Rhalda Shuler peeked into the makeshift beauty salon at the Frank Bailey Senior Center. She wasn't sure if she should trust the stylist on duty with her hair.

Usually, she does her own. But she decided she'd treat herself after noticing that the salon at the center was open. Still, she had concerns.

Hyosub Shin/AJC (ENLARGE)

Creative Connections Mobile Barbershop owner Jamarr Rawlinson speaks with Frank Bailey Senior Center resident William Booker while visiting the Riverdale facility.

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"I am very tender-headed," she tells stylist Jewel Chesson before agreeing to sit down for a wash and set.

Chesson assures her.

"I can be as soft as you want or as rough as you want," Chesson said. "It is your decision."

It's Wednesday at the Frank Bailey Senior Center in Riverdale and a steady stream of customers venture into the center's makeshift salon for a wash, styling or cut.

Every week, Jamarr Rawlinson and Monica Coleman — owners of Creative Connections Mobile Barbershop — set up shop at the senior center. With prices set to accommodate a fixed income, they have offered haircuts at the center for men and stylings for women since last October.

"This is the best thing that has happened to this center since I have been here," said Kirk Douglas Smith, 57, a retired postal worker. "When you come here, you get everything they need — exercise, pool, arts and crafts and now a haircut."

Earl Link, who gets around in a wheelchair, said the convenience of having a barbershop where he spends most of his day is only part of the equation.

"All the work is fantastic," said Link, 54. "Even though it is all convenient, you still have to provide quality work. I recommend it to everyone."

The idea of offering hair care at a senior citizens' facility isn't new. But for Coleman and Rawlinson, the thought is as fresh as a newly shampooed head.

The entrepreneurs, both 27, saw an opening in the market and jumped on it.

Along with the Bailey Center, they also style hair at Wheat Street Towers.

They are working with county officials to get into county senior centers and with developers to set up shop at private assisted living facilities.

Their unique union breaks down stereotypes.

Coleman takes care of business and marketing. Rawlinson takes care of hair.

In fact, the idea of starting a mobile salon belonged to Rawlinson.

Growing up in Columbia, he often would work in the assisted-living facility owned by his aunt.

"I would go over there every two weeks and cut hair," Rawlinson said. "When I moved here, I worked in shops, but I didn't like being in the same location."

So he decided to take his skills on the road.

He presented the idea to Coleman, a Hampton University grad to whom he was related by marriage.

"He told me what his vision was. I knew he had strengths in the beauty industry, and I knew the business side," Coleman said. "When you believe in something, it makes you keep trying."

Coleman and Rawlinson, who also maintain full-time jobs, were investing much of their own money into the business to create temporary hair salons, providing all of the equipment, including hair products and regulation barber and salon chairs.

In an effort to get startup capital, they entered a local contest offering cash prizes for the best business plan. They lost by one point.

"It was rewarding to know that our plan was good enough to be runner-up," Coleman said. "We took the feedback and used it."

With that same plan, they entered a national contest sponsored by the Miller Brewing Co. that rewarded the best business plan. This time, they won $35,000 to get Creative Connections off the ground.

"We were able to get a van and equipment," Coleman said. "For businesses two years or younger, funding is pretty hard, so this was a blessing."

Coleman said the plan now is to enter into contracts with more facilities in Atlanta and across the country and to perhaps get a mobile trailer to travel through metro Atlanta cutting hair.

But that Wednesday, the focus was on their first one in Riverdale.

Throughout the day, both Chesson and Rawlinson serviced a steady stream of customers.

Elena Pucalowski, a 74-year-old Florida transplant, is one of Chesson's regulars. She gets a color and cut for $17, something that would cost about $75 in a regular salon.

"She is pretty good," Pucalowski said. "If she wasn't, I wouldn't come back."