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Cambridge resident Chelsey Linton has three evident passions; business, wellness and helping others.
And through hard work and a leap of faith, she's been able to combine all of them with her latest venture.
The Beauty Social, located inside the Tiger Lofts building on Water Street South, is a combination of local self-care businesses.
Everything from a yoga and pilates studio to hair and nail salons run by entrepreneurs aim to help residents feel their best.
Linton, a hair stylist by trade, is no stranger to the difficulties of running a business as the owner of Diamond Cut Hair Salon.
"My love for personal and professional growth runs very deep," Linton said.
"Having employees, they just don't work as hard for other people as they would for themselves."
It was during several visits to Los Angeles for training that she noticed a different way of operating. In strip-mall-style settings, individual salon and suite rentals are available for business owners to operate out of.
Thinking the idea could work elsewhere and with nothing like it in Waterloo region, she got to work on building her plan.
When searching for a location, Linton came across the Tiger Lofts space, which had over 3,700 square feet available.
Currently, six of the eight suites within the building are rented out. Costs for the renters are all-inclusive, relieving them of the burden of tracking expenses and making multiple payments for various services for things like insurance, power and wifi. All of which adds up when trying to do it alone.
For Linton, it was worrying about those aspects that took some of the joy out of running a business.
"I took what I hated about owning a business and I solved it all," she said of the concept she believes could be the future.
"I'm learning to be more of the CEO as opposed to wearing every hat. Leave it in the hands of the professionals and what they do best."
When it comes to the collection of businesses she's targeted and brought in, she wanted to create a space that would better her community.
"I started my fitness journey when I was 23," Linton said.
"I would say that's directly tied to personal and professional development. There's no way you can grow as a person when you're not taking care of your body and mind."
Being able to live her dream in her hometown is special and she hopes it's an idea that'll continue to blossom and grow.
"It's surreal," she said.
"I love it, I'm born and raised here. I love that I'm bringing this to my hometown. To bring that here and allow others to own their own business is phenomenal."