Grand Ledge — It was just a birthday gift for a day of beauty treatments at a local salon, but for Sheila Laing, something clicked.
Laing, who had worked as an MSU secretary for 14 years and had been an MSU student for more than two years, quit her job and began to chase her long-time dream of starting her own salon business.
"I told my husband this is what I wanted to do," Laing said. "When I got out of school, I didn't want to work for anyone else."
Today, her dream has been realized in the form of Loursel Day Spa, a small business she opened in Grand Ledge in 2001 — named by fusing the words "love" and "yourself" to form the word "Loursel."
It's quiet inside, except for the soft trickle of a fountain and gentle music. There are a few massage tables, rows of brightly colored nail polishes and shelves of organic skin products. Tucked away in the front room is a softly clicking clock unobtrusively marking the passage of time.
"It's the only clock we have in the whole place," Laing said. "We want people to be able to relax and not think about the rest of the world."
It had been Laing's dream since she was young to be a cosmologist — which were called beauticians at the time. She said she put the idea aside because her parents wanted her to go to college, but eventually received her certification as an esthetician, which is a skin care therapist.
Sitting comfortably in a cushioned black chair, client Christine Cooley said she visits the spa occasionally to treat herself to a pedicure. This time, she was heading out on vacation soon and wanted her toes ready for walking in sandals.
"I'd never gotten a pedicure until one day my daughter brought me here," Cooley said. "It's comfortable here. You can always relax and talk."
Central Michigan University student Hannah Flood regularly travels more than an hour from Mount Pleasant to get to the salon for acne treatments. She made easy conversation with Laing and other employees before heading in for a facial treatment.
"I tried everything, but this is the only thing that works," Flood said. "I like it here. It's worth the drive."
Laing said she often treats students who are stressed to the point of causing health problems to themselves. For one client, Laing uses massages and relaxation techniques to relieve back pain caused by stress. Teaching people to eliminate stress was part of her original mission, Laing said.
"Stress is extremely unhealthy for the body," she said. "We offer a glass of water to every client who comes out of the treatment room to emphasize that whole point.
"There's nothing in the world more effective at healing our bodies than just stopping and getting a break — and nothing better than the human touch."
