Incredible Growth of a Woman-led Business
In August of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Nicole Lerda bought an existing, yet failing, salon and spa business that was in desperate need of a leadership overhaul. Nicole had been a client and friend of the business for 14 years and couldn’t bear to see the business and the careers of its female 10 employees be lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nicole sought assistance from Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to buy the business and then utilized her 20+ years of marketing and leadership experience to dissect the business, recraft processes, improve client service, expand salon and spa offerings and transform the environment and morale into a positive, forward-thinking organization.
Since 2020, Nicole’s strategic marketing and growth plan has exceeded all expectations. Revenue has grown by an astonishing 82%. In 2021 MaxxCole Salon & Skin Spa was named Duquesne University’s SBDC’s “Women-Owned Small Business of the Year” and Nicole Lerda was named as a Pittsburgh Professional Women Woman of Influence and was recognized as an “Influential Leader” within the Airport Corridor by Allegheny West Magazine. In 2023 MaxxCole Salon & Skin Spa was awarded with an A+ accreditation from the Better Business Bureau and Nicole won the Brave Woman Project’s Pillar Award for Encouragement for her lifelong role of supporting women in their professional and personal lives.
Ms. Lerda spent her corporate career supporting the needs of women in business, but also helping women on challenging journeys. Her relentless plight to lead women into reaching their dreams is certainly remarkable. To take her mission a step further, Ms. Lerda has created and launched a self-care line of 100% organic products called Her Mission: GRANTED. HMG is a movement that encourages women to “drop the permission and approval mentality.” She teaches a workshop, The Permission Principles: 6 Simple Strategies to Regain Confidence, Freedom, and Time, that draws upon her personal experiences and observations as a successful businesswoman in a male-dominated corporate setting.
Unsurprisingly, the proceeds from Her Mission: GRANTED products and presentations will be donated to the Her Mission Granted Donor Advised Fund – a fund that provides grants to local women facing challenges because of domestic violence, food insecurity, and homelessness.
MaxxCole Salon & Skin Spa: Changing lives by showing respect, kindness and appreciation to all.