It’s been a minute since I last sat down to write out my thoughts and feelings. This past Summer/Fall has been so incredibly full of all the things we do here at the salon, at the farm, at the herb shop, and in the community.
As we approach the new year, along with that also comes our 15 year anniversary! On the morning of February 1st at 10 AM will mark the moment of receiving our first client (hi Dave) to what has been a most fantastic voyage, indeed! A most beautiful, creatively satiating, community supportive, magical, musical and artful journey that has been a land of its own; grown from the seeds, soil and hard work of myself and what I refer to as my Flippfam.
In 2010, starting out as an idea I wrote on a paper napkin at Sunday brunch with my, now ex-husband, at the Elmwood diner (miss that place so much!) with a purple glitter pen + ink, I quickly pieced together what I wanted the space to be. A space that at its foundation had to be built on the principles of my Herbalism, had to include an apothecary area, had to provide space for local artists to showcase and sell their work, and also had to provide space for local musicians (as I am a musician myself) to play and tell their stories in a semi unplugged, intimate situation. I was still practicing reflexology at the time, and making small batch hair care, skin care, and tea blends for our clients. I hadn’t started farming those ingredients until 2015, but that story is rich and deserves its own time.
My ex and I didn’t have a lot of money to invest at the time, so I humbly shared my idea with my parents. My mom is an Italian immigrant, my father was first generation, born from Italian immigrants. Both came from extreme struggle, the 2nd world war, and the great depression. They were not from money, and worked extremely hard to provide a humble yet warm, safe and “rich” upbringing for us four children…and when I say rich, I obviously do not mean monetarily. When I shared my vision with them, my father, without hesitation, offered to take out a small home equity loan on the house that they had worked all their lives to get. It was a VERY small loan, but I was A) Staggered that he offered, and B) So incredibly fired up with passion for my vision that I promised him I would pay him back within the first 5 years. Which I did.
Since we opened, the evolution of the space, of our work, of our salon family has been an ongoing source of warmth and joy. It has been a space that has given us the opportunity to support and team up with organizations like Herbalists without Borders, the Humsum Project, The Dresscode Project, United Plant Savers, PVD’s own Eco R.I., and so many more. We have hosted dozens of local artisans through pop up markets + trunk shows, art showings on our walls (which we continue to do seasonally), dozens of local bands for our Flipp by Night Music nights (cerca every 6 weeks). We have been hosting our annual clothing swaps since 2013, and have donated consistently to the RI Food bank, and to Dorcas International. I struggle to find the words of how incredibly grateful I am for it. For all of it. Flipp is a project born out of love and passion for all things beautiful, that nourish the soul through beauty and all the avenues that beauty can manifest in our world.
As we keep evolving, we also have a small sister shop exclusively dedicated to my herbalism and formulation, Botanic providence. You can find it within a 5 minute walk from Flipp, in the Corliss landing Building. There, you can get a glimpse of where and how some of our hair care and skin care is formulated and made! You can come blend your own tea blends, as we have over 120 herbs in bulk, many grown on our farm! As of this coming year of 2026, we also offer facials, craniosacral work, fascia and TMJ work there as well.
We are living in very challenging times. To say that we are grateful is a gross understatement and feeble way of trying to communicate the gravity of my gratitude, but I don’t know how else to say it.
I know this. I will be forever in love with what has grown from the seeds planted long ago. I will forever tend and steward this space in hopes that it provides the nourishment it was meant to when I frantically tried to write it all down and plan it all out on that day in 2010 on my napkin at brunch. The walls vibrate with the love and faith that my folks had for what was considered back then, a vision “a little too Utopian.” It hasn't always been easy or without struggle, and there have been many moments along the way when I have had the conversation with myself on whether or not I should move on…but alas! Those are the very moments that as cliche’ as it may be, have pulled out the deeper, wiser, stronger parts of myself that make a person truly holistic in their views. Emotional intelligence as it’s called. And with that, I am grateful for every soul that has walked through those doors. You have all been a part of a story I hope will continue forever after <3.
So here’s to the next 15, Flippfam! To more “Hair is Art”... to more music, to more art showings, to more fierce self expression, to more farming and stewarding the land and our Mother Earth, to more community love! In this post, I added photos of what Flipp looked like that first day we opened and some of what we look like today. There have been many renditions in between and I’m sure there will be more in our future!
With the most humble, deeply felt gratitude a heart could ever feel,
Warmly,
Jo-Anna
P.S.
I still have that napkin!
