An affair with hair

Hair Jordan, 1400 E. Third St.

B.K. Sharma came to Bloomington 22 years ago from New Delhi, India, to get a degree from IU. At the time, he didn’t have the money to pay the out-of-state tuition, so he decided to get a job for a year, start saving and become a resident.

But Sharma had no idea how to make the money he needed until one day when he went to College Mall to get a haircut. He told a salon manager his story, and she casually suggested that if he went to cosmetology school and came back after he graduated, she would hire him to cut hair. She was rather surprised when, a year later after finishing cosmetology school, Sharma strolled back into the shop to take her up on her offer.

Now, Sharma sells real estate while working at Hair Jordan, 1400 E. Third St., where he rented a chair for two years before buying the salon in 1997.

“When students come into the store, who just got out of high school, I see every year how they mature,” he said.

Sharma said that, unlike when he first started styling hair over 20 years ago, money is not the issue for him anymore.

“I want to become part of students’ lives; give them advice and watch their life progress.”

900 Hair Design, IMU

Tara Foster, a junior who is majoring in Human Development and Family Studies, has a different, though equally passionate story about her affair with hair. Foster knew she wanted to be a stylist even before she learned to braid hair in third grade. She started beauty school her senior year of high school, and now cuts hair at 900 Hair Design in the IMU while studying part time.

“It’s not as hectic as you’d think,” she said, adding that she has to cut down on classes, but, “really, it’s worth it, to get to meet about 15 to 20 really interesting people during the day, people who are mostly my age.”

Though Foster loves hair, she said ending up covered in it every day isn’t her favorite part of the job.

“Going home with hair all over you is the worst,” she said. “It’s on my feet, on my shirt, in my bra ... just everywhere.”

In addition to being a marriage and family counselor when she graduates, Foster said she would like to open her own salon some day, so she can be her own boss, cutting hair between counseling appointments.

“I could never have hair not be a part of my life,” she said.

Great Clips, 115 S. State Road 46 

Nicky Pater is a senior who wants to be a key hair and makeup artist for the silver screen someday, but until then she’s finishing up an undergraduate degree in communication and culture.

Pater, who is originally from the suburbs of Chicago, started working at the Great Clips near College Mall when she stayed in Bloomington one summer. She said she kept working at Great Clips because of the casual atmosphere and the large number of people she meets.

“During the school year, we get a lot of students; surprisingly, mostly men,” she said.
She started styling for fun as a teenager, but soon decided it would be a good idea to learn professionally, so she went to cosmetology school while she was in high school.

“I took a stage make-up course, and have done a lot of regular and special effects makeup for films that students in my classes have made,” she said. “I don’t want to stay in the salon forever.”

“But I do love knowing that after someone sees their haircut, they are going to have the biggest smile on their face – that’s a huge ego boost.”