{"id":11709,"date":"2023-07-27T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?p=11709"},"modified":"2023-07-30T08:24:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-30T15:24:05","slug":"taking-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

If everything had gone according to plan, Birdcage Beauty Parlour might not be here today.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband is very much a go-getter, and he bought me a birdcage chandelier,\u201d says Monique Ursich, owner and lead stylist of the salon. She\u2019d gone back and forth for years on opening her own business, preferring to take her time before making major decisions. \u201cIt was five years earlier than I planned, but my husband pushed me,\u201d she says, gesturing to the golden birdcage now hanging at center stage of her shop. The rest was history. \u201cWe found a space, and we built the salon in 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she says built, she means it. From floor to ceiling, the space was completely remodeled by Monique and her family in the span of one month during the spring of 2018. \u201cMy daughter laid the floors \u2014 I think she was 10 [years old] at the time,\u201d Monique recalls. And the furniture? \u201cWe found it all in a week. We went all over the city, even as far as Laguna Niguel,\u201d she says. The salon\u2019s carefully mismatched vanities and stylist workstations prove her story, and the result is a rustic yet bright atmosphere that warmly captures both the past and the present. It\u2019s just like Monique intended. \u201cHave you seen Steel Magnolias<\/i>?\u201d she asks. \u201cThat\u2019s what I was going for. I wanted a place that was very much a hangout, where people relaxed and talked and supported each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the speedy opening, it took her a long time to get here. It wasn\u2019t always obvious to Monique that hair was her passion. The first hint came in the \u201890s, when she was a teenager bleaching her friends\u2019 bangs. \u201cWe all wanted that bright front streak, so we used somebody’s facial hair bleach kit,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI think that was the first time I got into color.\u201d Still, after graduating from San Pedro High School, she decided to study English at Long Beach State in hopes of becoming a teacher. But it slowly became clear that she liked her side job, doing makeup, more than the prospect of teaching. She pivoted, and she graduated from Aveda Beauty School not long after college.<\/p>\n

Like many San Pedro natives, after finishing school, she left her hometown and worked as a stylist for salons in Long Beach and Redondo Beach. Little by little, she mastered the basics of hair and more. At the retro-themed parlor The Avenue, she learned to create the classic yet challenging hairstyles of decades past. \u201cI did beehives, birdcages, and so much more, but victory rolls were my favorite,\u201d she says. It was also here that her vision for the future took shape. \u201cAt The Avenue, I really saw how I\u2019d like a shop to be,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe owner was very kind and made it like a family, and I absolutely loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Inside Birdcage Beauty Parlour. (photo: John Mattera Photography)<\/p><\/div>\n

But she was still hesitant to open her own salon. Because stylists build up a clientele over time, leaving The Avenue meant risking the business she\u2019d spent years creating, and it took the encouragement of others to get her to take the leap. \u201cA mentor at The Avenue really helped me,\u201d she recalls. \u201cShe told me to make the new salon my home, and I did.\u201d Taking that advice to heart, she found a space in San Pedro and named it Birdcage Beauty Parlour after her daughter\u2019s nickname, Bird, and the classic hairdo she\u2019d learned at The Avenue. She filled the space with mementos that reminded her of family \u2014 in addition to the chandelier, a drawing of a bird made by her daughter hangs on the wall. \u201cI think she made it when she was nine,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was my first picture in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even her eight stylists are much more than employees, and Monique takes great care to ensure that the salon remains the welcoming space she\u2019d always wanted. \u201cI\u2019m very picky about who I bring in here,\u201d she says, \u201cand I consider these girls family.\u201d With that, of course, comes the other side of the coin: seeing her staff move on. \u201cOne of the most difficult things is that I\u2019m very sad when they go,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s always for good reasons, but I get so invested that it\u2019s hard to watch them leave.\u201d Thankfully for her, they don\u2019t seem to stray far \u2014 one of her former employees opened a shop just around the corner, and another works at the Birdcage on Fridays solely to stay a part of Monique\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Because so many of her friends and former staff are close by, Monique feels compelled to extend her Steel Magnolia<\/i>\u2019s vision beyond the salon\u2019s four walls. She\u2019s in good company, too \u2014 hers is just one of nearly a dozen salons downtown that view themselves as teammates instead of competitors. From sharing extra product to even referring customers to one another, the shops prefer cooperation over competition. \u201cIf a customer comes into a salon down the street and they can\u2019t take them, that salon will send them over here,\u201d says Monique. \u201cThere\u2019s no rivalry between us down here, I think that\u2019s an accomplishment. This town is very supportive of its people.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With such a strong sense of community, it\u2019s no wonder that she struggles to pick her favorite thing about running the Birdcage. Even though she\u2019s won contests for her color work \u2014 an ocean-themed purple and blue balayage job won her a hefty supply of product from Joico \u2014 it\u2019s the people that walk through her doors that motivate her most. \u201cI love being creative, but it\u2019s a gift to be a part of people\u2019s lives,\u201d she says. \u201cHair is the crown you wear, and it\u2019s a very personal thing you go through with the person in your chair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though she\u2019s not exactly sure what the future holds for the Birdcage, she suspects it will be guided by the same voices that brought it into being. \u201cMy husband\u2019s already talking about a spa,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI don\u2019t know about that yet, but I did just hire a girl who does waxing.\u201d What is certain is that she\u2019ll continue to shape \u2014 and be shaped by \u2014 the community that she loves. \u201cI\u2019ve been here my whole life, and there\u2019s really nothing like it,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t want it to change too much, but this town has a lot of potential, and I\u2019m so happy to be a part of that.\u201d spt<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Birdcage Beauty Parlour is located at 412 W. 7th St. in downtown. For more info, call (310) 684-1218.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If everything had gone according to plan, Birdcage Beauty Parlour might not be here today.\u00a0 \u201cMy husband is very much a go-getter, and he bought me a birdcage chandelier,\u201d says Monique Ursich, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":11731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking Flight - San Pedro Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking Flight - San Pedro Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If everything had gone according to plan, Birdcage Beauty Parlour might not be here today.\u00a0 \u201cMy husband is very much a go-getter, and he bought me a birdcage chandelier,\u201d says Monique Ursich, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Pedro Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-27T19:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-30T15:24:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/san-pedro-today-birdcage-beauty-parlour-monique-quintana-mattera.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nadia Nizetich\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nadia Nizetich\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/452d987c0aadec85baaaeedb8c28ad49\"},\"headline\":\"Taking Flight\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-27T19:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-30T15:24:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/\"},\"wordCount\":1137,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/\",\"name\":\"Taking Flight - San Pedro Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-27T19:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-30T15:24:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Taking Flight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\",\"name\":\"San Pedro Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"San Pedro Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"San Pedro Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanpedrotoday\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sanpedrotoday\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/452d987c0aadec85baaaeedb8c28ad49\",\"name\":\"Nadia Nizetich\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3b390c00a670e852fc5265d4ac698965?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3b390c00a670e852fc5265d4ac698965?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nadia Nizetich\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/author\/nadianizetich\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking Flight - San Pedro Today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking Flight - San Pedro Today","og_description":"If everything had gone according to plan, Birdcage Beauty Parlour might not be here today.\u00a0 \u201cMy husband is very much a go-getter, and he bought me a birdcage chandelier,\u201d says Monique Ursich, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/","og_site_name":"San Pedro Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday","article_published_time":"2023-07-27T19:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-30T15:24:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/san-pedro-today-birdcage-beauty-parlour-monique-quintana-mattera.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nadia Nizetich","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sanpedrotoday","twitter_site":"@sanpedrotoday","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/"},"author":{"name":"Nadia Nizetich","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/452d987c0aadec85baaaeedb8c28ad49"},"headline":"Taking Flight","datePublished":"2023-07-27T19:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-30T15:24:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/"},"wordCount":1137,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/","name":"Taking Flight - San Pedro Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-27T19:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-30T15:24:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taking-flight\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Taking Flight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/","name":"San Pedro Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization","name":"San Pedro Today","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png","width":400,"height":100,"caption":"San Pedro Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday","https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanpedrotoday","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sanpedrotoday\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/452d987c0aadec85baaaeedb8c28ad49","name":"Nadia Nizetich","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3b390c00a670e852fc5265d4ac698965?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3b390c00a670e852fc5265d4ac698965?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nadia Nizetich"},"url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/author\/nadianizetich\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11709"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11765,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11709\/revisions\/11765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}