Empowering young girls, boosting their self confidence, and making them feel beautiful inside and out. This is the mission for sophomore Nikki Grellner, who works at Totally Adorable Salon in Cottleville.

“I think it’s really cool for [young girls] to have a place where they get to feel really pretty for a day, and hang out with their friends,” Nikki said.

At the salon, girls can come in for a birthday make-over, or have a birthday party where they can dress up like princesses, pop stars or even models.

“I really like the Disney and princess parties,” Nikki said. “The little girls get to put on fancy dresses and it’s really fun.”

The salon has been open since Nov. 21, 2015. Owner Shae Calcari got the idea from a similar place in West County, called Sweet and Sassy, that her daughters liked. She believed the area needed a place like this, so she decided to make one closer to home.

“My two girls really loved going there,” Shae said. “Sometimes since they were so busy it was hard to get in, so we ending up buying this building that already had a salon, and putting a Totally Adorable Salon here.”

Nikki has been working at Totally Adorable Salon for around a month, and her job is to work with the girls who come in to help them feel beautiful.

“Little girls come in and I paint their nails, and do their hair,” Nikki said. “They also get to dress up, and it’s really cute.”

Seeing all of the girls so excited to be there and dress up is Nikki’s favorite part of her job, especially the little ones, ages 4-6.

“I love seeing all the girls get so excited to dress in costumes and get all made up,” Nikki said.

Nikki found out about the job from sophomore Maddie Adams, who also works at the salon, and was excited to get to work with a friend.

“Nikki and I have been close for a while,” Maddie said. “So getting to work together makes us closer.”

According to Shae and Nikki, brightening up these girls day is all they want to do. Making a little girl feel beautiful and better about herself can be as simple as a smile and a touch of glitter.

“My favorite part is interacting with the young kids and really making them feel good about themselves, just really making them feel beautiful,” Shae said. “Because whether we’re little or grown adults, we all like to hear that, and need to hear that from time to time. And believe it.”