BROWNSBURG — It’s not often that you get a hug the very first time you meet someone. That is, unless you’ve come to Elite Edeet salon here.

Owner Edeet Wimmer Loturco makes a concentrated effort to get to know her customers and make them feel like family, just one of the reasons her salon is successful in the Brownsburg area. She also offers a variety of services for hair and nails, and since April has had a certified massage therapist working out of her salon.

Loturco, who was born in Germany, said she’s very close to her customers, a quality that is important to her.

“All people get a hug when they come in and when they leave,” she said. “I grew up with that. That’s a European thing. You should feel welcome. Leave your worries out there and come in, Edeet will take care of you.”

Loturco said she was 12 when she started practicing hairdressing. Being her own boss has been a motivating factor for much of her life.

“It was always my goal to have my own business,” she said. “I didn’t want to have people telling me what to do. I worked at the Milano Inn and was fired from there. The owner said ‘you’ll never make it,’ and I said, ‘Watch me.’”

She opened her first salon April 21, 1997, at 221 E. Main St. That building was destroyed by an electrical fire.

“There were flames shooting out,” Loturco said. “We stood there on the side and the fire chief said there is nothing you can do.”

She said the Lord blessed her and she was able to get the salon services back up and running within a few days.

“America gives you this opportunity to have whatever you want,” she said. “You just have to go after it and you have to give back. I believe in the Lord very strongly. I believe he sends the right people to me.”

She said she is very happy to be in America, and in Brownsburg.

“I love Brownsburg, people get to know you,” Loturco said. “It’s the coolest feeling. I’m so proud to be an American, always with a German heart. I speak German, Swedish. If you can, as a visitor, speak all the language you can. Go to school, learn the language. I want you to respect my country. Coming over here, if you see this beautiful shine of America, polish it up. I love this country.”

Loturco offers free consultations and will also work with wedding parties in her salon.

She says every woman deserves to take time for herself.

“To me, we’re all quality,” she said. “I want every form of woman to come to me — rich, poor. I want them to feel like Mona Lisa when they walk out of here. I do not push. My forehead says ‘hairdresser’ not ‘salesgirl.’ Make yourself a special time just for you. Focus on that. Make yourself a priority.”

Loturco’s newest addition, massage therapist Heide Honey, also suggests that people take time to relax.

“It’s really important to take care of ourselves,” Honey said. “Everything is so fast-paced nowadays. It’s beneficial because it’s going to help with blood circulation, it’s going to help you relax, you’re going to feel better.”

Honey offers traditional massage, Swedish massage, sports massage, and deep tissue massage, as well as chair massages. She also offers skin exfoliation and ear candling.

“Ear candling takes approximately 15 minutes and what you do is come in, it’s like a cylinder, a wax cylinder, you lay down on your side, and I light the top on fire, it acts as a vacuum and it removes the ear wax from your ear,” Honey said. “You’re really not supposed to insert a Q-tip, because it just pushes the wax farther down.”

Honey worked previously as a litigation specialist for an insurance company.

“I just got tired of corporate America and I wanted to begin giving back,” she said. “I went to a weekend program and fell in love with it. I became a certified massage therapist. I’ve been at it for several years now.”

Honey offers different specials each month, and is currently offering $10 off for any referral or buy two massages and get the third one free.

Her prices vary per service, but she said a one-hour massage is $60. She works by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, call 508-3568.

Elite Edeet is open Tuesdays through Fridays and one Saturday a month on an appointment basis. To schedule an appointment, call 852-2500.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com