On a recent December morning, one of those where the rain falls and falls and falls, Maria Taylor awoke with two responsibilities paramount in her mind: one, her kids, and two, her gutters.

So, she did what working mothers do. She got her kids ready for school, picked up the neighbor kids and headed over to her hair salon on California Avenue. While the kids played in the car, Maria Taylor made sure the rain water from the gutters was being diverted from the building on the outside of the edifice of her salon. Task completed, Taylor drove the kids to school.

The story paints a picture of Taylor's life as owner of Belli Capelli and married mother of two. Once, she worked 60 to 70 hours a week. Now, she creatively approaches the job, working 30 hours behind the chair and five hours or far more in paperwork each week.

"There's the balance of being in the career, being a mom and living life," says Taylor, 41.

A native Italian, Taylor is passionate about her family and her customers. In an interview at a local coffee shop, she plays fondly with Nicholas, 2, her youngest, and talks about her love for him and his brother Dominic and their father Michael. She says her mother was the best mother in the world, and she's been adjusting and adjusting and adjusting yet again as a businesswoman since she married 10 years ago and began a family with the birth of Dominic, 5.

"I was used to working 60 to 70 hours a week, and all that changed," she says. "First my focus was my business; my whole life was my business. When I got married things started changing; I wanted to go home. I wanted to have days off. I wanted to have Saturdays at home with my husband and it started slowly changing."

Taylor grounds herself in the love of her original family as well. Talking about her own mother, she speaks of the deep tradition and support from her family, who only speak to her in Italian. They come from Avellino, a town outside Naples, and moved to Boston when Taylor was 10. Soon, they relocated to Seattle, where Taylor's father met up again with his brother.

Her uncle Carlo Russo invited Taylor to work the front desk of his hair salon when she turned 13.

"I loved the way he schmoozed with the customers, and how everyone left the salon feeling so good. They'd give him great big hugs."

Taylor attended South Seattle Community College's cosmetology school, graduating in 1986. She went to work in West Seattle, and at 23, opened Belli Capelli on Admiral and 47th Avenue Southwest. Three years ago she moved to her current location at 3902 California Avenue.

How did a 23 year-old raise the capitol to start a business? Taylor's parents taught her to save money from her jobs. Neither one of her parents owned a business, but they did show Taylor the wisdom of investing. As she worked through her teenage years, her parents took half of her income and placed it in the bank. By the time she was 23, Taylor had saved enough to buy two houses.

"I worked from monthly goals. I like to take baths and imagine my goals and completing my goals. I'm not afraid of trying things out. I believe change is good."

From the beginning, Taylor was surprisingly successful.

"I feel blessed and with a lot of hard work, I made it. At 23, I found my passion and my love, and I get all of my energy from being in the salon. I liked being there. It was all the natural high that I need."

So how does she make time for family and business? Like all evolving species: she grew flexible and adaptable. She decided to lease out some of her chairs, thus keeping the business, but reducing her responsibility. This created a fine balance, which tends to work. Clearly, Taylor's spirit thrives through her work in the hair salon.

The glass door of Belli Capelli salon opens to reveal beauty stations with oval mirrors and swivel chairs which spin atop a hardwood floor fine enough for dancing. With all the action upstairs - the sound of blow dryers, faucets flowing with water to wash hair and the communion of women talking over the ritual of cutting hair and making image - and therefore life anew - the action is serene downstairs, where masseuses work to perform Reiki, facials, hot stone massage and deep tissue recalibration. She asks that her staff be mentioned: Jennifer, Kelly, Amanda, Terilyn, Diana, Monica, French and Taylor (not Maria Taylor).

To Taylor, much of the love for her work is grounded in serving others. "I truly love my customers," she says. "We get to know each other well here. The stylists I hire become best friends, and to the receptionists - who are always very young - I feel like an older sister. They go on to get married and have babies and we go to lunch." The customers give gifts of their own, sharing with Taylor their expertise - be it financial, or anything else. Over time, Taylor and her staff come to really know the person sitting in the chair, who just might be transitioning into a new job, a marriage, life after leaving a relationship, or perhaps the first haircut after becoming a mother.

Taylor responds to these customers, sensing the magic in creating a new look. Often, the customer leaves feeling as new as the new style and new color on their hair.

When Taylor speaks of her work, it is clear she finds her working world a blessing, and one filled with reward and the privilege of sharing a little of the customer's life.

"When I think about my business, and my life, I feel so blessed. I've been lucky with hard work and great employees and customers. I have a passion for doing hair and love what I do."

Leslie Holdcroft is a West Seattle freelancer and may be reached via wsherald@robinsonnews.com