Creative Permanent Makeup By Pam Gives Women Worry-Free Eyebrows & More

Pam Edmonson of Creative Permanent Makeup By Pam in Wesley Chapel helps women achieve beautiful-looking eyebrows without daily makeup application.

Pam Edmonson loves having new clients in her chair. Whether they’re tired of spending way too much time drawing on their eyebrows — or maybe they’ve even lost the hair on their eyebrows due to chemotherapy — Pam is excited to offer women a beautiful new look that fits both their individual problem(s) and their skin.

Pam is a permanent makeup artist who owns Serenity Salon & Spa Suites, located off S.R. 54 in the Brookfield Professional Park, about a half-mile west of Morris Bridge Rd. in Wesley Chapel. At the salon, she has a room where she provides permanent makeup for eyebrows, eyelids and lips.

Pam opened Serenity Salon & Spa Suites with a partner more than two years ago, but now she is the sole owner. She takes pride in offering an inviting place for licensed beauty and wellness professionals to offer their services, such as hair styling, massages and facials.

“I want to empower people to work for themselves and be successful,” she says, explaining that her salon provides a drama-free environment.

“Everyone who works here works well together,” Pam says. “We laugh together. When people walk in, they feel welcomed, and it’s natural. We’re not fake. Although I’m the owner, this isn’t my salon, it’s ours all together.”

She says there currently is one chair available for rent for a hairstylist. There also is a room available for a full-time massage therapist.

“We have amazing stylists and aestheticians here,” says Pam, who also emphasizes that if you try a stylist and don’t love them, try a different one.

“No one’s feelings will be hurt,” she says.

Pam’s journey to salon owner started as a second career for her, after many years of running a business in the manufactured housing industry. In 2009, Pam says she wanted to do something different, so she went to school to become a hair stylist.

While she enjoyed hair, Pam says she soon discovered something that interested her even more.

“I love detail,” Pam says. “As a detail person, eyebrows are what first drew me into the permanent makeup field.”

So, in 2010, she studied permanent makeup at the Boca Ta-2 School for Permanent Makeup in Williston, FL, and began providing permanent makeup services in Zephyrhills in 2011.

Pam is licensed in Florida as both a cosmetologist and as a tattoo artist.

“Any time that ink is implanted into the skin, it is a tattoo,” Pam explains, “and you must be licensed through the Florida Department of Health.”

Microblading Eyebrows

While Pam offers permanent makeup for eyebrows and lips, along with permanent eyeliner, her most popular service is microblading for eyebrows.

“Brows are always my favorite because of the drastic way they change how someone looks,” Pam says. “Our eyes are meant to be framed, and brows definitely complete the face.

Pam is also the owner of Serenity Spa & Salon Suites, where she offers her permanent makeup services, and other health and wellness professionals offer hair styling, facials, massages and more.

Some women look so much younger when they have them done.”

With microblading, Pam uses a small blade and ink to create individual stroke lines. She uses a pencil to draw an outline, then uses the microblade to draw each individual hair, adding a more natural look to the eyebrow.

Pam strongly recommends that anyone considering microblading “should do their homework,” explaining that some people who offer the service may only have a three-day class in the technique before they start working on clients. The person who will do your eyebrows should sit down with you and show you before-and-after pictures of their own work, Pam says.

Pam was trained in microblading in 2014, when the process was new. Since then, she says she has done hundreds of sets of eyebrows.

She requires a free, in-person, no-obligation consultation for all clients. Even for someone who is sure they want permanent makeup, Pam still does a consultation, because each person’s skin is unique.

“Although microblading is my favorite,” Pam says, “it may not be the right answer for a client. There can be a better alternative, depending on the canvas that I am working on.”

Because Pam is so passionate about ensuring that clients are educated about permanent makeup and microblading, she has started a video series on her website to help people better understand the process.

At CreativePermanentMakeupByPam.com, be sure to click on her blog, which links to her educational videos.

“I answer a lot of questions that so many people have,” Pam says. “I made the videos because I wanted to put some education out there.”

The first video shows the consultation process and answers common questions. Pam says that future videos will focus on permanent makeup for the brows, lips and eyeliner.

Pam values education for herself, too, and says she stays on top of all the latest information by attending classes whenever she can. Last December, she took an advanced lip class in San Antonio, TX. “I’m still learning,” she says.

She says that it’s especially gratifying to be able to help someone who has gone through a difficult time, such as a cancer patient who lost their hair and it didn’t grow back.

Or, if she can help someone who feels devastated after someone else has done their permanent makeup poorly. While Pam admits that she can’t help everyone — because each person’s skin and situation is unique — she does have the skills and expertise to help most people, often in difficult situations.

Jennifer Burrows is a New Tampa resident who had microblading done by Pam on her eyebrows.

“I was impressed by how long she took with me,” Jennifer says. “She’s a perfectionist and made them look as beautiful as they possibly can. She knows what she’s doing.”

Jennifer says she spent a lot of time looking online and contacted another company, but that person refused to work on her because of her red hair. She was thrilled when Pam agreed to help her.

“Now,” Jennifer says, “my eyebrows are beautiful and I don’t need to wear makeup.”
Pam says that’s the best part of her job.

“I’m extremely passionate about my work,” she says. “When someone tells me what a difference I made in their life and how they feel about themselves, that’s the reason that I love what I do!”

Creative Permanent Makeup by Pam is located at Serenity Salon & Spa Suites, at 33913 S.R. 54, Suite 101, in Wesley Chapel. For information about the stylists, aestheticians and massage therapists at the salon, visit SerenitySalonSpaSuites.com. For a free consultation or more info about permanent makeup, visit CreativePermanentMakeupbyPam.com, or call Pam at (813) 997-6302.

At Done Right Flooring & Cabinets, The Name Says It All!

Owner Jason Cantin of Done Right Flooring on W. Linebaugh Ave. in Tampa, has two decades of experience in the flooring industry, but still attends training at least twice a year to stay up-to-date on all the latest techniques and best practices in the industry.

In Jason Cantin’s two decades working in the flooring industry, he’s seen a lot of things go wrong.

In fact, for the past six years, he has worked as a flooring inspector. When someone says their floor is bad and wants the manufacturer or installer to fix it, they call Jason, as a first step toward filing a claim in court.

He says bad flooring installation is so prevalent in the industry that 85 percent of all floors being installed today are being installed incorrectly. He says that nearly every retailer out there is trying to sell more floors, and install them quickly, and move on to the next job, with little concern for whether or not your floor will last.

“Not every floor that is installed incorrectly fails,” he says, “but if you have carpet pulls in the doorway, or wrinkles in your carpet, or your floating floor creaks or makes noise, you have a bad install.”
So, he decided to do something about it.

He opened Done Right Flooring & Cabinets, selling the highest-quality flooring brands, installed in your home, to give people an alternative to the options available in the flooring market in Tampa.

Done Right sells hardwood, tile and laminate floors, as well as carpet, and also offers custom wood floors, in which every piece is hand cut, hand laid, sanded and finished in place.

In addition to selling flooring, Jason has a partner in the store who can help homeowners find the perfect cabinets, following the same philosophy of excellent products and installation that is the trademark of Done Right Flooring & Cabinets.

While Jason and his family live in New Tampa, he wanted to open his store in a location that was more central to all areas of Tampa. Done Right is located at 6028 W. Linebaugh Ave., 25-30 minutes south and west of New Tampa.

“I started Done Right because I’ve spent the last six years watching floors fail, and it’s taught me the process to do it right,” Jason says. “You can’t do it right and do it cheaply. Most subcontractors get paid by the foot, so they lay as much floor as possible, as quickly as possible, to get a bigger paycheck.”

Jason calls himself an idealist, and says he wants to elevate the entire flooring industry in Tampa, focusing on doing things the right way, so the consumer gets the best possible floor installation and floors they will be happy with for a long time.

“Most retailers give a one-year warranty, and then they’re off the hook,” Jason says. “I give a 5-year warranty, in writing, for all of my work.”

He says a well-installed, good-quality floor can be expected to last much longer.

His wife, Ashley, helps him with the business. “Our focus is on the customer,” she says. “Are they as happy with their floors one year, five years, even 20 years later, as they were when they got them?”

She says they also want to ensure that if you are selling your home, your floor will bring top value and the new owners will be happy with the floor, too.

Custom wood floors are a specialty of Done Right Flooring and Cabinets. You can see this one in person, along with the samples of Carlisle Wood Plank floors (hanging on the wall) at the store, located at 6028 W. Linebaugh Ave. in Tampa.

Quality Installations
Jason says they do this by hiring the best installers, who are certified by taking hands-on and written certification tests and are required to do ongoing continuing education. He adds, however, that this approach is not typical in the industry.

“There is no license needed to install wood floors in Hillsborough County,” explains Jason. “There is no recognized body to verify that the work done is correctly.”

In the absence of recognized standards and holding flooring companies accountable for installing floors correctly, Jason says he is doing all he can to change the industry, one consumer at a time.

Done Right recently replaced the floors for Scott Miller in his Bayshore Blvd. condo in South Tampa. Scott had just renovated his condo and was already having problems with his brand new floors, so he hired Jason for a consultation. “There were gaps, I could hear glue squishing and boards creaking,” Scott says. Because the floors were beyond repair, Scott then hired Done Right to do the floors again – this time, the right way.

“I was blown away every step of the way with his service,” says Scott of Jason. “After going through the first experience, there’s really no comparison. (He) took the time to do every step of the process correctly. (He) didn’t rush it.”

Scott says Jason’s knowledge was impressive, and that he took the time to educate him. “He knew about the trees the boards came from,” says Scott, “and explained the importance of prepping the floor and more.”

And, Scott notes that his new floor, purchased from and installed by Done Right, has none of the problems the first floor did.

“Our focus is on educating the consumer, so they pick the best product for them,” Jason says. “I’m not a salesperson, but more of a teacher.”

The Value Of Proper Training
Jason adds that he places a high value on education and keeping up-to-date on all of the latest information and trends in his industry. While prefinished floors are still popular, he says, custom finishing onsite is picking up, with wide flooring, grays and French oak some of the hotter trends.

“There’s no one else in town who’s gone to more school about flooring than me,” says Jason. “I go a minimum of twice a year.” He says he originally went to inspector school, not to become an inspector, but to become a better installer.

He is currently on the bamboo committee for the National Wood Flooring Association, writing the standards and regulations that will be put in place for bamboo floors. He says that right now, there are none.

While the industry doesn’t have to adhere to standards, Jason is doing everything he can to help his customers have expertly-installed products that utilize the best practices in the flooring industry.

“We have high expectations and high standards, and we ensure our installers continue to meet those expectations and standards,” he says. “I’m not a rush guy. The process is meticulous and takes time.”

While installation is important, the products are important, too.

“I know which products tend to fail, so I hand select the items we sell in the store,” says Jason. “If I don’t believe in the product, I won’t sell it, and I don’t install anything that’s not sold in the store.”

Jason’s standards are so high, Done Right was chosen as one of only seven retailers in the country that are authorized to sell Carlisle Wide Plank floors. He says that Carlisle is an American-made, premium cut of wood. “They trust me that I’ll do their product justice,” he says.

Done Right Flooring carries other brands as well, like Kahrs, Boen and Preverco, to name a few, and also has Mohawk, Glazzio and Akua tile flooring and Mohawk and Quickstep laminate flooring.

Ashley says that Jason’s many years of experience can really help consumers get exactly the right product for them and their home. At the store, Jason asks a lot of questions to get to know his clients and their lifestyle.

“In our Pinterest world, people see pictures of gorgeous floors, but they don’t know what they’re looking at,” says Ashley. “Flooring isn’t just about the color.”

“I want to improve the industry,” adds Jason. “I want consumers to get the right information. I may be idealistic, but I’ve learned so much about the industry, and I want to make it better for both consumers and installers.”

Done Right Flooring & Cabinets is located at 6028 W. Linebaugh Ave. It is open Tues.–Fri., 11 a.m.–6 p.m., 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. on Sat., and by appointment on Mon. For more information, call (813) 548-4484 or visit DoneRightFC.com.

Nibbles and Bytes

FHWC Opens Wound Care Center
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC), which will be changing its name to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel in January 2019 (see Business Notes on page 13), continues to be at the forefront of health care in our area. The hospital recently opened its Wound Care Center inside the FHWC Wellness Plaza, the building due north of the hospital itself.

FHWC CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb and dozens of Adventist Health dignitaries, local elected

officials/political candidates and North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce members were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 27, and everyone in attendance (including yours truly) came away truly impressed with this latest addition to FHWC’s plethora of medical services for the community.

Although the Wound Care Center has plenty of state-of-the-art technology for caring for all kinds of wounds, lesions and lacerations, the coolest things we saw as we toured the facility were two hyperbaric chambers (photo far right), which traditionally have been used for people with the “bends” from scuba diving, but which (we were told) also can help with healing for those who have chronic sores and wounds that don’t heal, from diabetes or after radiation therapy for cancer.

Congrats also go out to the local catering company called C‱B‱K Catering & Events, which served amazing edible cones filled with a zesty chicken salad, plus delicious cheese tortellinis and perfect bruschetta at the event.

For more info about FHWC and the new Wound Care Center, visit FloridaHospital.com. For more info about C‱B‱K Catering, visit CBKTampa.com or call (813) 699-3060 and please tell Chase Mayer the New Tampa Neighborhood News sent you!

VIPs Check Out The Hyatt Place
In our last issue, I mentioned that the new Hyatt Place Hotel & Sierra Conference Center were getting ready to open, which actually happened on July 30.

On Aug. 9, representatives of the new hotel hosted a VIP event we attended, where members of the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) of Commerce Board of Directors and other local VIPs took tours of the 132-room hotel and got to sample some of the tasty food that will be served in the Hyatt Place’s Gallery restaurant.

The Hyatt Place Hotel is located at 26000 Sierra Center Blvd. For more info, stop in or call (813) 803-5600 or visit Hyatt.com, and please tell the hotel’s staff that you read about them (again) in the New Tampa Neighborhood News!

Umu To Replace OTB Café

Although OTB (Only The Best) Delights Café closed its original location at 2653 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in Wesley Chapel several weeks ago, have no fear.

Not only is OTB set to reopen sometime in September in its new location a couple of miles further north at the new Nye Commons (4873 BBD), but there already is a new restaurant getting ready to open in its old location.

The Thai owners of Umu Japanese & Thai have been transforming the old OTB space into an elegant-looking future home of great sushi, Bento boxes and other Japanese and Thai favorites and hope to be open sometime in September.

 

Oakley’s Grille Sold Again & Other Tasty Local Business News

Cafe Ole is empty these days.

The day Heather Woodall signed the papers making her purchase of Oakley’s Grille official, her drive home that night to Haines City took more than two hours
It turned out to be an ominous sign.

Woodall confirmed last week that the long commute, combined with becoming a new mother, has made running a restaurant so far from home impossible, and Oakley’s has once again been sold.

Located at 17631 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., Oakley’s opened in 2011 in the old Quizno’s location (next to Supercuts) in the North Palms Village. Keith Oakley’s spot developed a strong following as one of the area’s hidden restaurant gems.

In February, Oakley sold his restaurant to Woodall and partner Ladesha Stoudemire, who discovered the place through a business broker who stopped in to have lunch there.

Despite the typical grumblings from diehards about the place losing some of its charm, due to minor changes, as well as some personnel departures, Oakley’s Grille remained popular during the transition.
“We had a strong base of regulars,” Woodall said. “Things were good.”

Although rumors circulating around the restaurant by staff is that the burger joint — arguably home to New Tampa’s best burgers, as well as great chicken and other sandwiches and salads — could be converted into an Italian restaurant by the new owner, Luca Ammirati.

Woodall said she has been told that Oakley’s will again remain largely unchanged.

“He is keeping it as is,” Woodall said.

However, on top of the usual difficulties in succeeding in the always-tough restaurant business, Woodall faced other challenges.

“We decided to put all of our energy into a family,” Woodall said. “It was a great experience. It was really bittersweet, because we would have loved to remain here but it wasn’t feasible. With the drive and the traffic and with the little guy, you can only imagine.”

Efforts to reach the new owner were unsuccessful, but the Oakley’s faithful are likely hoping that Woodall is right, and one of the area’s best burger places will remain as is.

COMING SOON, ‘MON: Next to Oakley’s, where the old Dairy Queen used to be before being shuttered last year, progress continues to be made on the area’s latest entry into the restaurant market – The Humming Bird Jerk House.

The Jamaican-style restaurant is well into the remodeling process but still has a few permitting and final inspection hurdles to complete. Word is, the jerk spices should be humming by the end of the year. And, according to plans filed with Hillsborough County, the restaurant looks like it will have indoor seating for roughly 32-35 patrons.

OVER AND OUT? Although there are no signs on the door indicating that it has closed for good, that does appear to be the case at CafĂ© Ole Restaurant & Tapas Bar, which was at one time considered one of New Tampa’s hidden culinary gems.

A peek inside the restaurant, located at 10020 Cross Creek Blvd. (next to Thai Lanna), across the street from the New Tampa Regional Library, looks like it could re-open for business tod

ay. But, all three sections of Olé have been closed since at least the beginning of August.

 

How New Tampa voted

Ken Hagan

Two faces quite familiar to New Tampa voters — Republican Hillsborough County commissioners s Ken Hagan and Victor Crist — both easily won their primary elections Aug. 28, officially kicking off campaigns which, if successful, would result in them exchanging seats on the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. Meanwhile, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum pulled off a shocker statewide that reverberated nationally.

Gillum shocked almost everyone with a win in Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, to set up a showdown with Donald Trump-endorsed Republican Ron DeSantis to replace Rick Scott as Florida’s governor.

Both gubernatorial candidates defeated establishment-backed candidates, setting the stage for an interesting fall battle that will match contenders from what many believe to be the party’s bases.
With his victory, Gillum, a progressive candidate backed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, becomes Florida’s first black gubernatorial candidate, after he defeated favored Gwen Graham, the daughter of popular former Florida governor and U.S. senator Bob Graham.

Although he was fourth in many polls leading up to the primary vote and was outspent by Graham $13 million to $2.5 million, there was talk of a Gillum surge in the final days, which turned out to be prescient.

Andrew Gillum

Gillum captured 34.3 percent of the state-wide Democratic vote (or 517,834 votes of the 1,509,794 cast). Graham finished second with 31.3 percent, while Phillip Levine (20.3 percent) and Jeff Greene (10 percent) rounded out the top candidates in the Democratic field.

“People didn’t think we had a chance, but we did,” Gillum told CNN shortly after being declared the winner. “I think voters have had enough with the status quo.”

DeSantis, first elected to Congress in 2012, represents the Daytona Beach area and originally ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, when it appeared that Marco Rubio, coming off an unsuccessful presidential campaign, was not going to run. Once Rubio re-entered the Senate race, DeSantis exited.

Running behind former Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam at the time, DeSantis fully embraced an endorsement from President Trump in the spring and it shot him into a lead he never relinquished. DeSantis was the choice of 913,955 Republican voters out of 1,618,372 who cast ballots in the primary, or 56.4 percent. Putnam was a distant second with 36.5 percent.

Ron DeSantis

President Trump congratulated DeSantis on the win the night of the primaries, and the next morning, he attacked Gillum, calling him DeSantis’ “biggest dream
a failed Socialist Mayor named Andrew Gillum who has allowed crime and & other problems to flourish in his city.”

In New Tampa’s voting precincts, DeSantis beat Putnam by a smaller but still decisive 50-43 percent margin. Putnam won only three precincts — 357 and 358 in Tampa Palms, and 671, which primarily encompasses Pebble Creek — but only by a combined 13 votes.

Gillum was much more popular in New Tampa than in the state in general, winning 45 percent of the vote in our precincts to just 32 percent for Graham. In votes cast just for Gillum or Graham, Gillum was the choice 58 percent of the time.

Locally, Hagan, a former New Tampa resident now residing in Carrollwood who previously served in New Tampa’s District 2 before being elected to represent countywide District 5, defeated Chris Paradies 72.4 percent to 27.6 percent in the Republican primary race for the District 2 seat.

Currently the longest current serving county commissioner, Hagan has raised $485,574 and barely touched his war chest to beat Paradies, spending $98,773 (which is almost twice as much as Paradies and Hagan’s November 6 opponent, Democrat Angela Birdsong, have raised combined).

Birdsong was the only Democrat to file for District 2, which is currently the seat held by Comm. Crist.
Crist is running for Hagan’s soon-to-be-vacated District 5 seat (both are term-limited out of their current positions), and defeated Angel S. Urbina Capo for the Republican nomination with 81 percent of the vote.

Crist’s Democratic opponent in November is expected to pose a much stiffer challenge. Mariella Smith, a local businesswoman, is a first-time Democratic candidate but has the backing of U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and other state Democratic leaders.

Smith garnered 83 percent of the ballots cast, or 77,228 votes, to 15,904 for her opponent in the primary, Elvin Piggott.

Victor Crist

She has shown the kind of fund-raising prowess that could help her overcome Crist’s money and name recognition, with $81,423 raised and just 14,007.14 spent.

Crist has raised $129,080 but has spent $88,814. “When I fund-raise, I do it to benefit the nonprofit organizations I support (like the University Area Community Center),” Crist said. “I don’t spend any time fund-raising for my campaign.”

In District 7, another countywide seat currently held by outgoing commissioner Al Higginbotham, Todd Marks defeated Aakash Patel in a bitterly fought Republican primary.

Patel spent more than $400,000 trying to the win the nomination, and boasted endorsements from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, State House Speaker Richard Corcoran, former Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford and U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis.

However, Marks, who spent only about a third of what Patel did, picked up 68 percent of the vote in a surprisingly decisive win.

Marks will face Democrat Kimberly Overman for the District 7 seat in the fall. Overman, a financial planner, took 47 percent of the vote in a four-person field, finishing well ahead of second-place Sky White, who had 20 percent.

In Hillsborough School Board elections, New Tampa’s District 3 seat, currently held by Cindy Stuart, was not on the ballot this year, but a countywide seat in District 6 (to replace April Griffin) was up for grabs, as a field of six candidates battled, with Henry “Shake” Washington (32.7 percent) and Karen Perez (28 percent) advancing to a November runoff.

In what will be another hotly-contested local race on Nov. 6, District 63 State Rep. Shawn Harrison, a Republican, will try to hold onto his seat against Democrat candidate Fentrice Driskell. Neither candidate faced a primary opponent on Aug. 28..