AWI prepares welders for workforce – and the world
Ushering the next generation into the healthcare pipeline
October 21, 2024
GREEN BAY – For the past 25 years, Tracey Fuller has worked in the healthcare industry – 23 of them as a registered nurse.
After being recruited by Aurora BayCare Medical Center, Fuller said her family relocated from California to Titletown to assume the role of director of nursing – and immediately felt at home.
“It was the most smooth transition ever,” she said.
Since she was new to the area and Aurora was a member of the Greater Green Bay Chamber, Fuller said her family participated in the concierge program with Director of Talent Morgan Doshi.
“She made our family feel at home,” she said. “She did a really good job at asking us what was important to us. The chamber understood that you don’t just move your job – you move your life, you replant your life.”
Early on in her conversations with Doshi, Fuller said she said something that stuck with her and eventually led her down her current career path.
“One thing I’ll never forget that Morgan said is, ‘Green Bay is your oyster,’” she said. “Since then, I have always said that. I have always wanted to start a business, and I’ve always wanted to be in the beauty industry.”
That your-life-is-what-you-make-it mentality, Fuller said, inspired her to look inward and take the biggest gamble of her life.
Earlier this year, Fuller said those conversations she was having with herself about following a different career path, she began having with others.
And though she enjoyed nursing, Fuller said she knew she needed a change.
Armed with an idea, passion and buckets full of guts, Fuller said she walked away from her decades-long career in health care with a mission to focus on another aspect of a healthy person – well-being.
“I was just not in the place that I was before (the COVID-19 pandemic), and I didn’t know what it was,” she said. “So, I made a phone call to a mentor, and I’ve just been on this journey ever since, and it’s just been unfolding itself.”
Laying the foundation
Fuller officially made the leap into small business ownership late last month when she opened Allure Crown & Glory at 1255 S. Monroe Ave., Suites 102 and 103 in Green Bay.
“As an African American woman moving here, it’s been very complicated for someone who was used to getting their hair done every two weeks to not being able to get it done at all,” she said. “Having three children – two of them girls – and not being able to get the right product or find the right stylist to be able to take care of their hair was difficult. Or if I wanted to get braids before going on vacation, I would have to drive to Milwaukee to get my hair done.”
Making the Greater Green Bay area her home for the past several years, Fuller said, “I believe our community deserves more, especially as more expats enter the community from other cultures and races looking for things that work for them, too.”
“It’s not just about being a woman, black-owned business, but it’s about filling a need in the community,” she said. “I saw a problem, and I wanted to give it a solution.”
The original plan, Fuller said, was to open a beauty supply store.
“I believe there are two here in the community but saw there was a need to open another one,” she said. “As a mother and a member of my community, I saw a need for a beauty supply store that went beyond just selling products – but one that fostered inclusivity and empowerment. “
That plan, Fuller said, naturally shifted to include a braid bar and other well-being (hair and aesthetic) services.
Since deciding to make this dramatic career change, Fuller said her biggest challenge has been herself.
“It is my fear of failing – about what people would think,” she said. “I’ve been a director of nursing for the last three years. I’ve been a nurse the last 20-plus years of my life – what made me think I was good enough to do this and why did I think it was going to succeed?”
However, as she began speaking with folks in the community, Fuller said they didn’t care about any of that.
“They were just excited, saying ‘this is so needed, thank you for doing this,’” she said. “There is a hair salon in the same building, and she’s been super encouraging. My landlord, since signing the lease in February, has been so supportive. She would email me, and say ‘you are going to build an empire.’”
Leaning on the leadership experience she has gained working in corporate America and hospitals and her understanding of the service aspect of it, Fuller said, has propelled Allure forward.
“Being able to apply that knowledge even though I’m not clinically doing the work anymore is great – there is more to health care than being in the hospital,” she said. “Figuring out how to create wellness outside of that space. Those endorphins make you want to go out and do things – go out and take a walk or go out and show off your hair.”
Allure Crown & Glory, Fuller said, is a reflection of its values – integrity, service, excellence and teamwork.
“By advocating for authenticity and embracing diversity, we seek to make a lasting impact on the beauty landscape – instilling confidence in every person we have the privilege to serve,” she said.
Finding the Monroe Avenue space, Fuller said, seemed to fall into place similarly to the idea of Allure itself.
“I looked at quite a few places, and every one I looked at, the people were so kind,” she said. “They all wanted to support my mission, but many of them didn’t feel right.”
When she walked into the South Monroe Avenue location, however, Fuller said things felt right.
“It’s like when you go to the store and you find something you like, but you aren’t sure you want to spend the money on it,” she said. “And you tell yourself, if it is there the next time you go, you’ll spend the money. It felt like that with this space – to me, it just felt like the right space for Allure Crown & Glory.”
An inspired name, place
When deciding on a name for the shop, Fuller said she “toyed around” with a variety of options.
“The word allure just kind of stuck with me,” she said. “Allure is to attract and influence – we aim to attract people into the space, give them a service and encourage them to just be better than when they came in.”
The crown and glory portion of the name, Fuller said, ties into the whole premise of what “we’re doing in this space is our crown and glory – our hair, our skin.”
“When my hair is done, I feel like I can tilt my crown and I’m good to go – I know it’s going to be a good day,” she said.
At the end of the day, Fuller said she hopes Allure Crown & Glory provides a space where folks can be comfortable, have a conversation and find peace.
“We are trying to create an environment that attracts good energy and creates even better energy,” she said. “I do believe we lost a lot of our confidence and self-worth during the pandemic and through social media.”
Fuller said Allure Crown & Glory aims to provide a space where people see themselves in a new – or perhaps an old – way.
“I have a deep-seated passion for celebrating individual beauty and empowering communities,” she said.
Beyond being a retail space, Fuller said Allure Crown & Glory aims to be a sanctuary for individuals facing hair-related challenges, such as cancer and alopecia.
“My vision is to provide support and resources to help these individuals express themselves confidently and embrace their unique beauty,” she said.
Serving as an example
Having her children – especially her two little girls – watch her build Allure from the ground up has been an impactful experience, Fuller said.
“My whole family has been supportive since the beginning,” she said. “They’ve seen me struggle. They’ve seen me struggle in my career. They’ve seen me struggle as a mom. They’ve seen me cry. They have heard the conversations my husband and I’ve had about how unhappy I was in the space that I once loved.”
By believing in herself and taking the steps she needed to again find joy in what she was doing, Fuller said has hopefully inspired her children to follow their own dreams.
“We don’t pressure them saying, ‘you have to get grades so you can go to college and be a doctor or a lawyer,’ but instead encourage them to follow their dreams and don’t let anyone deter you from that,” she said. “We tell them, ‘allow yourself to be you. And whatever space you want to be in, make that space if it’s not available – you have the power to do that.’”
Fuller said she aims to inspire that in the customers that enter Allure.
A woman’s hair, she said, is “our crown and glory.”
“Women in general like a hair change,” she said. “I want to wear a wig today. I want to wear a weave tomorrow. I want to wear purple hair today. I want to get braids tomorrow. I want to wear my own natural hair today – it’s about providing the options to be able to do so.”
Plans to grow
The plan for the future, Fuller said, is to expand.
“We hope to open more braid bars across town,” she said. “I want to offer classes once a month. I want to partner with the foster community and host Foster Fridays. I want to host birthday parties where girls can see how beautiful they are.”
Allure currently has one full-time store employee, two full-time and one part-time braiders that rent a chair in the space and an aesthetic bar professional that rents a chair.
“I have a barber who wants to come on board as well,” she said.
Though only one is a direct employee of Allure, Fuller said they function 100% like a team.
“So, it’s not they just come and leave,” she said. “When we have team meetings, everyone participates. We talk about how we are building this empire together – it’s not just me and my vision.”
Fuller said she’s excited to see how Allure Crown & Glory can bloom.
“Allure Crown & Glory is more than just a beauty supply store,” she said. “It’s a movement dedicated to celebrating diversity, empowering individuals and fostering a sense of belonging within our community.”
For more, visit allurecrownglory.com.
