John Coy

John Coy describes himself as "a cross between a beautician and a farmer." Coy, the owner and general manager of Fran Coy's Salon & Spa on Wagner Road in Ann Arbor, grew up sweeping floors and mowing the lawn around his mother Fran's salon. At the same time, he gained an interest in nature from his father, who was a farmer.

Coy combines those interests these days by managing the salon his mother started and incorporating award-winning "green" practices into daily business. Some of those green practices include drastically reducing paper usage and regularly recycling the paper that is used. The salon also collects clean clipped hair and sends it to a San Francisco company called Matter of Trust Inc. that makes mats used to soak up oil spills.

Though he is a big supporter of the green initiatives, Coy gives credit to his staff members for getting started with the grassroots effort. He said two employees particularly wanted to start recycling, and he gave them the go ahead as long as the initiatives didn’t cost the salon money.

Instead of costing the company money, costs remained the same or declined. For instance, Coy said, they are going through reams of printer paper at a much slower pace than before.

Coy has transformed the salon in other ways besides the green team initiatives: In recent years, he has expanded the salon both in square footage and in the number of staff offering a wider variety of services.

Coy says he discovered he had the knack of entrepreneurship and used organizational skills he picked up in college to grow the business his mother started. However, he said one of the best business decisions he ever made was hiring a consultant a few years ago to "take it to the next level."

"We changed the whole culture" at the salon, Coy says. "The consultant not only met with my staff to help them become better at their jobs, but she also trained me to be a better leader."

Background

Education: Dexter High School, B.S. in biochemistry from EMU.

Family: Married 19 years, 4 children (daughter-10, Sons-14 and 18, stepson-27).

Residence: Village of Dexter.

Business Insights

Best business decision: Hiring a consultant to help us go to the next level.

Worst business decision: Ran for township trustee.

Best way to keep competitive edge: Understand your business as it relates to current and future trends. Understand who your current and future customers are. Then get on it and position your business to be able to offer the products and services those future customers would find valuable.

Personal hero: My Dad.

How do you motivate people: I start by assuming that my employees want to do a good job, and I try to create an environment where they can. It's kind of like raising kids: show, encourage, praise, correct, discipline and, at times, forgive. When they stop trying, it's time for them to move on.

What advice would you give to yourself in college: Settle on a major!

Word that best describes you: Eclectic (Jack of all trades).

First Web site you check in the morning: Facebook. Confessions

What keeps you up at night: Just about anything that I can worry about.

Pet peeve: Employees who put their own interests before our customers.

Guilty pleasure: Cabernet Sauvignon.

First job: Mowing lawns, landscaping in the summer and cutting and selling fire wood in the winter.

First choice for a new career: Really can’t think of one. Treasures

Favorite cause: My church.

Favorite book: "The Walking Drum" by Louis L'Amour. Favorite movie: "The Patriot."

Favorite hobby: Anything to do with nature: gardening, landscaping, hiking, camping, bow hunting.

Favorite restaurant: Star Café.

LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter? Facebook.

Typical Saturday: Get up early, get organized, run errands, stop by work for a couple hours, and spend time with family and friends. What team do you root for? U of M football.

Wheels: 2003 Ford Expedition.

Who would play you in a movie? MacGyver.

-Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer.