A few months ago, Andrew Furney was a place-kicker for the New York Jets.
When he didn’t make the cut for the team, he switched goals.
Furney, a 23-year-old with a newly minted business degree, rebranded his mom’s beautician business. He helped launched Brought To You Beauty, a mobile salon to bring beauty services to people with special needs and in residential facilities in the Snohomish County region and beyond.
He does the CEO work and his mom, Rachelle, does the beauty work. His dad, brother and girlfriend are part of the corporate team of the service based in Skagit County.
A haircut is a universal need and one of the simple joys of life — until it becomes not so simple. For homebound people, it becomes an ordeal.
Ronda Edwards, 52, took hair appointments for granted during her long career as a payroll director in Washington, D.C. After a neurological disorder brought her back to Washington state, she spent more than a year at Everett’s Forest View Transitional Health Center, where Rachelle Furney sets up shop once a week. It turns out both women went to Lynnwood High School together.
The beautician does more than keep her former classmate’s thick hair looking shiny and bouncy. “I feel good about myself,” Edwards said.
The service also does colors, sets, pedicures, manicures, perms, scalp massages, facials and basic skin care. Salon services range from $15 to $95, with discounts for groups.
“I’m a cosmetologist, so I can do anything pretty much,” Rachelle Furney said.
It made perfect business sense for the son to market his mom.
“She has mastered the craft. She’s the guru,” he said. “I know the lingo. We are a good team.”
Sure, this football player never expected to be a beauty pro.
“The crazy thing is when I try to tell people, ‘Yeah, this is what I do with my mom,’ they’re like, ‘Wait, you’re into beauty?’ ” he said. “A football player going into the beauty industry? I never would have gone into business school and thought I’m going to get out and start a beauty thing.”
Rachelle Furney became a traveling beautician when Andrew’s older brother was born.
“I started out with one of those big old-fashioned suitcases, without wheels,” she said. “My oldest boy would come along and I’d bring the playpen.”
Over the years, Andrew saw how appreciative his mom’s clients were and how much work it entailed. “She did the business side of things. She was so busy doing it all,” he said.
Andrew was pretty busy himself. He walked on at Washington State University and soon got a starting position.
“I had a pretty good career,” he said.
At WSU, he converted 47 of 61 attempts, with his 60-yarder as a junior the second-longest in Pacific-12 Conference and the school’s history.
Remember that star Cougar kicker in the 2012 Apple Cup?
That’s him.
Andrew Furney kicked the 27-yard field goal that gave the Cougs a 31-28 win over the Huskies.
During his short stint with the Jets, the rookie kicked a 51-yard field goal to give his team a 13-10 lead late in the fourth quarter against the Colts.
Still, he was released.
“I went out there and I kicked the best I could and I couldn’t have kicked any better. I still didn’t make it,” he said. “It just shows how tough it is to make it. As much as it is a dream of mine to play in the NFL, I realized this could be my future as well.”
He’s staying in shape, just in case.
“I kick about three days a week and I lift three to four,” he said. “Maybe I’ll get another shot at it next year.”
As for Edwards, she moved into her own apartment in October and continues to improve.
“They told me I’d be in a wheelchair the rest of my years,” she said. “I refused.”
For more information, www.broughttoyoubeauty.com. Email contact@BroughtToYouBeauty.com or call 360-424-4969.
Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.
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