On the surface you might think a small, blonde, 5’2” girl doing hair in San Diego’s North County would be the least viable subject for a story about an unsung hero–after all, she’s not jumping out of a plane coloring someone’s hair while simultaneously rescuing a baby and curing cancer. Although, I wouldn’t put something that daring past Amber.
I met Amber nearly four years ago after I discovered her incredible talents as a cosmetologist on Instagram. I scheduled a consultation, and on the day I met her, she was wonderful... and limping. I asked her, stupidly, if she was okay. I thought maybe she’d twisted her ankle, or that it’d be some other easily explainable and totally normal thing. She blushed and said she was fine, but that a few years prior she had been in a crazy car accident. I apologized for my brash question and she laughed, assuring me she’d tell me all about it during my appointment in a few weeks.
At my appointment she explained that she and her boyfriend had been in the car on a long
drive. It was pitch black at nearly one in the morning and her boyfriend was getting tired, but just
trying to get through the last couple hours they had until they would reach home and sleep in
their own bed. They discussed pulling over, but decided against it. Her boyfriend assured her he
was fine to continue driving. Amber fell asleep in the front seat.
She woke up only moments before the car would run itself off the freeway, down a ditch, and
straight into a barbed wire fence, flipping over once or twice in the process. Her boyfriend had dozed off. She laid halfway outside of the car. The barbed wire wrapped itself around her hands. Her body wrapped around itself, paralyzing her from the waist down. Her boyfriend was bruised, but ultimately fine.
Doctors told her she would never walk again. She left the hospital in a wheelchair. Her now
ex-boyfriend stopped talking to her completely, presumably because he was consumed with
shame and guilt.
She wanted desperately to be a cosmetologist at that time, but the doctors told her she would
have to find a new career. (Naturally, a stylist is on their feet all day long moving from chair to the washing bowl over and over again for hours without sitting.)
Amber wasn’t one to take no for an answer, though. In fact, she said, ‘hell no’ to what the doctors suggested she do and instead worked hard on her rehabilitation. It took a long while, but she started walking.
She completed her cosmetology schooling and obtained her license. Shortly after, she met Isaac Mayor, the owner of a punky salon who took a liking to her tattoos, style, and hair. He saw
something in her and hired her to apprentice immediately out of cosmetology school.
She now has over 32,000 followers on Instagram, works with professional hair care brands like
Truss Professional, and teaches her techniques on Instagram, YouTube, and in-person. She’s
won a few impressive industry awards as well such as the One Shot Hair Awards.
She still works at Radar Salon with Isaac,the man who first gave her a chance. The salon has
moved to a larger space and has made a name for itself by having both talented stylists and a knack for doing fun colors. Amber is a huge part of that and now has apprentices of her own.
She also has a tattoo of barbed wire on her hand as a symbol of strength. If only those doctors
that told her to give up could see how far she’s come.
Before her clients or coworkers leave on their way home after an appointment or a long day of
work, she always says, ‘drive safe’, and hearing it reminds me of her story and how far she’s
come. (And I do drive safely after that.)
Amber is an inspiration and truly unstoppable. She’s a Juggernaut stylist and an unsung
everyday hero.