Community Corner

#100 - Kathy Zappulla: Turning a Pest Problem into Her Career

Hauppauge resident opens her own business, Deliceful, after a personal scare with head lice.

Many mothers fear getting a phone call that their child has head lice, to come pick them up at the school. A Hauppauge mother took her personal experience as a call to action to help eliminate the pests.

Kathy Zappulla, 53, took the stress she experienced dealing with her children’s head lice and directed it towards opening a home-based salon, Deliceful. Everyday, she arms herself with knowledge and a metal comb to help others become lice free.

“I never thought it could happen to me, to my family,” Zappulla said.

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She received "the dreaded phone call" two years ago from a Smithtown school nurse that her daughter and son had both checked positive for head lice. Her first instinct was to reach for an over-the-counter medication, run loads of laundry and have her carpets steam cleaned.

“I paid Stanley Steemer almost $1,500 to come clean my carpets. What a waste,” Zappulla said. “Lice can’t live on carpets.”

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The mother began reading and researching everything she could get her hands on about head lice. Zappulla said she quickly realized there are many common misconceptions and stigmas that perpetuate the pest problem.

“The over-the-counter products are worthless. They only kill the adult bugs,” she said.

Other common misconceptions include head lice being linked to dirty hair or a problem only among poor economic groups, according to Zappulla. She said it gave her the realization there was a need for better public education and treatment of head lice.

Zappulla left her job linked to the U.S. Army. She forged a new career by opening a salon catering to head lice problems, attending a one-week, hands-on intensive training program on the Shepherd Method. The program focuses on a strand-by-strand removal process.

“Anyone could take care of a head lice problem, but it’s a very tedious process,” the business owner said.

Deliceful salon has served clients ranging in age from 7 months to 98 over the past two years. In addition to head lice treatments, Zappulla does public educational speaking engagements at local schools and camps about head lice.

The Hauppauge mother said she doesn’t have any regrets about changing her career path to address the persistent and growing issue of head lice.

“You feel like you are helping people. To most people, it’s just overwhelming to know that they or their children have bugs on their head,” she said.


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