Barner, there is seldom a lack of clients at Elegant Styles, due to four stylists on staff. “I think it’s important to be consistent and to be present, even when there are no customers.”įortunately for Ms. He told me to always speak to whoever walks through that door and to always be kind,” she said. “(Longtime Milford businessman) Terry Pikus gave me a few tips. Barner have any advice for young entrepreneurs? Her father, from Puerto Rico, set an example with his strong work ethic, and her mother returned to school - while working and raising a family - to become a nurse. My clientele from Rehoboth Beach followed me,” she said, adding that she credits her parents for examples of perseverance and hard work. “I had a strong support system surrounding me. But I’m not sure about running my own business,’” she remembered.īacking for her enterprise was prevalent, though. However, she admits to some second-guessing.

So, 20 years ago, she rented what is now Elegant Styles from the late Skip Pikus. She got a quick start: “They put me on the floor before I graduated,” she said.Įventually, she yearned to spread her wings. She then moved on to the Hair Cuttery in Rehoboth Beach, while honing her skills through continuing education. The stylist’s first job was at Yankee Clipper Hair Designers in Milford - handling shampooing for clients. She credits the late Eva Metz, her cosmetology instructor, for “directing me on my career path.” At the urging of then-Milford High School guidance counselor Dana Erney, she learned her trade at Sussex Vo-Tech. Barner’s early goal setting and mentor relationships exemplified that entrepreneurial spirit. The yearly commemoration began in 2004, when Fred Jordan, an engineer and entrepreneur, and John William Templeton, an author and historian, created the monthlong recognition in Atlanta to support Black business owners.

Barner has been one of them: After 20 years on North Walnut Street, her Elegant Styles hair salon is a local landmark and can be recognized during Black Owned Business Month this August. It meant something,” she said.įor two decades now, Ms. “They represented Black-owned businesses, people of color. Savage, a Wilmington Trust teller and Vivian Ross, whose hair salon was on Charles Street. She does recall walking the few blocks to the commercial district from her North Street home, waving to a couple people of color: Austin Lofland in his shoe repair shop Mr. MILFORD - When Karen Barner was growing up here in the 1970s and early ’80s, downtown business owners were mostly White. By Gwen Guerke, Special to the Delaware State News

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