Beauty from the Inside Out

The woman sitting in Cherie Moore’s chair at Trinity Salon and Spa in Mason was no ordinary client. Shaking and crying, she talked about the sudden death of her husband—a father under 40—just days earlier. The funeral would be later that day, and a good friend had asked Cherie, her hair stylist, for help. "She has no money, and I can’t afford to pay for her," her friend told Cherie. "Can you just make her look pretty?"

Cherie agreed to cut and color the woman’s hair at no charge, fixing the effects of too much cheap box color and a ragged self-cut. As Cherie worked, the woman told her story. "I have to talk to someone who’s not involved," she said. She poured out her feelings of guilt, something Cherie had experienced in her own life. After they talked, the woman asked Cherie to pray for her. "I feel calm now," she then said. "I can go home and write my eulogy letter." Smiling when she left, she told Cherie her hair looked just the way her husband had liked it.

While most salons strive to make people beautiful on the outside, the stylists at Trinity Salon in Mason focus instead on inner beauty. Sure, they’re experienced professionals in salon services, but they also work to build relationships with their clients while using their gifts and talents to glorify God. Cherie knew that helping her client reconcile feelings of guilt created a greater beauty than her skillful styling.

Co-owners Nichole Kimple and Ashley Ball opened Trinity Salon and Spa just four months ago with the help of a startup loan from Self Sustaining Enterprises (SSE), a nonprofit organization that provides funds and support for creating sustainable enterprises that transform lives around the world. Already they are paying back that loan. 

Each stylist operates independently, but they function as a team with a common purpose. At the heart of Trinity is the commitment to create a positive environment that is relaxing and healthy, not only for their guests, but for the people who work there as well. "I spend 60 to 70 percent of my week here," says Ashley. "I’d better be happy doing it, and proud of what I am giving to others."

Nichole agrees: "I don’t want to be a taker; I want to give back." In addition to caring for the inner beauty of her clients, each stylist also donates a percentage of her profit to Back2Back Ministries, supporting orphaned and needy children in locations like Mexico, India, and Nigeria. 

Currently the salon is sponsoring a canned food drive for the Mason Food Pantry. Guests donating three canned items will receive a 30% discount on retail prices at Trinity. It’s just another way they are using their business to give to those in need.

Learn more about Trinity Salon and Spa on their Facebook page (TrinitySalonandSpaMason). For information on Self Sustaining Enterprises, visit www.sseinc.org on the Web.