B.J. Zieger and his fiancé Keisha MacDonald weren’t sure what to expect when they ventured into the business world together, but they’re pleased with the response so far.
Zieger runs Lucky Buddha Tattoo, while MacDonald operates YLM Beauty and Lifestyle, both of which are located in the Scotsburn Square strip mall. They moved into the location in June, although they had been previously serving clients through a home-based business.
“We did a soft opening (in June), and we had those clients in, and then we did a grand opening in August, and then we fully opened to the public in August,” said MacDonald.
The businesses have been busy since they opened.
“I’m booked for a few months,” said Zieger. “I’ve got some really great clients, so it’s been good.”
MacDonald’s family is originally from Estevan. Zieger and MacDonald moved to the Energy City in August 2019, and had a home-based business, operating out of a detached shop at the home they purchased. Most of their clients were family and friends.
“But then with COVID and everything happening with that, we decided that it would probably benefit us more to be a public business, somewhere that customers could just drop by, and not necessarily have to book an appointment or find him (BJ) on social media. So we just thought it was a better fit for us, and it worked out so far, so we’re glad we did it,” said MacDonald.
They join a growing list of businesses from various sectors that have opened up in Estevan in the past few months, showing confidence in the community and its people despite some challenging times for the community.
They’re glad they did it.
MacDonald takes care of makeup and beauty service, while Zieger handles tattoos.
“I do makeup for mostly grads, weddings, photo shoots, and even if people just want to come in and get pampered for the day, I can do that as well,” said MacDonald. “I also do makeup lessons for people that are curious and wanting to learn more about makeup. So it’s good for mother-daughter combos, just for something different to do on a weekend, or something different to do together, but then I also make macramé, I make nursery décor and home décor as well.”
And she provides skin care services as well.
Zieger brings a lot of experience to Estevan. He has spent about 12 years as a tattoo artist, working mostly in Regina, first at Planet Caravan Tattoos and Piercing, and then at Lucky Panther Tattoo, which he owned until moving to Estevan.
He has also worked in Australia and Bali.
“I like doing black and grey realism, colour realism. Traditional Japanese and lettering styles are my favourite things to do. I love … animals.”
A tiger and an elephant that he has created in the past are among his favourites. He also did an underwater scene with a turtle and a crab.
Both view their work as a chance to show off their creativity.
People have appreciated the work that they do.
“We’ve had a lot of traffic in that we didn’t know we were going to have, so it’s been a pleasant surprise for us. We weren’t sure, especially with the COVID, and all that is going on in the world right now, how people were going to respond to a business, but it’s been nothing but great so far,” said MacDonald.
Both said they’ve been busier than they’ve ever been; MacDonald noted that she thought she would have lost a lot of business due to weddings being postponed, but other activity has compensated for any weddings she did lose.
The business is open Tuesday to Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. They were open from Thursday to Saturday at first, but had to expand their hours due to the demand since their opening.
