Ashley Hogue co-owns Andreas Hogue Salon in Northbrook with her husband, and just opened a second location in Vernon Hills. Hogue also teaches barre and ballet classes and loves to travel.
Q: Could you tell me a little bit about your role as a co-owner of the salon?
A: As an owner, of course you’re doing everything. My primary job is that I do the marketing, the (public relations), the events, a lot of (human resources), the hiring … just making sure that the employees are happy. We have a boutique … I do all of the the buying and the ordering and the choosing what we bring in. We do a lot of events and community give-back, so that’s always me that’s organizing that.
Q: Could you tell me about the barre and ballet classes you teach?
A: I was trained as a classically trained ballet dancer … I danced semi-professionally and professionally through my mid-20s, but I got a really horrible stress fracture in my spine which ended my career. This is my first love … it is my passion … I started taking (barre) classes 10 years ago, and there was a guy at Joffrey Ballet who was teaching and he was like, ‘Hey, you’re really good, you should start teaching.’ So I got back into it that way.
Q: What do you love about dancing?
A: If you ask a dancer what they love about dancing, they love the stage. And I loved performing. I’m in this whole new phase (now) where I’m developing other people … I really feel joy when I’m teaching. When you’re in the ballet studio, nothing else exists. Life is stressful. We all have things that we’re dealing with all the time. And this is a place where you go and that just melts. It’s gone.
Q: It must have been really devastating to have an injury that ended your career. How did you get through it?
A: I don’t know if you ever totally recover. It’s like your life is going down this path and then you veer off and you’re like, “what if I had done this?” … I was able to recover and perform but I didn’t go to New York and do all of that, like I thought I was going to do. But all these other doors opened for me. And even if it wasn’t the path that I thought I was going to take, I cultivated a life that I love, and I’m still able to have it. So I think things happen for a reason.
Q: What do you do to have fun?
A: When we really relax, we travel. We don’t get to do it as much because of the four kids and the job and all of that stuff. We just opened our second salon last December, so in the first year of opening a business, you’re all in, 24-7. But we really do love to travel, we go to the beach every year.
Q: Is there something in your life that you look forward to every day or every week?
A: Ballet. I love it. I can’t wait. People are like, ‘Oh, it’s Monday. I hate my job.’ I can’t wait to go teach. I can’t wait to be in the studio with my students and the music and the choreography.
Q: Do you have a favorite restaurant in the area?
A: We love Libertad in Skokie. It’s really good. It’s a tiny little city-ish type restaurant that sells Latin food and great cocktails.
Q: Do you have a personal life philosophy that you live by?
A: Right now, I’m all about gratitude. I think it’s so important … the people that are happiest in the world are the ones that are grateful … stay humble and kind, just because we’re having a tremendous success today doesn’t mean it will be the same tomorrow.
Q: Do you have a favorite season?
A: Fall. There’s no spring here in Chicago. I’m from the south, where everything is green and there’s daffodils and beautiful flowers everywhere. And that does not exist here, but fall — September and October — you can’t beat it, right? The blue, crisp skies and the colors, it’s so beautiful.
akim@chicagotribune.com
