By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

A new salon and spa recently opened up in New York Mills in what was once the Paws & Claws building at 16 North Main Ave. The building was purchased by Sheila Overland in May of 2023 and she set to work renovating the building to be a workable salon.

Overland officially opened her doors for business on Jan. 1 and settled on the name Kiss & Makeup Salon & Spa for her business.

“I probably went through 10,000 names and a friend of mine, her husband actually, said something along those lines and I said ‘Kiss and Makeup, I love that,’” said Overland. “I was going into the industry thinking that I wanted to do bridal makeup, but I didn’t know at the time that you had to have a esthetician license to do bridal makeup.”

Being detoured a bit from her original path by the esthetician requirement, Overland decided to alter her offerings by adding a lash extension license to her resume and expanding those offerings at the salon for consistent work throughout the year.

“I decided to get my lash extension license so that I could keep busy throughout the year because wedding season around here is usually in the spring, summer and the fall,” said Overland. “So I decided to get that and while I was in school, they said ‘you can’t do makeup unless you have an esthetician license.’ So I decided to get my esthetician’s license then.”

Overland quickly realized that she had found her dream career while earning her esthetician’s license. When Minnesota changed the esthetician license into two separate certifications, a basic license and an advanced practice degree formed.

“I’ve always had a passion for makeup and I’ve always had friends and family ask me to do their makeup,” she said. “It’s just something I’ve always done for myself and I just like making people feel beautiful. Once I started getting into esthetics, then I realized how many other things I really was interested in as far as skincare and waxing and that kind of stuff.

“When I got done with my licensing for the basic license, where’s so many things you can’t do with the basic license,” she continued. “So I decided I was going to go down to Minneapolis and get my advance practice license. Now I can go deeper into the skin.”

Overland said that with her advanced practice license, she is able to offer skin needling, derma planing, LED light therapy, fiberglass plasma skin tightening among other services she offers. She also offers laser treatments for hair removal, fungus removal, tattoo removal, skin tightening and acne treatments.

“I decided this is something I absolutely love doing,” said Overland. “I now have medical director so I can go even deeper into the skin. I’m not a medspa, but I can go in depth into the skin and the medspa type things, I just can’t do fillers of botox I got certified in laser, so I can do seven or eight different types of lasers. I fell in love with this industry and found my place in the world. They say ‘if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,’ and that’s truly how I feel. I get lost in it, I don’t mind being here all day, everyday.”

After Overland had obtained her advanced practice license, she heard of a teaching opportunity at the Minnesota State Community and Technical College (MState) in Wadena.

“Now I’m actually teaching at the college as well,” she said. “So I teach the esthetician program and the advanced practice esthetician program. Last fall was our first ever advanced practice esthetician program and I graduated all seven of my students that I had. This year we actually have a wait list.

“It’s really exciting,” she continued. “Minneapolis was the closest place until now. In Wadena, we’re the northernmost school that offers the advanced practice license. There’s so many more things you can do with the advanced license which is great.”

Overland is joined by renter Josephine Piepkorn, who specializes in hair, hair extensions, and lashes.

“She does hair extensions and she’s fabulous at it,” said Overland. “She’s focusing on hair and lashes right now.”

Overland said that there are two open spots for renters to do hair in her salon. She also has an area for lashes and facials available for use for any potential renter.

“We’ve got a couple openings for independent contractors,” Overland said. “You come in and make your own hours, bring in your clientele.”

Originally from Breckenridge, Minn., Overland spent much of her adult life in North Dakota and then moved to Perham, where she operated a salon for a while.

“I had a salon in Perham that I had recently closed just because I had so many things on my plate,” she explained. “I needed to make sense of everything and streamline. I bought a house, I live in Wadena now and this building came up for sale, so I just decided to take the leap. This was kind of a nice close location and I love this town, the people are awesome here, very welcoming.”

Overland said that her favorite part of her job is working with people, especially when she’s able to help them with all of her beauty services and offerings.

“I love being able to create change for people,” she said. “Being able to do skincare things where you have somebody come to me, I can do quite a few different treatments to help people. I love everything about it. I love going and doing weddings—everybody is just such a good vibe, everyone’s happy, everyone’s excited for the day—you get to hear their story about how they met and you get to know the people. Honestly, all of my clients end up being my friends, which is great.”

Overland is looking forward to working in her own salon and servicing the greater NY Mills and lakes area, offering local clientele a more accessible option that going to further spas with her offerings such as those in Fargo, N.D. or other larger cities.

“I really look forward to getting to know the people in New York Mills,” she said. “I’ve met quite a few people, so far everyone has been fabulous. I’m just excited to see where everything goes.”