Chelsea Burnette
Cordele Dispatch
Cordele —
CORDELE — Twenty-year-old Amber Tharpe began working at Strands Salon on 16th Ave. just last Friday. She works with Darla Landfair, owner, who has been at that location for three years.
Amber landed her dream job straight out of cosmetology school. She attended Moultrie Tech in Ashburn for a year and three months to attain her degree.
When she was in high school at Crisp County High, Tharpe took part in the youth apprenticeship program to further her knowledge of cutting and styling hair. She worked with Becky Perkins at her former shop, 406 Style, in the afternoons after school.
Tharpe knew she wanted to style hair ever since she was a little girl. “I would use my mom’s curling irons on my brand new baby dolls so I could style their hair,” she says laughing. “Sometimes I would purposely cut off all their hair so my mom would buy me a new doll.”
Tharpe explains that she loves what she does. She says, “I look forward to getting out of bed in the morning to go to work.” Not many people can say that about their job.
“I think Strands Salon is doing great,” Tharpe said proudly. “We are in a good location on 16th Ave., we accept walk-ins and we have this new wonderful smoothing system for hair. The Brazilian Blowout Smoothing System can take the curliest hair and make it straight. It only takes 90 minutes and results can last up to 12 weeks. ”
“The Strands Salon also offers perms, coloring, highlighting, waxing, spray tanning, and a Detox foot spa,” she says.
Tharpe has lived in Cordele all her life. Her dad is Larry Tharpe who is a carpenter and her sisters are Mandy Howard and Tina McCarty. “Mandy helps my dad on the side and Tina is a fourth grade teacher at Southwestern Elementary.”
“I plan on working at Strands Salon for a long time,” she says. “One day, I hope to open my own salon and have people working for me. This is something I have always wanted to do.”
Tharpe said her favorite experience so far is the Brazilian Blowout. “It really is an awesome thing,” she says. “It’s like a miracle for hair. If people could watch the process, they would be amazed. I want to try it on myself this weekend actually.”
