Friends Angela Vaslavsky and Sarah Thompson knew it was time for a life change.
But neither of the Unity residents imagined they would discover that change when they went to House of Colour Mt. Lebanon to receive a personal color analysis.
“We were on a self-care journey ourselves,” Thompson said. “We both had hit a point in our lives where we knew that we had to make some changes — both physically and mentally — to our lives.”
Thompson went to House of Colour for the first time last May, recruiting Vaslavsky to join her for the trek to the Mt. Lebanon location — the company’s only presence in Western Pennsylvania.
All it took to solidify House of Colour as the pair’s next career path was a conversation with the owners, who were looking to retire.
A year later, Vaslavsky and Thompson have taken ownership of the Mt. Lebanon location, moving it to Unity. The duo opened House of Colour Greensburg May 1.
The business joins Empower Her Fitness and Bigfoot Brothers Collectibles as new businesses in Westmoreland County.
Empower Her Fitness, a women-only gym, will open June 7 in Hempfield. Bigfoot Brothers, a vintage pop culture collectibles store, came to Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall April 1.
House of Colour
Founded in the UK more than four decades ago, House of Colour uses a color theory created by Swiss painter Johannes Itten to identify the shades that are most compatible with the undertones in a person’s skin.
Each customer is placed in one of four color categories — spring, summer, autumn or winter — and assigned 10 colors that, according to the theory, look best on them. The service has in recent years become a trend on social media platforms Instagram and TikTok.
Receiving her own color analysis proved to be a more emotional experience than Vaslavsky anticipated.
“Sometimes we’re not even aware that we’re not being authentic to our true selves,” she said. “I think that was something for me within this process and within this journey that was really eye opening.
“We get into routines and we get into patterns where we’re just doing what’s easy, but we’re not doing what is true to us and what’s making us happy.”
Rediscovering that authenticity was crucial for Vaslavsky, who was managing a Crohn’s disease diagnosis and working as a mental health therapist specializing in children’s trauma — her career field for the past 20 years.
Thompson comes to House of Colour with more than two decades experience working in sales. After moving four times, having three children and losing her father to cancer all within the span of three years, Thompson began to reflect on her life.
“It was just a really weird time in my life,” she said. “I, all of a sudden, had a lot of time to reflect on ‘I’m in my mid-40s and I’m not old, but I’m not young. What do I want with the rest of my life and how am I going to get it?’
“God provides a pause, and I paused,” she said, recalling the day she learned of the business opportunity with House of Colour. “I was like ‘This is a cool journey I’m on right now and I need to lean into this.’”
House of Colour Greensburg is located at 4764 Route 30 in Unity. To schedule an appointment, call 724-691-0400 or email houseofcolourgreensburg@houseofcolour.com.
Empower Her Fitness
Penn Township resident Tonya Holmes has been running fitness classes for pregnant women and mothers since September 2023, operating out of gyms in her hometown and Greensburg.
In June, Holmes will move into her own gym space along Sun Valley Road in Hempfield, expanding her practice to include workout classes for women in all stages of life.
Holmes was certified in prenatal and postpartum fitness coaching nearly two years ago. Following the birth of her son, Wyatt, and navigating her own postpartum fitness journey, Holmes wanted to help other women do the same.
About 25 people attend Holmes’ classes, coming in groups of 10 to 12 for each, she said.
“We’ve just gotten so big over the past year that I need my own space now,” Holmes said.
Empower Her Fitness will offer a variety of strength, yoga and dance classes. Mother to a 5-year-old boy, Holmes will prioritize offering free supervised childcare to her clients.
“Having a designated area for them to go to and somebody actually watching them is a huge help if the moms just want to work out on their own,” she said.
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Holmes aims to foster a safe, positive environment for women to focus on their health.
“Any female that wants to come and work out and just be a part of a community, feel safe and comfortable in the space they’re working out in — that is my main focus,” she said.
Empower Her Fitness is located at 1069 Sun Valley Road To contact the gym, email empowerherfitness123@gmail.com or call 724-374-8817.
Bigfoot Brothers Collectibles
Hempfield resident Charlie Smith wants to take visitors to Bigfoot Brothers Collectibles back to their childhood.
The store specializes in all things pop culture. Movie posters and vintage toys line the shelves. Atari, Nintendo and Sega video games and Star Wars, Transformers and Ninja Turtles action figures are among the finds Smith has dug up during more than two decades of collecting.
“The toys are more of a representation of the good times, carefree times,” Smith said. “And everyone who comes into the store just smiles … and has a story to tell.
“They see that vintage item they got when they were with their grandparents who are no longer alive or the items they got for their 12th birthday or the video games they were playing in high school.”
Smith, who also works as a finance manager, opened the store in his hometown of 21 years alongside friend Brian Wooley, owner of Wylde n’ Wooley’s in Irwin.
“I think people have done a lot of the online shopping, but I think the online is kind of going away,” Smith said. “I think people want that communication back with people since covid’s kind of a thing of the past.”
Bigfoot Brothers Collectibles is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.