Christine Karow, left, with Lene Lippman. PHOTO PROVIDED<\/p>\n
Salon owner Christine Karow can usually be found with a client in her shop. She said she most vividly sees herself in the role of salon owner, although there\u2019s a great deal more to her than simply running Christine Karow Hair Designs and Massage. She also said, given a choice, she would always choose to be behind the scenes rather than in the spotlight. <\/p>\n
Coming to Pine Island in 2013 was something that happened due to someone else, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLene Lippman was retiring. She worked for many years in her shop, Salon L.A. and she was retiring. That\u2019s why I moved here. I pretty much stepped into her shop,\u201d Karow said.<\/p>\n
What motivated her to be where she is today was and still is her deep desire to connect with her clients through relationships with them, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to actually do a full haircut and have relationships with people behind the chair,\u201d Karow said.<\/p>\n
When it comes to knowing Pine Island was a unique place, unlike any other area, Karow said she knew right away. <\/p>\n
\u201cI sat and watched Lene work and met people for three weeks before I actually started working,\u201d Karow said.<\/p>\n
She said she knew Pine Island was somewhere she wanted to be as she spent time here and met the people coming into Lene\u2019s shop. When it comes to a valid display of her identity as an islander, she said it\u2019s being there for people as they go through life, whether it\u2019s a hard day, like one that came with a cancer diagnosis or losing a loved one, or exhilarating life-changes like weddings and grandbabies. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re there, we\u2019re a listening ear, we can help people feel better and look better,\u201d Karow said, not just of herself but all of the staff in her shop, adding that it\u2019s a great place to relieve stress.<\/p>\n
Describing the island to someone who is unfamiliar with it, she said tell them that it\u2019s a very quaint place where you get to know a lot of people. <\/p>\n
\u201cI would say, you don\u2019t know everybody, because it is bigger than you think. With all the things the community does and all the activities-you just want to be a part of it. I don\u2019t like all the hustle and bustle. I like the relaxation on Pine Island,\u201d Karow said.<\/p>\n
Karow said if she had a wish for the Island, she would like it to stay the way it is. <\/p>\n
\u201cI would like it to not build up so much. I know a lot of people who are in the Calusa Land Trust and I\u2019m a country girl myself. I just wish it would stay rural and not get too built up,\u201d Karow said. <\/p>\n