Seven years into her career as a hairdresser, Olivia Minor is no stranger to guiding style transformations.

“Anytime someone wants to go blonde, I’m like, ‘Heck yeah, let’s go,’” she said.

For as long as she can remember, Minor has wanted to be a hairdresser.

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” she said. “I love making people feel more confident, feel better.”

Recently, Minor has been reshaping more than heads of hair. As the owner of Thrive Beauty Bar — located at 759 Baldwin St., the former home of The Head Shed barbershop — Minor has redesigned an entire building, too.

“I guess it was just meant to be,” Minor said, surveying the scene from her desk at the heart of the building’s main room on Saturday, Oct. 25. “I wasn’t originally looking to purchase the building. I was just going to rent the space just to kind of start my own little something. But once I saw this building, I knew it was the one.”

The small size, central location and sunlit rooms made Minor’s decision to buy an easy choice.

“I knew it was the perfect location and the perfect size for what I wanted to do, but I knew it needed quite a bit of renovation,” Minor said. She overhauled the whole building, top to bottom, installing new floors, new walls and a new ceiling.

These transformations occurred in just a handful of weeks between when Minor closed on the property during Labor Day weekend and her business’s launch in early October.

“I actually changed the layout in here entirely,” Minor said. “They used to have one station up front, I think another one in the back, and another one in the side room. But I knew I wanted a little cozy reception area and a little coffee stand and furniture, and I wanted my own little break area to have my own space and mix colors and do all my own stuff.”

The main room now hosts three haircutting stations and a shampoo wash station just past the reception desk, which looks out over an arrangement of seats, leafy plants and a couch. Meanwhile, the side room has been converted into the breakroom and color-mixing studio that Minor originally envisioned.

“Honestly, I got a ton of my ideas off of just Pinterest, and I love HomeGoods, so I was having fun shopping for all the things that I wanted,” she said. “I love the wood and the beige and natural colors like that, so obviously a lot of plants, and just kind of going with that theme — modern, but still very cozy.”

Thrive Beauty Bar offers cuts and colors for both men’s and women’s hair in addition to facial waxing services. Online, the positive reviews are rolling in.

“I have been receiving Olivia’s services for 5+ years and she has never let me down!” Rebecca Thayer wrote on Thrive Beauty Bar’s website on Oct. 21. “I am beyond grateful to have found a hair stylist for me with such a great level of professionalism and dedication to her work.”

David Dawson, also posting his review on her website, wrote, “I followed Olivia from her former workplace to her new outpost. I’m a guy and have to say, I just want the same great cut every single time and Olivia definitely delivers. Very happy to see her for the great chat and great care.”

Over the last few weeks, Minor has been conducting all business herself; Thrive has shown her that it is already living up to its name and is ready to grow.

“I’m actually hiring a girl in the beginning of November, so she’ll be here as well,” Minor said.

The two of them are good friends who met through a previous job.

“I’m super excited to have her come,” Minor says. “She actually isn’t at the point where she’s accepting any new clients because she’s very established and has her own clientele, but I’m accepting new clients, and hopefully we’ll be here for a while and there’s always room for growth if I ever do want to add on.”

Growing up, Minor said she imagined herself moving south to a warmer, bigger city, but has decided to stay and brave Meadville’s chilly winters due to the friendlier social climate that a small town offers to a small hairdressing business.

“It’s surprisingly a lot easier in smaller towns than it would be in a big city,” Minor said. “Big cities are more of the vibe where you just kind of have people come and go, and maybe people aren’t as consistent. But definitely with a small town like Meadville, people like to go to the same person for their hair. I think people want someone who knows their hair, knows them.”

Minor is thrilled with the progress she has made so far and is excited to see what the future will bring.

“It still feels very surreal, honestly,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy to me that I own this building and I own my own business. I still haven’t wrapped that around my head. I’m only 24 years old.”