Email business news to Jana Wiersema at [email protected] . Sign up for our daily newsletter here Melissa Good has always wanted to start her own business, but it's been a long time coming.
Good initially studied finance and worked in banking for several years. While living in Chicago and going to a local spa to get eyebrow waxes, she realized just what kind of business she had a passion for. "Just in that short amount of time that I would go into the spa kind of to relax and be in a peaceful setting for a little while, I thought, 'You know what? This seems like it would be a great career and a great business to have someday,'" Good recalled.
She decided to leave banking and went to esthetics school. Shortly after she graduated, Good and her husband started a family. She knew that she would not have the time to build her own business, so she worked as an director esthetician and later esthetics educator at a salon and spa in Champaign for 18 years.
However, now that her kids are older, Good is finally on the verge of opening her own business: Balance + Beauty, which will be located at 214 W. Washington St. in Monticello.
The plan is to open in early December, with facials and waxing offered initially. Manicures and pedicures will be available later this winter. Good also plans to offer lash lifts, brow tints, lash tints and LED light treatments for skin.
She recently won the 2024 Monticello Bootcamp New Business Grant, which provides $5,000 that can be spent on rent/.
