After Drybar Said No, She Built Her Own Blow Dry Bar in Stillwater

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When the national blow dry bar franchise Drybar told Amber Fladie that Stillwater was too small for one of its locations, she decided to build her own.

Blown & Bronzed, which opened in April 2025, is part blow dry bar, part beauty collective. Fladie brought together a team of stylists, a body waxer and a spray tan studio under one roof, where each professional operates with independence while sharing clients, covering for each other on busy days and building something none of them could have pulled off alone.

In a college town where beauty trends travel faster than ever but franchise models still overlook the market, the concept fills a gap Stillwater did not know it had.

From aerospace to airbrush

Fladie's path to opening a salon was not a straight line. Her background is in aerospace — HR management, business development, program management — and she spent years in the corporate world before moving to Stillwater for a position at ASCO.

"I lived the corporate life for a long time," Fladie said. "I was really burned out on the whole corporate lifestyle."

When she was laid off during COVID after her program was grounded, she took the moment to step back and figure out what she actually wanted to do. She found her way to a local barbershop, where she leaned on her business development background while discovering she loved the daily rhythm of client relationships and meeting new people. When that business closed, she decided to go out on her own.

Fladie knew Stillwater did not have a blow dry bar and had watched the concept gain popularity in larger cities. She approached Drybar about franchising but was turned down. The franchise would not open in an area with fewer than 100,000 to 150,000 people within a 10-mile radius, and it factored in median income — a number that, in a college town, tells a misleading story.

"You've got all of these people who, on paper, make zero dollars," Fladie said. "And that's averaged into our community's median income. So, from the outside, Stillwater looks really poor. But we're not. Because that money is coming from other places."

The rejection turned into an opening. Rather than fitting her vision into a franchise model, she could shape the business herself — blowouts and spray tans at the core, with room for other professionals to bring in their own specialties.

"This gives me an opportunity to do it my own way," Fladie said.

Individual brands, one space

Blown & Bronzed is home to two named brands alongside Fladie's own work. Fladie runs Shimmer by Amber, handling airbrush spray tans and blowouts. Haleigh Mckinzie runs Waxed by Haleigh, offering body and facial waxing. Emma Honigsberg, a recent cosmetology school graduate, handles color, blonding, lashes and perms. Heather Burandt, who trained with Vidal Sassoon and has 27 years of experience in the industry, brings her expertise to cuts and styling.

Each found her way to Blown & Bronzed differently. Mckinzie was moving to Stillwater from Grand Lake and saw that Fladie was looking for a body waxer.

"I called her, asked if there was any openings, and she said I was just what she was looking for," Mckinzie said. "I drove up here before I moved here just to meet her, see the place, feel the vibe and everything, and we made it happen."

Honigsberg's mom, a longtime spray tan client of Fladie's, connected the two after Honigsberg was finishing cosmetology school. Burandt, who moved to Oklahoma two years ago from Wichita, Kan., saw the job posting online and came in while the space was still being renovated.

The team dynamic goes beyond just sharing square footage. On busy days, they pitch in for each other — if one stylist is booked and a walk-in arrives, someone else steps up.

"It's very much a team effort," Honigsberg said.

Burandt, the most experienced of the group, said she enjoys working alongside younger stylists who are just starting out.

"I had so much fun being able to teach people," Burandt said. "I find fun working with the young ones who just came out."

Fladie is deliberate about how Blown & Bronzed fits into Stillwater's existing salon landscape. She does not see the business as a competitor to established stylists with full books. If a client cannot get into her regular colorist for weeks, she can come to Blown & Bronzed for a professional blowout, a deep conditioning treatment or extension maintenance in the meantime.

"I don't necessarily look at this place as direct competition to any salon," Fladie said. "I look at this as a primary or secondary salon for anybody."

What they do and who shows up

The menu at Blown & Bronzed runs longer than the name suggests. Beyond signature blowouts and diffused styling for curly hair, the team offers haircuts, color, blonding, perms, updos, makeup, body and facial waxing, airbrush spray tans, lashes, hair extension installs and move-ups.

The college crowd is a significant part of the client base. Sorority date nights bring rushes of blowout appointments. Game day visitors stop in. Parents often cover the tab. Burandt said she had a string of Kappa members come in for blowouts before a recent date night, and that word of mouth through Greek life has been a steady source of new faces.

Extension maintenance has become a growing niche. Drying extensions completely is essential — if moisture gets trapped, the hair can develop mold and the extensions are ruined. Many clients come in simply because the full wash-dry-style process is long and they want someone using the right products.

"Somebody could easily go five to seven days before they have to wash their hair again," Fladie said. "It just takes a load off of their shoulders."

Spray tans take 10 to 15 minutes and use a 100 percent natural solution. Fladie said the most common misconception she hears traces back to the 1990s, when lower-quality formulas earned spray tans a reputation for turning people orange.

"I will not turn you orange," Fladie said. "That is not going to happen here."

For waxing, Mckinzie said humor goes a long way with nervous first-timers.

"If you can just tell them that everything's going to be okay, and try to be a little humorous while doing it, it just makes it so much more comfortable," Mckinzie said. She also offers numbing spray for clients who are concerned about pain and recommends a consistent four-week schedule, which thins hair growth over time.

Blown & Bronzed is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Walk-ins are welcome, and online booking through Gloss Genius requires no account creation. The team also offers wedding packages — spray tans a few days before the ceremony, hair and makeup the day of — and can travel on-site to venues.

Girly, sassy and open to everyone

The salon's look is bold on purpose. Pink walls, edgy decor, a champagne button by the coffee bar for clients 21 and older. Fladie decorated the space herself, and the aesthetic reflects the personalities of the women who work there.

"A lot of salons try to be very professional," Honigsberg said. "But I think our salon and what separates us from others is we have a kick of sass to the salon in general. It's just very homey."

Relationships keep clients coming back as much as the services do. Honigsberg said one of her regular clients — a cosmetology school classmate — drives two hours for appointments.

"You build friendships and relationships that you wouldn't have even thought about building," Honigsberg said. "You meet a lot of really cool people through this industry."

The salon is not exclusively for women. Burandt does men's haircuts and beard trims, and she said the guys who come in are not fazed by the pink.

"Guys need to come in and have good haircuts, too," Burandt said. "Because I think men care about their hair. And they start caring about their hair when they get that one bad haircut."

Across every service — a blowout before a date night, a Brazilian wax before Valentine's Day, a haircut for a nurse who had never prioritized her own appearance — the common thread is confidence.

"We're just a group of girls that try to make other women and men feel good about themselves," Honigsberg said.

Fladie said she wants every client to feel like a friend the moment they walk in, and that the shift from corporate life to this has changed how she feels about going to work.

"Here, you're not going to really get angry customers," Fladie said. "The stress level — it's gone from high to low."

New membership options are in the works, and extension services have been added to the menu. Blown & Bronzed is still building its word of mouth — Burandt said some Stillwater residents still do not know the shop exists — but the team is not worried about that.

"I can make everything hot pink if I want to," Fladie said.

This story was produced in partnership with Blown & Bronzed as part of The Stillwegian's sponsored content program.