Phyllis Bennett is full of joy, and her spunk is contagious. Bennett owns The Mane Salon at 7376 McLaughlin Road in Falcon.The Mane Salon is a full service salon, offering hairstyling, manicures and pedicures, facial waxing and therapeutic massage.”When we opened, it was my goal that everyone feels welcome and comfortable from the moment they walk in to the moment they leave,” Bennett said.Bennett decided to open a salon in Falcon after a harrowing experience. In early 2003, she noticed her feet were unusually cold. Hoping to warm her feet, she took a hot shower and went to bed. Three weeks later, she woke up in Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs.Confused and disoriented, her husband of 37 years, Bud Bennett, had to tell her that she had a rare bacterial infection and had been in a coma for three weeks. She said she looked down toward her feet and was horrified to see that her lower legs were black. “I remember thinking that this can’t be good,” Bennett said. “I live on a ranch with chickens, horses, beef cattle and am very physically active.”After much discussion with Bennett’s doctors, a decision was made to amputate one leg below the knee and try to save the other. “Once I knew that I was going to live, losing a leg didn’t seem so bad,” Bennett said. After the surgery and the rehabilitation to learn to walk on a prosthesis, she was back working at her ranch and selling real estate. For Bennett, though, the crisis wasn’t over. Her remaining lower leg became infected. Six months after losing one leg, she went back into the hospital and had the other amputated as well.”The doctors wanted to remove muscle from my back and wrap it around my lower leg in an attempt to save it,” Bennett said. “I do not have back problems and was tired of the constant doctor’s visits and hospitalizations. I wanted my life back, so I told the doctor to amputate the other leg below the knee, too. I knew I could learn to walk with two prosthetics; I had already mastered one.”Bennett was determined to return to an active life. She considered opening a business. “I was a licensed beautician back in California during the 1970s and really enjoyed the salon atmosphere, and Falcon did not have a full-service salon,” she said.Bennett had lived in the Black Forest area for more than 11 years and had watched Falcon’s rapid growth. She felt strongly that there were enough people to support her salon idea. By October 2003, Bennett was healthy and ready to move forward. After eight months of preparation, Beauty Connection – Salon and Retail opened. Bennett had five hair stations, two nail centers, a pedicure area and a massage room, but her clientele wasn’t growing as quickly as she hoped.”I knew something was wrong, but I wasn’t sure what it was,” Bennett said. In February 2005, Bennett changed the name to The Mane Salon. Business soared. “Apparently, people thought all we did was sell product,” she said of the previous name.The Mane Salon currently houses four hairstylists, two nail technicians and a massage therapist. “We are a family here,” Bennett said. “I can leave at anytime and totally trust them to take care of things.”Outside the salon, Bennett also makes quilts, cares for her multitude of animals and occasionally still sells real estate. “I call it my ‘MCI’ business. I only sell for friends and family.”What Bennett enjoys most is spending time with her two grandsons, ages seven and two. “They are my life, my joy,” Bennett said. “My heart totally belongs to them.” Bennett’s energy doesn’t stop there. She said she and her husband are currently moving to a 219-acre ranch in Peyton because “there is more room for my grandsons and animals.”
