The Manifesta Buzz

What's the buzz with Manifesta lately? Quite a lot, actually! We've been very busy this past month attending trashion shows (yes, trash-ion), hosting crafting and business classes, and making new friends along the way! But don't take it from us, see for yourself what's been going on at the salon!

Crafting and Snacking. Last Tuesday, 'Festa kicked off a new series of programs with local artist Ilah Jarvis and Oakland based popup bakery, Woop Woop Fine Foods. Hosted at Manifesta salon, Ilah will be showing off and teaching her skills in embroidery, crochet, watercolor, and more. Meanwhile, Woop Woop bakery will be there igniting all our tastebuds with crazy cool flavors like Chili Chocolate Chunk, Orange Fennel Shortbread, and Spicy Peanut Butter. Yumm! And for our vegan friends, Woop Woop has some delicious Fruit & Nut Granola. You can catch these art and craft classes every other Sunday at Manifesta, with Woop Woop collaborating once a month on Sunday. If you want more Woop Woop, stop by the Old Oakland Farmers Market on Fridays from 8am to 2pm.

Business Support. As a part of 'Festa's mission to provide our clients with resources to better their small businesses, we have brought to you a six-week entrepreneurial start up class taught by marketing expert Susan Mills of Well Connected Partners. These classes will offer basic instruction on how to structure a business for funding and operations, a starting point for entrepreneurs looking to open a business or improve their existing business, and guidance through a business plan support process that makes building a business plan easier.

Our New Partner! 

We're very excited to introduce our newest pop-up kiosk, Fluffy Co. Far from your average retailer, Fluffy Co is founded on the idea of creating products that promote a positive and inclusive lifestyle. At the kiosk you'll find really cool, handmade items such as tees and apparel, organic canvas totes, leather minis, belts and buckles, zipper pouches, eco wallets, and much much more! All products are made with local and sustainable materials whenever possible.

A Passion for Trashion. Did you end up attending the Aveda Trashion Show on May 4th? Mireya, Jasmine, and Sherly did! Aveda's catwalk for clean water offered tons of ideas and inspiration to stylists and attendees alike. If you're not familiar with the trashion show, know that all hair and makeup is done with Aveda products, while the costumes are made from 100% recycled materials. All the proceeds this year went towards the benefit of clean water.

                  "One of my favorite dresses was a gold dress made from chocolate wrappers," says Mireya.

Other costumes were made with materials such as foil, color boxes, color tubes, tube caps, and much more. Check it out for yourself in the images below!

Bike to Work Day. This past month, on May 8th, you might have noticed that the streets were filled with tens of thousands of Bay Area residents biking to work for the 2014 Bike to Work Day, as a joint effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There was also a stellar after party in Old Oakland, where the streets were filled with those playing street games and foosball and others enjoying crisp, tasty beer from New Belgium Brewing Company. All proceeds went towards making Old Oakland and the rest of the Bay Area a better place to ride your bike. We just love being apart of a community that cares so much about making the world a better place. Hooray for the environment!



A Moment in the Spotlight. Not to toot our own horn, but OBDC Small Business Finance gave Manifesta a wonderful write-up on their website. OBDC is an Oakland based organization that has been empowering small businesses for 35 years, and Manifesta would never be what it is today without their support!

So that's what the buzz has been for Manifesta and 'Festa lately. If you want more, keep up with our Facebook and Twitter pages!

For the (Puppy) Love of Hair!

Meet Shannon Bolt, natural animal trainer, hair art appreciator, and general life wizard. This past Friday, it was our pleasure at Manifesta to see her familiar, radiant face walk in the door, framed by the tousled tresses of one in need of a haircut! A person who knows exactly what she wants when it comes to her hair, she confidently separated and pinned a section of the front  into a tiny bun protruding from her forehead and proclaimed "I want to keep THIS, but as for everything else, cut it off! Cut it all off!"

How did Shannon shift from someone who, historically, didn't know what to do with her hair, to having strong direction and language for communicating about her hair? Her journey starts with a dog and a blowdryer. Once upon a time, Shannon, a lifelong animal lover who decided to pursue a career in animal welfare, set her mind to learning the fine art of dog grooming. One day in particular, she met a rather thick-coated canine, whose genetic predisposition was of the Coton de Tulear persuasion:

Cotons have a natural hair texture that resembles a crimping iron victim from the '80s. However, many human companions of Cotons prefer their furry friends' hair to be styled more like a round-brush blowout. Now I don't know about you, but even the most veteran of we hairstylists work up a pretty good sweat blowing out a human head of long thick hair. Yet, although upper body workouts of this nature are business as usual for us, boy does just the thought of blowing out a whole dog make my arms tired! In Shannon's words, "After blow drying ONE coton de tulear, I realized I could not justify spending so much time grooming a dog's hair if I spend so little on my own." Needless to say, Shannon has since realized that starting her own business as an in-home animal companion caregiver and "household consultant" is her true passion...and she's doing it oh so well! If you or someone you know could use a little support around feeding, walking, or managing the behavior of a furry loved one, check out her website: www.thedomesticanimal.com, and Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DomesticAnimal.

In a parallel narrative from Shannon's life, over the last 5 years we have worked collaboratively to explore the nature of her hair and the styles that would most suit her in the area where her busy lifestyle and her (non)desire to spend time styling it overlap. The results have been a series of creative, playful looks that are both fashion-forward and low-maintenance. A big part of our relationship has been the cultivation of a language to describe her hair, so Shannon can explain clearly to me what she wants. She describes this journey as having "made friends" with her hair's "personality." And as all things hair often do, her journey with her hair has had a deeper impact on her life in general.  She explains:  " I still don't dedicate much time to my hair, but you've helped me understand hair in a way that I could see myself doing some dog grooming in the future. Just never a Coton de Tulear!!"



The moral of the story is if you are spending more time on your dog's hair than your own, odds are you may benefit from having a friendly stylist on your Life Team to help you craft your unique self-expression through hair!