Webinar: An Advocacy How-To for Salon Owners by Professional Beauty Association

About this Webinar

Join Frank Zona, Paola Hinton, Myra Reddy and Kati Rapoza as they break down simple steps to connect with your Members of Congress, which is beneficial to you as a business owner both in helping get the 45B FICA Tax Tip Credit for your business in the short-term and making sure you build those relationships to benefit you in the long-term.

Myra Reddy

Director, Government Affairs

Myra Y. Irizarry Reddy is the Director of Government Affairs for the Professional Beauty Association (PBA). Myra studies various issues affecting the professional beauty industry including local, state and federal legislation. She writes advocacy campaigns, policy positions, and testimony. Prior to joining PBA, she served as a staff member for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, the Texas State Legislature, and the California State Assembly. During her tenure at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she earned a Master of Arts Degree in Political Science, Myra participated in the Essex School Methodological and Analytical Data Analysis Program at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. She also earned a Master of Arts Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. As a solution driven co-creator of two children, Myra’s greatest joys are Sofia and Maddox, her husband Aaron, and dog, Maggie.
Kati Rapoza

Manager, Government Affairs

Kati Rapoza is the Manager of Government Affairs for the Professional Beauty Association. She partners with beauty industry professionals and small business owners to unite the industry’s voice and champion important topics through digital advocacy campaigns, grassroots activity, and education.
Frank Zona

Owner of Zona Salons

Frank Zona is owner of Zona Salons, a modern, professional, family owned-and-operated salon group serving the South Shore of Massachusetts. Zona Salons have a longstanding reputation for and commitment to education, masterful technique, progressive business practices, industry advancement and philanthropy. Frank is Chairman of Professional Beauty Employment Coalition, an industry coalition advocating for employment paths to the professional beauty industry as well as Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee at International Salon Spa Business Network. He has spent decades advocating for the industry at the local, state, and federal level. Frank has testified to both the U.S. Congress and the Massachusetts Legislature on issues around employment in the professional beauty industry. He is skilled at illustrating how advocacy does not need to be intimidating and engaging other industry members to establish positive outcomes.
Paola Hinton

Owner of Five Senses Spa, Salon & Barbershop

Paola P. Hinton serves as Owner of Five Senses Spa, Salon & Barbershop in Peoria, Illinois. A Chicago-area native, Paola, daughter of Italian immigrant parents, learned her strong work ethic at a young age. She began elementary school not knowing how to speak English and completed her education in 1998 from Illinois State University with a double major in Marketing and International Business. In 2006, Paola took a risk in building a business in an industry she had no experience in. As she always says, “I have no business being in this business” and today she is considered an industry leader. Paola has successfully grown her business despite facing adversity, such as being told her idea would not work in Peoria, operating through the 2007 recession, expanding her business to a new and larger location, working through the 2020 COVID pandemic and the rebuilding aftermath. Paola has been able to represent the industry she has become so passionate about on Capitol Hill and has been very involved with the FICA Tip Tax legislation. Paola has been invited to Washington, DC on multiple occasions to meet with Congress and Senate representatives, speaking events and press conferences. Click Industry Impact to learn about Paola's involvement on a national, state and local levels. Her experiences in her business, gives new perspective in a “business she has every business being in.”