Boothbay business Bay Beauty joined forces with Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce March 18 in the Chamber’s sixth ribbon-cutting ceremony this year. Sole proprietor and esthetician Abby McLellan has been operating her salon since March 1 under the same roof as sister Paige McLellan’s and her business partner Kimberly Gordon’s business Harbor Nutrition at 473 Wiscasset Road. Harbor Nutrition got the inaugural ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Chamber.

After working in the yachting industry in Florida the past four years, Abby McLellan wanted a change and knew it was time to make the jump to a long-term career in beauty. She graduated from beauty school in November and took specialty training in Portland for lash extensions and in San Diego for microblading.

“I went to school mainly for makeup, but ended up falling in love with all aspects of being an esthetician – skin care, brows, waxing. It was my goal to open up my own place from the start of school so I started working on that right away.”

Though new to beauty on paper, McLellan said she has worked on her family’s and friends’ makeup for as long as she remembers. She attended Boothbay Region High School until she was 17 when she moved to Washington State and graduated from Bellingham High School. Then, she moved to Santa Barbara, California and, in 2016, to Florida to work aboard yachts.

Having lived in the four corners of the lower 48 states, McLellan decided to come back to her roots in the Boothbay region to practice one of the things she loves most on some of the people she knows best. It was also the plan from the beginning when sister Paige opened Harbor Nutrition that they would split the space.

“We work really well off each other so far and are planning to do something promotional like a Bay Beauty drink, but haven't quite figured that out yet … It is super exciting and I can't wait to see where this goes!”