Motor City Match awards $70,000 to spa delivering full-service beauty and wellness to Detroit’s west side

• Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa, a new full-service beauty and wellness destination, opens in Detroit's District 1

• The business received a $70,000 grant in Round 27 of Motor City Match

• Owner Ayana Hall, who has 22 years in the beauty industry, founded the spa after overcoming a 2023 stage 2 liver failure diagnosis that refocused her on wellness

• Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa is the 194th Motor City Match-supported business to open

• Motor City Match has awarded $21 million in cash grants since launching; 85% of awardees are minority-owned, 73% are women-owned, and 69% are Detroit residents

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) and the City of Detroit today celebrated the grand opening of Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa, a new beauty and wellness hub in the North Rosedale Park neighborhood. The spa is the 194th Motor City Match business to open, after receiving a $70,000 grant through the program.

Ayana Hall, a Detroit native with 22 years of experience in the beauty industry, founded Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa to give back to her community while bringing elevated standards to the city's salon scene.

"I never dreamed of owning a salon, I just wanted to do hair and see where it took me. Now I want to pour back into my community," said Hall. "Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa is about creating a peaceful, professional and luxurious environment where both clients and beauty professionals can thrive."

Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa also reflects Hall's personal journey of resilience. After being diagnosed with stage two liver failure in 2023, she dedicated herself to wellness and now incorporates that focus into the business.

"This journey has been a long process," Hall said of her path to entrepreneurship. "Be patient, give yourself grace, and don't ever be too discouraged to keep pushing forward."

Located at 18718 Grand River Ave., Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa spans 3,000 square feet with three treatment rooms, two nail booths, six hairstyling stations, a steam sauna, dressing area

and office space. Services include hair styling, makeup, skincare, massage and nail care. Hall calls the space her "penthouse suite," pointing to the natural light and luxurious décor designed to make clients feel at home. The spa sits directly above Jessica Blair Beauty, another Motor City Match awardee and one of Michigan's few black-owned beauty supply stores, showcasing how the program is helping to revitalize the area's Grand River corridor.

"Ayana's story is one of resilience and vision that any entrepreneur - any person - can learn from," said Deputy Mayor Melia Howard. "I love that she is a native Detroiter who found it her mission to give back to her community. This spa is bringing important services to residents where they can relax, and at least momentarily, rid themselves of life's stressors."

Hall went through Motor City Match's Plan and Design tracks before being awarded a $70,000 cash grant in Round 27. The funding helped cover construction, equipment, furnishings and other startup costs, along with additional support from ProsperUs, Black Leaders Detroit and Kiva.

The spa is actively hiring and plans to build a team of 12 to 14 beauty professionals, including cosmetologists, makeup artists, estheticians, nail technicians and massage therapists. Hall has also partnered with local metro Detroit entrepreneurs - Stormie Lynn of House of Contour in Southfield and Chynna White of Dollhouse Beauty and Wellness in Dearborn - to expand services into medical weight loss and platelet-rich plasma hair restoration treatments, which use a patient's own blood to stimulate hair growth.

"When you see two Motor City Match awardees stacked on top of each other like this, it's a sign that the corridor is progressing in the right direction," said Sean Gray, vice president of small business services at DEGC, which manages Motor City Match. "Vivacious Lady and Jessica Blair Beauty are helping to transform this stretch of Grand River. As a program, that's the ripple effect we're after."

Through 29 rounds of Motor City Match:

• Total cash grants: $21 million (Total leveraged investment: $110 million)

• 85% of awardees are minority-owned

• 73% are women-owned

• 69% are owned by Detroit residents

Applications are now open for Round 30. The Round 30 application window runs from September 1 to September 30, 2025, closing at 11:59 PM on September 3

About Motor City Match

Motor City Match is a unique partnership between the City of Detroit, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), the Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit (EDC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Competitive financial assistance is supported by a broad partnership of Southeast Michigan community development financial institutions and corporations including, Bank of America, Fifth Third Bank, Ford Foundation, Hudson Webber Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, New Economy Initiative and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Motor City Match applications are available quarterly. More information is available at https://www.MotorCityMatch.com