POCATELLO — When Britani Purdum received the email telling her that her salon, Purdy in Pink, was invited to the state award ceremony for the Idaho's Best awards, she didn't know they would take top honors.

"We thought for sure we would get first place in the region," Purdum said.

But the Gate City's newest salon didn't just take the top spot for the award's Eastern Region — Purdy in Pink took the top spot statewide.

"We were waiting until the end when they finally got to our category," she said. "They said the nominees and the runners up, and when they said the winner is and Purdy in Pink went up on the screen, we all stood up and screamed."

That was April 7 in Boise, and Purdum and the rest of the group from her salon did have to wait quite a while that night. There are numerous categories in Idaho's Best awards, and the event took two nights to complete. Their category was third from the last to be announced on the first night.

Purdy in Pink is on the cusp of its one-year anniversary and is a salon Purdum started out of necessity.

"We are all from JCPenney," she said. "A lot of us have been together over a decade."

Purdum said the staff at the salon at JCPenney had been hearing rumblings of Pine Ridge Mall's and the store's closing starting in mid-2024. But they were repeatedly told it wasn't true. Purdum says they were finally told in January 2025 that the store and the mall would indeed close in May.

"Most of us had been there so long and to have to start over again, it's hard," Purdum said. "It's like you have to start a new school in your 40s."

But then the wheels began to spin, and Purdum started to formulate a plan. She decided if she were to start something new, she didn't want to do it alone. The first person she reached out to was the person she had worked closest with at JCPenney, Amy Beal.

"Amy and I were kind of a team; we worked the same hours, took the same days off," she said. "That's why she was the first person I went to. I asked her if I opened a salon would she come with me."

Beal was on board, and Purdum's next question was about who else the duo should talk to. She suggested Brenda Welker and Stephanie Jazbec. The four of them met, and Purdum said she was frank about her feelings.

"I told them I was scared to go work for someone else and start over," she said. "I told them if we didn't do this, I would just get a different job somewhere."

They were all on board, and Purdum got to work. Within 45 days she had leased a building and started renovations. By the end of March 2025, Purdum had one station completed and left JCPenney for her new salon while continuing the work of building the additional stations for those who would join her, which would also include Kimberly Moyer, Amanda Whitworth and Kionda Carpio.

"On May 9, JCPenney closed, and on May 10, everyone started working here," Purdum said.

In all, eight of the former stylists at JCPenney landed at Purdy in Pink, with one eventually leaving because she moved to Boise. Purdum said the new store has gone well from the beginning.

"We've had a lot of really good success," she said. "Everyone seems a lot more happy here. We feel really blessed that it worked out the way it did and we can still have some fun."

She also expressed a lot of gratitude to Lee and Wendi Ames. The owners of Ty's Tattoos have mentored Purdum as she started her new business. She said they helped her get started and answered any questions she has had along the way.

Purdum owns Purdy in Pink, but similar to many salons, she leases out the workspace. That means each of her former hourly co-workers is now their own boss as well and effectively running their own business within Purdum's salon. But they all operate as a single unit.

"I feel like we work together because we all had that same training from JCPenney," Purdum said. "They taught us how to work as a team and how to build each other up."

And that's the structure they brought with them and continue to work with today.

"Every stylist knows we are here to help each other," she said. "If the other one needs something, we help them."

The Idaho's Best award is something Purdum and Beal have talked about for years, so to win it in the first year on their own makes it that much more special.

Purdy in Pink is located at 1000 Pocatello Creek Road in Pocatello. The salon is open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.