Rah opens beauty bar at Edgewood Tahoe for weddings, makeup and pampering

Angela Zajic makes dreams come true, and we're just not talking about one of her hundreds of brides. She is also making her own dreams come true.

The South Lake Tahoe native opened her first salon, Rah Hair Studio, in 2009 after working for other salons on the South Shore. Then, after ten successful years, expanded into a new home at The Crossing at Tahoe Valley.

Angela's dream was to create a salon, provide jobs with a good work environment, and have good stylists. Once she achieved that, the dream was to have a focus only on weddings.

That is what she is doing now with the opening of her second location, Rah Beauty Bar, inside the spa at Edgewood Tahoe. The award-winning Lodge at Edgewood has been trying to lure Rah into its spa, and after two years it worked.

Angela wasn't sure of working inside someone else's business again and having to follow the high standards of Forbes four-star hotels, but the new partnership is working out quite well.

"I love it," said Angela.

With 20 weddings on the books before she took over, it's been very busy ever since opening on May 1 and they never saw any off-season for weddings, and they are booked for months ahead.

"There has been no downtime," added Angela.

Brides and bridal parties can visit Rah Beauty Bar and get their wedding make-up, styled hair for the big day, luxury Farmhouse Fresh pedicures and manicures, and enjoy some pampering before the action starts. People can also enjoy all the treatments even if not getting married and just want some special "me" time. A popular service with hotel guests has been the Rah hair treatments (think facial for your hair).

Rah is using two environmentally friendly products in addition to Kevin Murphy, a brand she's used at her "Y" location for years. They are in line with Edgewood's focus on sustainability and minimizing its environmental footprint.

There is a team of eight in the salon, 11 on the wedding team, three at the beauty bar, and two manicurists.

All services can be booked online so there are no coloring services since the timing is different for each client. There are several menu items to select from.

So since the second dream has been achieved, what is next for Angela?

The third dream of course.

She will keep providing Tahoe with bridal services, but she wants to teach people how to weddings, something not taught in beauty school. Since doing wedding hair and makeup is a very rigorous schedule with a deadline, Angela hosted a Bridal Boot Camp for her team before they opened. She'd like to do that in other towns to help others learn the wedding business.

"I could see Rah around the country," said Angela. "It's been an exciting journey."

Angela, the winner of several Best of Tahoe awards in the past also has another Best of Tahoe winner on her team, Dottie her manicurist.

Something she has also accomplished is the ability to provide health insurance for her staff, something not common in the beauty business. Having Type 1 Diabetes she knows the importance of having insurance. She said after everything else, this has been the most exciting thing to do. It was always a goal even though it's not a cheap endeavor.

To find out more about Rah and the Rah Beauty Bar, visit https://www.rahhair.com/.