Warm, kind, focused, authentic, and talented. 

Words that aptly rapid-fired through my brain while interviewing the incredible Mike and Tracey Franklin.  

As owners of the gorgeous Loxx Salon & Spa and the new, stunning educational space, Aspire Beauty and Barber Academy, this power duo is zealous about their students and focused on reshaping the entire ecosystem for their industry in the Upper Cumberland. 

Tracey stated, “I’m most passionate about creating a new standard expectation for how the beauty community operates and is received in the larger community. When people think of elevated salons, they often focus on price.” She continued, “We want to reframe the way consumers think about quality and cost and understand that expertise is worth the price. We want every one of our highly-trained students to eventually enter either Loxx, another establishment, or their own business confident in getting paid well for the incredible work they do. Regarding Aspire and our students specifically, I would like Cookeville to know that they can come to this school and get really good service from a group of students who are led by teachers with more than 50 years of experience in this industry. The public can get excellent service for a really good price and have an elevated experience while doing so.”

Beyond reframing expectations, Mike and Tracey are dedicated to bettering the lives of their students and providing an ever-evolving education that will allow each to have a successful, meaningful career following graduation. 

“This is not the same beauty industry that it was even 10 years ago,” Mike observed. “When you think about what comes out of this industry, influencers, social media gurus, and YouTube creators are sitting behind a camera making more than any salon worker, but a majority of them came from a beauty school and got inspiration and learned what they needed to forge a career while there.”

He continued, “It’s not just going in and rolling perms and cutting hair, there is so much more to the beauty industry. 90% of the students who come to Aspire want to open a salon or barber shop of their own following graduation. We have incorporated practical business lessons into the curriculum so that however our students go about chasing their dreams, whether it’s opening a salon or shop, renting a chair, or whatever other route it may be, they will be prepared. We want them to be successful in whichever path they choose.”

For this pair, the commitment to intentionality carries over into how they source and recycle the materials used at Aspire and Loxx. 

“We are passionate about sustainable beauty and our environment,” Tracey remarked. “We make it a focus to use sustainable products and our partnership with Green Circle allows us to recycle 90% of our salon waste without sacrificing quality. While here, our customers still feel like they are in a high-end environment, but we keep the future, our world, and connectedness at the center of all we do.” 

– by Andrew Buckner, photos by Cris Stroud