In early 2020, celebrity hairstylist and colorist Eva Scrivo was operating her eponymous, bustling salon in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood and commuting daily to and from her home over an hour away in rural Bedford, New York. Then the pandemic hit.

“During the lockdown, we got a puppy, and my husband and I realized how much we loved spending time at home and in the Bedford/Pound Ridge area. We’d never had that much time off, and it allowed us to recalibrate and reconnect with nature and our community,” recalls Scrivo. “Around that same time, numerous clients started telling me that they didn’t really want to go to back to the city, even once the lockdown ended. That’s when it dawned on us: we could open a satellite space here to do hair and makeup services closer to home.”

In late summer 2020, Scrivo signed a lease for an intimate space in Pound Ridge, a 12-minute drive from her home. Now, Scrivo splits her time between her NYC salon and the Pound Ridge location. “We did not expect the Pound Ridge space to become a thriving business—we thought it would mostly be an opportunity to take a few clients here and there,” says Scrivo. “But it quickly blossomed to the point where it is now almost 40 percent of our business.”

The Pound Ridge location has also been a welcome change for Scrivo’s team, as most of the stylists and colorists from her NYC salon elect to also work out of Pound Ridge several days a week. “We get clients from all over: Pound Ridge, Bedford, other parts of Westchester and upstate New York, Connecticut, Hudson Valley, and Pennsylvania,” says Scrivo. “Some even come from Florida, flying into the nearby White Plains airport. We have former NYC clients who now prefer Pound Ridge–especially if coming from New Jersey or Long Island—because they have a relaxed atmosphere, free parking, and can avoid tunnel traffic.”

Growing client interest for hair care services offered outside major cities has also helped buoy Ring My Belle, an on-demand service offering hair styling and makeup services in the convenience of your own home. “When we started developing Ring My Belle, we thought, you shouldn’t have to live in New York or L.A. to get your hair done at home,’ says co-founder Megan O’Brien. “Why can’t you get a blowout at home in Greenwich—or in the suburbs of Scottsdale or Boston? Why isn’t anyone providing that service? We have competitors who primarily focus on urban clients; our goal is to cater to everyone else.”

O’Brien says more than 90 percent of Ring My Belle’s current business is in the suburbs. “When we saw the Covid-related migration out of cities, we thought, ‘There’s an opportunity here,’” she says.

Like Scrivo, O’Brien has found that clients aren’t the only ones seeking non-urban options. She has had no trouble recruiting stylists to work for Ring My Belle, especially younger professionals just out of cosmetology school.

“Being a stylist for Ring My Belle enables professionals, especially those just starting out, to quickly build their books and make their own hours,” says O’Brien. “We’re finding that these 20-something professionals have different ideas on how they want to work. They don’t want to work 9am to 6pm, five or six days a week. They want the freedom to say, ‘I’ll work 2 to 8 pm but not on Tuesdays.’ It’s a different mindset, and the business model of Ring My Belle works well for them.

Discovering new, more fulfilling ways to service clients—while also improving the quality of their own daily lives and growing their businesses—are upsides the salon community didn’t foresee during the height of the pandemic but are grateful for today.