Debbie Penzone Helps Clients Embrace Their Beauty
The salon president and CEO is leading the business into the future with a yoga studio and a new community and event space.
Debbie Penzone grew up in Springfield as part of a big family that loved art, fashion and beauty. As a junior in high school in the 1980s, she gave one of her five brothers a perm so he could feather his hair to fit in with the times.
Penzone had eczema and didn’t always fit in with the popular crowd. A girl named Ellen didn’t care about the rash on her face, showing Penzone the value of true friendship and that beauty is about more than a person’s outer shell.
This set her on a path to help others see their true beauty. After high school, she attended the Ohio State School of Cosmetology. Before she graduated in 1986, an instructor asked students to name their dream salon to start their career. Penzone, who at the time was Debbie Miller, raised her hand and said, “Charles Penzone.”
“Oh, no, no, no. You’re a small-town girl. I don’t think you could get hired at Penzone anyway,” the instructor replied.
Penzone took the advice and instead got a job at Tangle on Bethel Road. She met her first mentor, Marilyn DePalma, who let her help with shampoos. DePalma had worked at Penzone before getting married and moving away. After DePalma was rehired at Penzone when a chair opened up, she got her mentee an interview. Penzone began her career at Charles Penzone Grand Salon in 1987 as a hair assistant in the training program and climbed the ladder to creative director through multiple promotions. She and Charles Penzone married in 1994, and she was named president of the business in 2008.
Penzone now oversees six salons, each of which was rebranded as a Penzone Salon + Spa in 2018. She recently refreshed the original Grand Salon in Dublin by turning it into Base One. The multipurpose space includes a training salon and spa that offers services at a “base” price. There’s also an event space, spa suite rentals, co-working spaces, a creative studio and LIT Life + Yoga, whose motto is “Learn Inspire Teach.”
Base One is for the community, Penzone says. “It’s a space for connection—to yourself as an individual and as a member of a group. Our offerings and activations give people the tools to ground down and level up, both in their careers and their lives.”
The original LIT yoga studio, Penzone’s personal dream concept, opened on North Fourth Street in Italian Village in 2017. The company also owns Royal Rhino Club Barbershop & Lounge, located in the same Italian Village plaza.
Sarah Irvin, founder and president of Irvin Public Relations, is a friend of Penzone and has worked with her since the 2018 brand refresh. The way Penzone went about it was unconventional for a beauty brand, Irvin says, because she used real people in promotional materials and avoided Photoshop. “Debbie is a visionary. She really wanted the team and guests to embrace their true selves. She continues to emphasize that beauty starts from the inside out.”
More About Debbie Penzone
Involvement: President and CEO of Penzone, which includes Penzone Salons + Spas, Royal Rhino Club Barbershop & Lounge, LIT Life + Yoga, and Base One; member, State Board of Cosmetology and Intercoiffure; volunteer, Komen Columbus (over 20 years) and Girls on the Run
Greatest wish for 2025: “My wish is to continue to share the transformative practices of meditation, mindfulness and sound healing with the community, as I have through all our brands. By helping others foster self-care and well-being, I believe I’m living out my life’s purpose, to help improve lives from the outside in and from the inside out.”
Laura Newpoff is a freelance writer.
This story is from the Inspiring Women feature in the May 2025 issue of Columbus CEO. Subscribe at subscribe.columbusceo.com.
link
