(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
“When you understand people and their wants and needs, and you can fulfill those wants and needs with a product or service, then I believe you will become successful.”
“Successful” is certainly a fitting word in the lexicon to describe Kim Villella, who joined Matt Drzik on the August 16 edition of A.M. Beaver County to talk about her four decades of success in Ambridge. Kim had recently announced her retirement after 40 years of running Una Bella Beauty & Wellness Studio on Merchant Street in Ambridge, and it led to several other businesses that came to the area over the next four decades.
Despite being a long-time member of the Ambridge community, Villella started her journey through the Pittsburgh Beauty Academy in Beaver Falls where she graduated in 1982 (after graduating from Ambridge High School in 1981. “I always had a love and passion for the industry, since I was a little girl,” she said, speaking of her beginnings of the salon in her home basement. “Everyone just asked me to cut their hair. I didn’t realize that I was creating a business at that point, or that I had a natural God-given talent in the industry.”
Una Bella moved from Kim’s house to Merchant Street in 1984, where it stands today. After that, her and her husband bought several other businesses in the Ambridge area: “We continued investing in the area. In 1999, we built a 50-bed assisted living facility on Merchant. Then eventually–in I think about 2000–we bought S&S Fasteners, which is a PennDOT manufacturing company that made big bolts for bridges and different projects.”
During her forty-year run, Villella also served as President of the Ambridge Chamber of Commerce; a post she held for six years from 2015 to 2021. She still plans to help out where needed in helping keep Ambridge’s ever-growing businesses and diversity trending upward: “They know that I’m here to consult and advise, and I pick up the phone when they call me every morning.” That said, Kim said that she does look forward to this next chapter of her life.
“When I retired, I cut my hair off, painted my nails red, and I’m going fishing.”
To watch the full interview with Kim Villella, click on the Facebook feed below!