They've worked together for 20 years, and they've never had a fight.

Michelle Sellards, 48, owns Michelle's salon at Mid Valley Square in Teays Valley, and Barbara Childers has worked with her since the day she opened her doors.

And even though the shop is called Michelle's Salon and Spa, Sellards said Childers' name should be out there, too.

"I feel it's as much Barb's as mine," Sellards said.

The two met right out of cosmetology school in the mid-1980s when they both got jobs at La Famme 2 in Putnam County.

"She walked in, and I walked in, and we both asked each other if we wanted to go to lunch," Childers said.

They became fast friends, and 20 years later, they're still inseparable.

"I'm her left arm, and she's my right," said Childers, who is left-handed, of her right-handed friend.

They weren't at La Famme very long before Childers talked Sellards into opening her own shop.

"I told her she was too good to be working for someone else," Childers said.

So Sellards took the plunge and opened her own place - with Childers by her side.

"We opened the first shop in four days," Sellards said.

Childers was pregnant at the time, but that didn't stop her from helping get the place set up. She even hung wallpaper.

Michelle's was at its first location for 10 years before the shop burned to the ground.

"When we had our fire, I had no insurance," Sellards said. "We all lost everything. My family pulled together and got me back on my feet."

And with the help of her best friend, Sellards reopened Michelle's in a slightly larger space across the street from the first location.

After five years, Sellards decided to take another chance on expanding her business by moving to her current, larger location.

Through all the changes, the two women's friendship has been constant.

"We always have our stations by each other," Sellards said. "We like to be close. We share supplies. We work great together."

Including Sellards and Childers, eight stylists and one nail tech/aesthetician work at the salon. Many of them are long-term employees, too.

"She's a very loving, generous, caring person," Childers said. "She's one in a million."

The salon's warm, friendly atmosphere is part of its success.

"We've seen a lot of businesses come and go," Sellards said. "I feel we made it 20 years because of service."

Michelle's has been named Best in the Valley and this year earned a Viewers Choice award from WVAH/Fox 11 for Favorite Spa.

"I am very proud of my shop and my co-workers," Sellards said. "I have a very good team. We work together and I feel we are the very best in the area."

Sellards also credits her family with motivating her to keep going.

"My mom is my biggest fan," Sellards said. "Some days I feel like I'm done. She always has something to say to pump me up again."

Most days, though, the satisfaction of her customers is enough.

"My mom has always taught me to be thankful for everything, and I feel very blessed each day and appreciated every person that walks through that door," Sellards said.