Your niece is a professional that needs to stay, well, professional. Meaning she should not partake in the gossipy conversation in the shop nor outside the shop.

You'd be surprised what all your niece hears from clients throughout her day at work. I will never understand what it is about sitting down in a chair with a person you know not (except to have their services every week or two or three) and spiel out their life story. When that dries up, turning to everything they know about everybody else in town. And they do it in a room usually full of other clients ...IDK, maybe it's the thrill of being the know-it-all.

Your niece really had no more business repeating what her client said, than she did in letting the client go on and on. It's part of niece's job to make the client comfortable and make small chat. A gossipy client can not gossipy chatter away without the opportunity to have an audience. Niece needs to stop giving the lady an audience on these topics. A simple 'I'm sorry, it's not our policy here to talk about blah blah' and change the subject. Change it again and keep changing it. Give the woman a magazine. Bring out some new product trial size to try. Whatever it takes.

I'm sorry the niece is going through having to work with this gossipy client, but short of trying to hand the client off to yet another therapist , she needs to put her professional big girl shoes on and lead the conversation. Direct it where she wants it to go . Even if niece has to suddenly become so chatty this woman couldn't get an word in edge wise if she tried.

This is BM's friend. She has a captured audience who she knows is connected to SD, Dad, you and BM. Of course she's fishing for BM. Of course she's airing for all to hear BM's version of the story. You can't stop the woman from being a client in the shop. Niece can't gag the woman. Nor can niece tell a client off for being a meddling ol' gossip.

If niece can't come up with conversational ways to steer the gossipy woman away from an unwanted subject through her own client skills, perhaps she can speak to the manager/owner and attempt to get out of servicing this client. Maybe that means niece needs to suddenly take her meal break, or do inventory in the backroom .

FWIW, it is just as wrong for niece to repeat her experience with this woman about BM/SD at SD's grandfather's birthday party as it was for the woman to bring it all up to the niece. It served no purpose than to upset you, DH , perhaps the grandparent who shouldn't be choosing sides not listening/overhearing ill things about his extended family. Niece ended up doing just as much gossiping as she is angry at this woman for doing.

It's ok to tell niece 'hon, I'm sorry that woman upset up, but I'd rather not talk about the BM/SD subject, I was there, I live it, let's talk about _______'.

THis woman is merely a stirrer, nothing more... she loves drama and tries to create...

hey there's a possibility you over looked, she's madly in love with DH and hopes DH will leave you and take her... she bargained on it when DH left BM... but then you had to grab him all to yourself

What the heck is a beauty therapist?? :?

beauty therapist. noun. 1. a person whose job is to carry out treatments to improve a person's appearance, such as facials, manicures, removal of unwanted hair, etc.