When Stephanie Kangiser first moved to Yelm from Tacoma in 2002, she thought it was a place she would never work in that was in the middle of nowhere.
About 23 years later, she now wears a number of hats as a member of the Yelm and Nisqually Valley community. Kangiser owns and operates Bliss Experience Salon and Spa in Roy, serves on the Yelm City Council and is the secretary for both the Yelm Chamber of Commerce and Yelm Dollars for Scholars.
Kangiser’s work across a number of community groups earned her the Nisqually Valley News 2024 Person of the Year honors.
“Yelm is bliss. I can’t imagine being anywhere else. People come to Yelm and they might go and experience life, but they come back to Yelm, and that’s wild to me,” she said. “That’s not how it was in Tacoma. I don’t have any contact with anybody that I graduated with. Any time you sit in a room in Yelm, I bet you five of them went to the high school at the same time.”
Kangiser, who graduated in 10 months from Gene Juarez Academy in 1999, worked in Puyallup at a hair salon for five years after moving to Yelm. After she gave birth to her third son, she considered retiring the comb and trying a different industry.
Following several applications to different businesses that went unanswered, Kangiser received a gift certificate for her birthday from a friend for Still Salon & Day Spa, which was located where Bliss Experience is now. Kangiser enjoyed the experience and eventually worked there until its doors closed in 2010. She began to consider opening her own business, first in Olympia before she realized it wasn’t ideal for her, and the landlord of the building that housed Still Salon & Day Spa contacted her about opening a business in Roy.
“It literally was an opportunity to make it mine. The landlord helped immensely. He believed in me,” Kangiser said.
She opened Bliss Experience Salon and Spa, 35025 90th Ave. S., in 2012 and has owned it since. Bliss is an Aveda salon that offers cuts, coloring, hair removal and more. The spa side of the building has been shut down since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the salon is home for Kangiser.
“It’s my life. I can’t imagine life outside of the salon. I can’t picture life in any other way,” she said. “My career is very much an extension of my life.”
Through meeting clients over the years, Kangiser’s affection for the Nisqually Valley and its residents grew. She took her first step outside her own business circle when she began attending Chamber of Commerce forums, and she joined the board in 2020. Last year, she was appointed as its secretary.
“I think it’s a great networking opportunity for any business, big or small. There’s so many different opportunities, and that’s where I really learned that networking in this town is really what makes us special,” Kangiser said.
Kangiser has also taken the opportunity to become more involved since joining the chamber. She has served as the volunteer coordinator for the Nisqually Valley BBQ Rally this summer and as the chair for the Best of Nisqually Valley Gala in the fall, which hosted 326 people.
“That was super challenging and super fun. I’ve never chaired an event like that. This volunteer experience helps to network within my political career,” she said. “Within the chamber, you learn who’s who. It’s a very big melt.”
Kangiser has also volunteered with the Rotary Club of Yelm and Yelm Dollars for Scholars. But the biggest and most unexpected leap in her journey was her run for a seat on the Yelm City Council in 2023.
Attending council meetings was already piquing her interest when she decided to drag her three children to meetings. Kangiser particularly took her oldest son as a punishment for getting pulled over when he started to drive on his own. But through watching meetings and introducing herself to city officials, including then-Mayor JW Foster, she realized the importance of the council and the overlap with her other ventures.
“I never ever saw myself on City Council. That was not my jam. That was not the direction I was going in,” Kangiser said. “It was another way, like the chamber, to really get involved and to understand why certain things are happening within our city and learning what a difference you can make.”
Kangiser ran in the November general election for Yelm City Council position 1 against current Councilor Tracey Wood and lost by 23 votes. She was given another chance to join the council when Holly Smith stepped down in February of 2024, and she applied for the seat. Kangiser was one of five applicants who took the podium to make their case for the vacant seat. The finalists were brought back two weeks later, and when the councilors voted to potentially appoint Kangiser, it was a 3-3 tie, which was broken by Mayor Joe DePinto.
“By then your mind is wandering. I was checked out. I’m normally a very positive person, but all of that sweatiness, my mind was gone,” she said. “All of a sudden, Harry Miller was sitting in front of me and he turned around and said, ‘Go take your seat, councilor.’ Everybody was looking at me. The mayor had to make that decision and break the tie and he chose me, and man alive I missed it.”
Kangiser assumed her seat on March 26, 2024, and while Bliss remains her priority among all of her endeavors, she believes her role in the City Council has developed her skills as a business owner and community leader.
“It’s made me host my staff meetings better, being able to focus and define how to quickly and efficiently move through things,” she said. “Working in the chattiest industry ever has really helped me meet a lot of people.”
Kangiser said 2025 will be another busy year for her as her term will expire in the fall. She plans to run for reelection in November, while also continuing to fight to bring Bliss Experience back from the pandemic.
“I hate the word short-staffed, but COVID has womped my industry like no other. The applications are just not coming in the way that they used to, but we’re pressing forward,” Kangiser said.
She encouraged more people to get involved in the community that she once believed held no future for her over 20 years ago. Now, it’s the place where her three children have grown up and where she has built a legacy of community service.
“I would encourage people to get off the keyboard and get out there in person. Reach out to your chamber of commerce. Start going to city council meetings,” Kangiser said. “There’s so many cool events within our community, both from the chamber and the city.”