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The World at His
Fingertips
Salon
Owner Provides
Head-To-Toe Advice for
Multicultural Clientele
and Radio Listeners
by Cristina Bollings
If
Charlotte is fast
becoming an
international city,
Marco Astopilco should
be crowned its
international
style-maker.
Tropical
music plays in his
relaxed beauty salon on
Park Road, and a mix of
languages and accents
flows – Spanish,
Jamaican, Polish,
Portuguese.
He and most of
his staff speak English
and Spanish.
He takes his
expertise to the
airwaves every Friday
morning on Radio Lider
WNOW-AM (1030), one of
the region’s most
popular Spanish-language
radio stations, helping
listeners with tips
about la belleza
(beauty) – everything
from home hair coloring
to leg bronzing.
Today, Marco is
in Lima, Peru, styling
hair and applying makeup
for a 15-year-old
girl’s debutante-style
birthday party, called a
quinceanera.
The teen is a
Charlotte client’s
niece.
Marco, who is in
his late 30s, left his
hometown near Lima for
New York as a young man
with dreams of being a
clothing designer.
When he realized
the money it would take
to train in that
industry, he turned to
beauty school instead.
He trained in New
York, Boston and Miami
before settling in
Charlotte in the late
1980s.
He worked at
several area salons
before opening his own
in 2000.
“The first
couple of years in
Charlotte, I saw a lot
of potential.
Charlotte was
growing,” he says,
settling into a gold
colored chair in his
salon’s waiting area.
The city’s
increasing diversity
made him realize this
would be a good place to
stay.
“I wanted to
stay in a place that was
relaxing – not too
wild.
I feel like
I’ve grown with the
city.”
His vision was to
open a salon where
people from any
background could settle
in and feel comfortable
while getting beautiful.
“People can
feel like they are in
Miami or in New York,”
he said. “I wanted a place where people can feel at home.
Everybody can
speak a different
language and it is not a
problem.”
Beauty
not tied to bucks
About six years ago,
radio talk show host
Aura Maria Gavilan-Posse
began inviting Marco on
her morning show for
discussions about beauty
issues.
Marco knows the
listeners range from
construction workers to
housewives to business
people, so he makes it a
point to pick topics
that appeal to a range
of interests and
incomers.
His biggest
message: No matter how
much money you have, you
can take care of
yourself.
“That has to be
so important – to take
care of the inside, not
just the outside.
We talk about
food, vitamins,
exercise.”
He and Gavlin-Posse
chat like two friends
over coffee. On the recent shows, they discussed the importance of wearing
a well fitting bra, tips
for using bronzers and
how to make exfoliating
creams at home.
Marco estimates
that about half of his
salons clientele hails
from Latin America, but
he and his three other
stylists serve lots of
native Carolinians and
people from all parts of
the globe.
The salon’s
customers are diverse in
age, ranging from teens
to those in their 70s.
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Trusted
with more than hair
Sometimes, his
clients need help with a
little more than hair
and makeup.
They’ll bring
him four or five outfits
they are considering for
a job interview or major
event, to find out his
favorite.
“I feel like
all females are
beautiful.
There are no ugly
women, only those that
don’t know how to take
care of themselves,”
he says.
“Everybody has
taste, but some just
need a little help.”
Charlotte
corporate attorney Ana
Flynn loves chatting
with Marco in Spanish
about world events and
legislative developments
during her cuts and
colors.
“We talk about
a million things, and he
never gossips.”
Her trust in him
is so great that she
faces away from the
mirror during the entire
session.
“I tell him to
do whatever he wants to
do, I trust him so
much,” she says.
When Barri Helms
first took a seat in
Marco’s chair a dozen
years ago, Marco had
hair down to his waist
and Helms’ locks
hadn’t gone gray.
She says she
doesn’t speak a lick
of Spanish, but she
enjoys hearing it around
her at the salon. The
cuts and her chats with
Marco are what keep her
going back.
“He’s honest
about what he thinks
will look good,” she
said.
“Every time I
would show him pictures
he would say,
‘That’s fine, but
let’s change this or
that a little.’”
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