Familiar Face Anne Goncalves

For over seventeen years as the receptionist and bookkeeper for Classic Looks in Niwot, Anne Goncalves has been a very familiar face to clients of the salon.

Beyond being the salon's friendly familiar face and its operational glue, Goncalves speaks of the personal touch and connection with the salon's customers as a favorite part of her role at Classic Looks.

"We have repeat clientele and we get to know all about their lives, their families, and so we feel a personal connection to them," Goncalves said. "I've loved this job because of that."

As another element of connection, Goncalves describes the fun in seeing how the salon pulls in various people from nearby communities as well as "a big Niwot crowd," and how everybody seems to know each other.

The added joy is how the salon becomes "almost like the meeting place" for its customers. "I have to say our clientele has become family," she said.

Goncalves views the people she works with as family too, saying, "We look after each other. Someone's going through a rough time, we're there for them ...We're together all the time, you know, five days a week and we grow on each other."

The themes of family and connection also transcend through Goncalves' varied life story.

She was born in Paris, France, raised in Grenoble and the scenic bowl encased by the surrounding French Alps, and then because of a career move by her physicist father, Goncalves and her parents moved to Austin, Texas, in 1966.

Although Goncalves was ten-years old when the family moved to the United States and the contrary landscape and culture of Texas, she said something in her will always be very French.

"When you come from another country, you never lose that connection," she said.

As a researcher at the University of Texas, Goncalves' father had a notable career in building an electrographic camera which was mounted to the telescopes of the McDonald Observatory.

According to Goncalves, the invention allowed for better resolution and clarity for astronomers prior to the existence of the Hubble Telescope.

As her father's astronomy career wound down, Goncalves explained it was her father's desire to have a family business and be near mountains as the catalyst for the family's move to Colorado.

"He wanted the family to be together and work together," she said.

The family eventually connected with Goncalves' future in-laws and invested in creating the former Le Francais Bakery in Boulder, and later opened their own bakery in Longmont.

Goncalves said Le Francais is where she learned everything about baking and retail.

After the family closed their bakery business, she stayed in Longmont where she briefly worked for an Italian restaurant and at the IBM bakery as a contractor, while her parents moved and purchased land in Buena Vista and built their dream Swiss chalet home.

Motherhood then prompted Goncalves to open a daycare center, a business she ran out of her home for 15 years.

During that time, she and her husband, who is also of French heritage, raised their two children.

Goncalves' varied career also includes earning a bachelor's degree at the University of Texas, working for several years in the university's international office and French-Italian department, assisting her dad with his research and proposals, and working for an accountant where she learned about taxes and QuickBooks - a skill she uses today at Classic Looks.

"So lots of switches and yes, nothing really consistent," she said. "Funny how life sometimes takes you from one job to the other."

Although there are twists and turns to Goncalves' background, consistency exists for her as she carries her torch of care that includes family, cultural heritage, and connection - the essence of what is the welcoming and familiar face at Niwot's Classic Looks.