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Looking for 'changez'? Look no further.

By Sharon Gittleman

ROYAL OAK –
Visitors to Changez Salon & Merle Norman Cosmetics can talk to their hairdresser and their therapist at the same time.
You'll often catch psychologist Stephen Fleck at the reception desk – not far from his partner of 12 years, hair stylist Jason Rice – inside Changez at 13 Mile and Crooks roads in Royal Oak.
"We're a good team. He's the front man. I'm more of the background guy," Fleck said. "I do more of the accounting and management."
Sitting in a salon chair has a thing or two in common with a session with a mental health professional, Fleck said with a smile. "In some ways, hair stylists hear more than psychologists. There's an intimacy there when someone is cutting your hair," he said. "There's something in the environment that encourages you to talk."
The salon offers everything from color applications, perms and makeup sessions to pedicures, body waxing and facials. "Pamper packages" – for hair, nails and more – and gift certificates also are available. And you have a good chance of seeing someone like you walk through the front door. "We have a diverse group of clients," Rice said. "Women, men and children; young, old, gay, straight, black and white."
Rice has been making men and women glamorous for more than a decade.
"I think I was born to do it. When I came out to my mom, she said, 'Just don't be a hairdresser,'" said Rice, laughing.
Today his mom, a former model, is one of his proudest clients.
"My job as a stylist is to challenge women; to get them to think outside the box," he said. Rice talks to his clients about their lives to get a better idea of what would work for them.
"I ask them to get honest with themselves," he said. "I get very reality-based."
Just don't expect to walk away with the hairstyles on high-fashion models in magazines. "I tell them, 'That's more than likely not their hair. It's airbrushed,'" he said.
At Changez, Rice interprets the trends and makes them doable.
"I make aspects of each season accessible," he said.
Changez personnel aren't only sensitive to upcoming styles and fashions. Salon employees pride themselves on helping their friends and neighbors.
"We're very community-based," Rice said.
Changez maintains a wig bank for women who lose their hair due to cancer treatments – and donates to Locks of Love. This organization offers hairpieces to financially-disadvantaged children suffering the effects of illness that rob them of their natural growth.
Changez Salon is located at 3210 Crooks Road. To reach it, call 248-288-3434 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays; from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays; and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

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