Lusine's Story: From Teacher to Salon Owner

When we first met Lusine, it was one of the hardest moments of her life. Today, it is an immense pleasure to see how far she’s come, and her story reminds us what’s possible when strength meets the right support at the right moment.

Before the 2020 war, Lusine and her family had built a stable life in Shushi, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). They had a home, a car, a family business, and plans for the future. For 18 years, Lusine worked as a teacher, teaching geography at three schools and giving piano lessons. Alongside her teaching career, the family ran a guesthouse and was involved in trade for many years. Life was busy but stable. Lusine loved her profession, helped run a business, and had a familiar home. She never imagined that she would one day have to leave everything behind and start again.

During the war, Lusine’s husband was severely injured when an explosion occurred right next to him. He spent a month and a half in a coma and underwent 18 major surgeries. The injuries left one side of his body paralyzed and the other seriously damaged. When the family moved to Armenia, they did not know what would come next. Lusine had four young children to care for, while her husband was still receiving treatment in the hospital. By the end of December 2020, as he prepared for discharge, she did not know where they would live or how she would support the family. Lusine was offered a teaching position in Armenia, but there were too few geography classes available to earn enough income. She also needed flexible working hours so she could care for her husband and children. Returning to her old profession was no longer practical. She needed to find a new way to earn a living.

One day, a friend suggested that they attend hairdressing classes together. Lusine agreed and completed the training. However, when her family moved to Merdzavan in 2021, she thought about opening a hair salon. But she soon saw that the village already had plenty. Opening one more felt too risky, especially with her family depending on her income. Then, a parent from the school suggested something different. No cosmetologists worked in the area, and she encouraged Lusine to consider the profession.

Lusine decided to start over. She studied cosmetology and later completed training in electrolysis hair removal.

She started working from a small room at home. Her equipment was limited to an electrolysis machine and a few basic facial cleansing tools. Although she had the skills and determination to work, she lacked the resources to expand her services and grow her small practice into a stable business. That was when a new opportunity came along.

A woman Lusine had met during her hairdressing classes told her about the Armenian Fund for Sustainable Development’s Women’s Empowerment program. By then, Lusine had the skills and motivation to work, but she lacked the equipment she needed to grow. She decided to apply, although she did not really expect to be selected. “I knew there were many people in difficult situations who also needed support, so I was not sure I would be chosen,” she says.

After applying, the program team reviewed her situation and the work she had already begun. For Lusine, that process was important because it was not only about receiving support, but also about showing what she had already built and what she could do with the right equipment. Through the program, Lusine received support to purchase her first ELOS machine, something she could not have afforded on her own at the time. That support changed what she could do. With the new machine, Lusine could offer more services, attract more clients, and turn the small practice she started in a room in her family’s yard into a more stable income source. “For me, this was the moment the business really started,” she says.

The program came at a time when Lusine was trying to rebuild her life, care for her husband and children, and find a way to support her family through a new profession. The support did more than help her buy a machine. It gave her the chance to move forward with something she had already started, grow her client base, and believe that the work could become a real business.

What had begun with one machine and a few basic tools now had room to grow.

But building a permanent workplace was not easy. She changed locations several times. Each move added costs and uncertainty, but Lusine kept working and developing her services. Eventually, she and her family decided to take a risk and purchase their own space in Merdzavan. Having her own salon marked another important achievement. It gave her a more secure place to work and showed how far she had come from the small room where everything had started.

Today, Lusine runs her own beauty salon, “Luse”. She loves what she does, and she is proud of every step that brought her here. The difficulties have not disappeared, but Lusine has learned to keep moving forward. She often says she doesn’t like complaining. She knows her family relies on her strength, and she believes that if she gives up, it will affect everyone around her. That is why she faces each day with determination and returns home with a smile.

Teaching remains an important part of her identity. After spending 18 years in education, she still remembers her former life with love. Yet she says she would return to teaching only if she could go back to her school in Shushi. In Armenia, Lusine has found a new profession and a new purpose. Lusine’s story shows what the right support at the right moment can make possible: a new profession, a stable income, and the confidence to keep moving forward.

Arev Society provides management and communication support to the AF4SD "Vulnerable Women Empowerment" program.