Women Of Influence

After she graduated from high school, Debbie Penzone came to Columbus with one dream in mind: to work at a Penzone hair salon.

Of course she wasn't yet Debbie Penzone at that point, she was just a girl from Springfield with a talent for making people look beautiful. When she expressed her dream to one of her teachers at cosmetology school, though, she was surprised at the reaction she got.

“Debbie, you’re a small-town girl," Penzone remembered her teacher telling her. "And I really don’t think you’d fit in there.”

It was a blow to the young stylist, who put that dream on the shelf and instead took a job at a place called Tangles on Bethel Road. Luckily for Penzone (and for her future husband and colleague, Charles Penzone), that's not where her journey ended.

Check out our latest Women of Influence podcast to hear how that "small-town girl" wound up running and ultimately rebranding the very salon chain her teacher didn't think would be a fit for her – and what the experience taught her about the importance of finding the right mentor.

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