hill: you. It was on display.
[00:39:01] Michael Zarick: Do you have to be a, a client to come in?
[00:39:03] Alexa Hill: No.
[00:39:04] Michael Zarick: Okay. No.
[00:39:04] Alexa Hill: You don't have to be a client.
[00:39:05] Michael Zarick: That's funny how that. After you tell me a little bit about it, tell me how that started. That's really interesting.
[00:39:10] Alexa Hill: Um, but yeah, so just essentially that's been fun to kind of find these.
I think, you know, for, for me, I love, like, I love reading. I love talking about books. I love the vibe and coffee shops. So a lot of times it's those kinds of places for me. Um, uh, I think, you know, when I was younger, the library was a Third Space. I'd like make my mom take me to the library and she's like.
Come on. And I'm like, mom, let me sit my corner and
[00:39:38] Michael Zarick: ring. This kid is such a yapper, she can't be in the library for so long.
[00:39:41] Alexa Hill: I know, I know. That was the only time I was silent. I swear. I swear.
[00:39:47] Michael Zarick: Um, how did the book club get started?
[00:39:49] Alexa Hill: Um,
[00:39:49] Michael Zarick: that seems so funny that a salon, we went our book club.
[00:39:52] Alexa Hill: Well, you know, the thing with The Common Room is like ultimately yes, we are a salon, but it was super important to me to be like. More than that and be involved in the community. And so, you know, we try to do things.
We have our clothing swap. We did like Irvington, Halloween. Um, you know, we try to have like events and stuff like that just to, to bring people together. Um, and so we, myself, Kendall, Lindsay, um, we're all super. Readers. We love to read. Lindsay read like, I don't know, an insane amount of books. Like 300 books last year.
[00:40:33] Michael Zarick: 300?
[00:40:34] Alexa Hill: Yeah. She's crazy. I was at, I was at a hundred.
[00:40:36] Michael Zarick: That's like a book a day.
[00:40:38] Alexa Hill: Yeah, girl. Yeah. She's crazy. The so, you know, we all yap about our books and then a lot of our clients read so we're yapping to them. And so we were like, why don't we yap together?
[00:40:50] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
[00:40:50] Alexa Hill: Why don't we go somewhere and support, you know, a bookstore?
'cause you got. 10 of us coming in. Mm-hmm. We're 10 deep baby.
[00:40:58] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
[00:40:58] Alexa Hill: We're buying books. We're buying coffee. Yeah. You know, we're sitting, we're,
[00:41:01] Michael Zarick: are you familiar with the, I have to give Jake Budler a shout out. Not out of obligation, but I, he's a good friend of mine. Okay. Are you are participating in the Indy Indy book call.
[00:41:10] Alexa Hill: Okay. I am only able to do like one day of it because I'm already booked up. But yes, I will be. And a couple of the girls in our book club do it, and they're like hardcore dedicated to it. Yeah. So I'm excited to even do a couple days, but yes, I'm excited. Yeah.
[00:41:27] Michael Zarick: Amazing.
[00:41:28] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:41:28] Michael Zarick: Uh, for anyone listening that is the local bookstore, I don't even know how to describe it.
Jake would smack me around. Uh, like local bookstore. It's just, you just walk around. It's almost like it's, you drive around.
[00:41:39] Alexa Hill: Scavenger hunt type. Uh, yeah.
[00:41:42] Michael Zarick: You get They've made it like an event.
[00:41:43] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah. It's really cool.
[00:41:44] Michael Zarick: And you can, you don't even have to buy anything as far as I know, although
[00:41:48] Alexa Hill: no
[00:41:48] Michael Zarick: people end up doing so.
[00:41:50] Alexa Hill: I don't think you do, but you should if you can.
[00:41:53] Michael Zarick: Uh, and there's like a party at the end
[00:41:54] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:41:55] Michael Zarick: Or whatever.
[00:41:55] Alexa Hill: And there's, I know I saw on their Instagram they're doing a, on the 18th, like a pre, a pre-party. Pre crawl party.
[00:42:04] Michael Zarick: Yeah. I
[00:42:05] Alexa Hill: can't go. I would love to.
[00:42:07] Michael Zarick: Yeah. Any shout out? Uh, thank you for shaping that question related.
[00:42:14] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:42:15] Michael Zarick: What is a Third Space that has existed for you previously? No salons allowed.
[00:42:21] Alexa Hill: Okay. Okay. Okay.
[00:42:22] Michael Zarick: Those are places of work.
[00:42:23] Alexa Hill: Sure.
[00:42:24] Michael Zarick: Um, that has existed for you previously that does not any longer.
[00:42:30] Alexa Hill: Oh gosh. Um, I mean. Uh, honestly it still exists, but the library. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, I feel like at this point we've all got like our Kindles and our, our things like that, so I feel like it's kind of shifted from going to a physical place.
That Third Space has kind of dissolved for me, um, and kind of turned into. You know, things like our book club and stuff like that. So
[00:43:02] Michael Zarick: yeah,
[00:43:03] Alexa Hill: I guess it's not
[00:43:04] Michael Zarick: almost like I'm morphing.
[00:43:05] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah. I guess it's not gone, but it's, it's changed a little. Mm-hmm. And I do like this version better. I think. So.
[00:43:11] Michael Zarick: Maybe a little more communal, but
[00:43:12] Alexa Hill: Yes.
Yes.
[00:43:13] Michael Zarick: The library does run book clubs and
[00:43:15] Alexa Hill: Yeah. Yeah. Totally.
[00:43:16] Michael Zarick: Shout out to the library. If you have a Kindle, you can check out eBooks for free.
[00:43:19] Alexa Hill: Absolutely. Absolutely. '
[00:43:20] Michael Zarick: cause who wants to buy books from Amazon?
[00:43:22] Alexa Hill: And you can request your library if they don't have a book, if you send in a request, typically they'll have it within a couple days.
[00:43:28] Michael Zarick: Yeah. Um, support
[00:43:30] Alexa Hill: your libraries.
[00:43:30] Michael Zarick: I waited for, also someone said, phrased it to me. This is actually where I was trying to go. Mm. Um, phrased it to me that if you put books on hold, like they're popular books. There's al it's almost like a, at the library, there's almost like a fun surprise thing that happens where you go, oh, I totally forgot I put that book on hold.
And it's like, oh, it's ready. Mm-hmm.
[00:43:50] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm. I love seeing like your library acquired like 10 new copies of this because, you know, it's so popular. You're second in line now.
[00:43:58] Michael Zarick: Um,
[00:43:59] Alexa Hill: love
[00:43:59] Michael Zarick: it. That's funny. Um, okay. Every episode mm-hmm. I ask a question from the previous guest.
[00:44:07] Alexa Hill: Cool.
[00:44:08] Michael Zarick: Um, and we've been kind of talking about this just a little bit, but I'm interested to see how you take this question as well.
My previous guest, your name is Jalen Roseberry. You said you listen, so
[00:44:18] Alexa Hill: mm-hmm.
[00:44:18] Michael Zarick: It's not a surprise.
[00:44:20] Alexa Hill: Yes. It's,
[00:44:20] Michael Zarick: um, Jalen asks, what does it mean to be a good neighbor? And maybe for you.
[00:44:26] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:26] Michael Zarick: Um, because I think in a lot of ways you've spoken so much about the salon.
[00:44:31] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:32] Michael Zarick: Is there a way that you're a good neighbor, literally to people in SoBro?
[00:44:36] Alexa Hill: Sure. I think, um, I mean on a literal and more micro scale, I feel like being a good neighbor happens in like the small stuff. You know, it's like, uh. You are having a cookout and you hear your, you know, your neighbor in the backyard, invite 'em over, shovel a little bit of their sidewalk, you know, don't stop right at the property line.
You know, I, uh, I had a garden. We moved into this rental house last year and I was finally able to have a garden and you know, I'm like so excited to grow these vegetables and like give them to neighbors. Mm-hmm. Nothing was successful. I got like three green beans. We had
[00:45:17] Michael Zarick: a similar, was that last year?
[00:45:19] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:45:19] Michael Zarick: We had a similar experience. I think a lot of it was just like so hot all summer. It's like
[00:45:24] Alexa Hill: it was really upsetting. Um, but yeah, so I think it's a lot of little things that kind of turn into big things. You know, I, uh, our neighbor's car, you know, we live on, I live on college, um, and late at night, one night their car got hit and you know, we have a camera.
So I immediately like wrote a note and left it on their door and. Um, you know, I just think it's little stuff like that. Being supportive, being, um, being aware, watching out for each other. Um, at this point, standing on the front porch with a whistle. I think, you know, stuff like that is the small stuff, you know, turns into the big stuff and it goes from your neighbor on either side to your community as a whole.
[00:46:15] Michael Zarick: I just wanna let you know, one of my gr. One of the main reasons we didn't rent a house on college is because of the street parking. 'cause that is my grandest fear. It is a nightmare. There's no way
[00:46:26] Alexa Hill: a nightmare.
[00:46:27] Michael Zarick: Uh,
[00:46:27] Alexa Hill: but I love the house and like, I truly love the location.
[00:46:30] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
[00:46:31] Alexa Hill: I love it.
[00:46:31] Michael Zarick: I like a lot of those houses.
They're, they're always pretty cool.
[00:46:34] Alexa Hill: Yeah, it's cool. It's old. It's kind of, you know,
[00:46:36] Michael Zarick: I probably walk down college more than the average person.
[00:46:38] Alexa Hill: Mm-hmm.
[00:46:39] Michael Zarick: Uh, and some of the houses just along there are just so. Um, really pleasant and like
yeah.
[00:46:44] Michael Zarick: If you really take the time to look at them, like
[00:46:46] Alexa Hill: yeah.
[00:46:47] Michael Zarick: Um, really interesting and well designed and yeah.
Stuff like that.
[00:46:50] Alexa Hill: Absolutely.
[00:46:51] Michael Zarick: Uh, I don't have anything else to talk about. Okay. Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
[00:46:58] Alexa Hill: Um, I do wanna say one thing. Yeah. A Third Space that I thought about. I wanna give this shout out. Um, I have been going to she shop in, so Oh, for
[00:47:08] Michael Zarick: she shop fitness.
[00:47:08] Alexa Hill: Yes.
[00:47:09] Michael Zarick: I know.
[00:47:09] Alexa Hill: With. Circle City School of Burlesque
[00:47:12] Michael Zarick: right next to local radish.
[00:47:13] Alexa Hill: Yes. Love local radish.
[00:47:15] Michael Zarick: That actually checks out heavily.
[00:47:18] Alexa Hill: I love it.
[00:47:18] Michael Zarick: Just as visually it checks
[00:47:19] Alexa Hill: out. Um, I, the Circle City School of Burlesque has been doing classes that she shopped though, and honestly that, that has been a really a, a good Third Space for me lately.
Going to these classes and, um, meeting these people and then in turn going down to like White Rabbit and going to shows. Um. It's really great. It's really great. It's a good group of, of people Can I,
[00:47:45] Michael Zarick: I'm am genuinely interested.
[00:47:46] Alexa Hill: Yes.
[00:47:46] Michael Zarick: What is a burlesque class like?
[00:47:49] Alexa Hill: So it's really cool. They do, they do different things.
Some of them are like actual fitness dance classes and then some are, um, like, like Patsy just did Patsy Blue Ribbon. She just did, um, uh, it was like a kind of a costuming and like how to, uh. I mean, essentially how to fund being a burlesque performer. Um, Frenchie did like a 1 0 1 essentially, like how to, um, you know, have your, put your shows together, stuff like that.
So some of them are. You know, more physical. Tisha does a lot of like actual dance. Desiree DiCarlo does like actual dance.
[00:48:31] Michael Zarick: These are all names. I know. That's so,
[00:48:32] Alexa Hill: yeah. Yeah.
[00:48:33] Michael Zarick: I don't know how these names have come across my mind.
[00:48:36] Alexa Hill: Um, but yeah, so it's, it's kind of a mix of everything. It's, it's really cool.
[00:48:41] Michael Zarick: Yeah,
[00:48:41] Alexa Hill: it's great.
[00:48:42] Michael Zarick: Okay. Interesting. Um, I have no idea what it takes to like, choreograph. That's such a intimidating task. Yeah. Even just like with the Olympics going on, like the way, how, how do you choreograph? Um, like a ice skating,
[00:48:59] Alexa Hill: oh gosh.
[00:48:59] Michael Zarick: Display. Like a, or figure skating, that's what it's called.
[00:49:01] Alexa Hill: I used to do, I did dance when I was in high school and going to these classes, I was a little nervous.
I'm like, I don't know if I know how to do a little 5, 6, 7, 8 anymore. Um, I can tell you I don't think I could teach it. Mm-hmm. It's fun to learn.
[00:49:16] Michael Zarick: Yeah. Came back. Okay. Shout to the She Shop Fitness.
[00:49:19] Alexa Hill: She Shop. Okay.
[00:49:19] Michael Zarick: Um, do you go there for things other than, do you like work out there or
[00:49:23] Alexa Hill: No, just
[00:49:24] Michael Zarick: the
break.
[00:49:24] Alexa Hill: No, I
[00:49:25] Michael Zarick: So you're not a member, you just go for the
[00:49:26] Alexa Hill: classes?
Yeah, I just go for the classes.
[00:49:27] Michael Zarick: Okay.
[00:49:28] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:49:28] Michael Zarick: Cool.
[00:49:28] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:49:29] Michael Zarick: Uh, cool. One last question.
[00:49:32] Alexa Hill: Yes.
[00:49:32] Michael Zarick: Alexa?
[00:49:33] Alexa Hill: Yes. What
[00:49:34] Michael Zarick: question would you like to ask the next Third Space Indy guest?
[00:49:39] Alexa Hill: Um,
I think. Okay. As a business owner, like we talked about, mm-hmm. It's obviously important for me to be very upfront about who I am and what my business stands for. Um, so my question is, um, when you are looking for businesses to support in your community. What are you looking for that tells you that it is a safe space?
Like what, you know, besides the obvious, like what are, what are some things that you're looking for, and then if you are a leader, um, or business owner or whatever, what do you do to ensure that you're being very intentional and very clear about your business identity?
[00:50:33] Michael Zarick: Got you. Great question.
[00:50:35] Alexa Hill: Thanks.
[00:50:36] Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Uh, Alexa, thank you so much for joining me.
[00:50:40] Alexa Hill: Thank you.
[00:50:40] Michael Zarick: On this podcast, will you, if you're interested in doing so, let the people know where to find you.
[00:50:46] Alexa Hill: Yeah, check me out. Instagram. Super simple. Alexa does hair, um,
[00:50:52] Michael Zarick: which is, you know, the perfect name for you.
[00:50:55] Alexa Hill: Truly, truly. I'm like, I'm so lucky I got in real early.
OG Alexa. Um, and then The Common Room, Indy. Is our shop page, I think.
[00:51:06] Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm. What's the address? Drop it. Do you know it?
[00:51:09] Alexa Hill: Eight four. Two nine. Castleton Corner Drive.
[00:51:12] Michael Zarick: See, you don't even need maps, like you said earlier.
[00:51:15] Alexa Hill: I can here your, I
[00:51:16] Michael Zarick: think,
[00:51:16] Alexa Hill: I think
[00:51:17] Michael Zarick: look it up in the Almanac.
[00:51:19] Alexa Hill: Yeah.
[00:51:19] Michael Zarick: Is that a thing, a word people use?
Pull
[00:51:20] Alexa Hill: out big maps. Find us.
[00:51:24] Michael Zarick: Uh, amazing. Uh, thank you so much for watching or listening to this episode of Third Space Indy. My name is Michael Zarick. Uh, you can find Third Space Indy at Third Space Indy on Instagram. Become the next, become the 10000th follower. Maybe you'll get interviewed. I don't know.
I'm not really that into arbitrary numbers. It just happened to be a, a, a good number
[00:51:48] Alexa Hill: at this time. Well, I'm honored to be that.
[00:51:50] Michael Zarick: You could also find me at Third Space Indy dot com. Uh, that's another place you can go. I write a weekly blog. Sometimes I really need to catch up. It's really good for your mental health to write.
Did you know that? Um, and read. Uh, Third Space Indy as always. Thank you. Wait, what am I saying? Thank you, Mark Latta for sponsoring. Thank you. City rising.org. And as always, thank you to the local artist Jennasen for allowing me to use your song Scared Rabbit as the intro music. Thank you again, Alexa, for coming on.
[00:52:23] Alexa Hill: Thank you.
[00:52:25] Michael Zarick: Have a wonderful day. See you in the next one. Goodbye.
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