For Michelle Ward, a longtime stylist at Hair Bliss in Bel Air, beauty has always been about more than appearances. It’s about helping women feel like themselves, especially during the moments when that feels hardest.
“I think when I got into doing hair years and years ago, it was to make people feel good in my chair,” she said. “I want people going through chemo and radiation to feel just as beautiful, too.”
That purpose led her to create Be-You-Tea-Time, a free class at the Kaufman Cancer Center in Bel Air, offered through Cancer LifeNet. There, women navigating treatment can learn practical skills, from makeup to tying scarves, while also finding something less tangible but just as important.
“I hope that they find comfort in not only finding answers, but also in other women who are taking the class too,” Ward said. “It helps them forget for two hours what they’re going through.”
For many, that impact lasts well beyond the class itself. “Michelle helped me feel beautiful again when I was going through chemo,” said Sabrina Martin, who reached out to Michelle Ward to help her shave her head when she was going through treatment. “Through her program, she taught me how to use makeup so I could feel confident and beautiful again.”
Ward has spent more than a decade teaching, driven by both personal experience and a deep sense of purpose. “I feel like acts of service are very important,” she said. “I was put on this earth to do hair, but I can also use [those skills] in other ways than just doing hair.”