The Heart Behind Hartline Hair
One question from Robert changed the direction of my life. The women who have trusted me since then continue to show me why he was right.
The Conversation with Robert
Some photographs hold more than a moment. This one was taken at my daughter Amy’s college graduation, with Robert, Amy, Guy, and me celebrating everything she had accomplished. Looking at it now, I see the people whose love shaped my life and taught me how powerful it is when someone sees possibility in you before you can fully see it yourself.
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Robert did that for me during an ordinary lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. I was in my 40s and had returned to college to become a teacher, but he knew there was something I was not saying. He asked, “Do you really want to be a teacher?”
The truth was that I wanted to become a hairstylist. I wanted to teach in a different way by helping women recognize their power, energy, and worth. Robert asked, “I wonder what that takes?” I already knew the schools, the cost, and the time it would require.
​“Stop wasting our time. Finish this semester, and then go to beauty school.”
Robert Hartline
Robert did not give me the dream. He gave me the courage to choose it. I believe God used that ordinary lunch and the man who knew me best to move me toward the work I was meant to do. I became a Master Cosmetologist in 2011, and every woman who has trusted me since then has become part of the reason Robert was right.
Trust Changes Everything
Cosmetology school gave me an education, but the people who sat in my chair gave me a career. They trusted me while I learned, experimented, and improved. Every woman who said yes to an idea helped me discover what I could do, and their confidence gave me the courage to keep growing.
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This photograph was taken while I was creating hair and special effects makeup for a local film. The woman in my chair trusted me to help bring her character to life, while Robert worked behind the scenes as the photographer. He captured more than my work that day. He captured the moment when the trust my clients placed in me was teaching me to trust myself.
Then I Became the
Woman in the Chair
When Robert died, I learned that grief does not remain neatly contained in the heart. My hair began thinning, my scalp became constantly oily and irritated, and my energy disappeared. My body felt as though it were betraying me. I had spent years helping other women feel confident in my chair, but suddenly I understood what it was like to be the woman searching for answers.
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This photograph was taken during that season. I see a woman doing what needed to be done, even when she was hurting. I also see the beginning of a change I could not yet name. My clients kept trusting me with their hair, their concerns, and the parts of themselves they found difficult to discuss. Without realizing it, they gave me a reason to keep showing up and listening more closely.
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Their questions began to sound like my own. Why was my hair thinning? Why had my scalp changed? Why did my skin and energy feel different? For the first time, hair loss was no longer something I studied for someone else. It was personal, and I knew I needed more than a shampoo or another promise in a bottle. I needed to understand the source.