Dublin graduate Amy Bays first started cutting hair in high school. She loved the art of cutting hair, and would give the football players free haircuts to practice. Now, after a 30-year career as a hairstylist, Bays still loves the art — but her favorite part is getting to hear her clients’ stories.
“The oldest customer I’ve ever had was 105 before she passed away,” Bays said. “She was a school teacher, so listening to her stories, from when she taught in a one room school building all those years ago, was just amazing.”
Bays graduated from Dublin High School in 1991. Shortly after graduating she got married and had her first child, Ashlee. When Ashlee was just a year old, Bays went to beauty school and earned her cosmetology license.
She worked at The Hair Affair for a few years before purchasing the business herself. “I bought it from Pat Gilbert,” she said. “It was right down from the Dairy Queen, and then we moved it down to inside Bradbury’s Mini-Mall. We wanted to get closer to downtown with it. And then I sold it to Erica Villacana and then she sold it to her sister in law, and that’s where it ended up.”
After selling The Hair Affair, Bays worked at a salon in DeLeon, and then moved to Stephenville, where she stayed. Bays has now been cutting hair in Stephenville for 14 years, and currently works at The Salon. She often keeps her clients for years, and also offers her services to community institutions; she’s cut hair at both assisted living facilities in town, as well as at the Rock House, a home for adults with disabilities.
Bays plans to continue cutting hair as long as she can. She loves that the flexible hours allow her to spend time with her grandchildren, and has no plans on retiring. “I love my job,” she said. “It’s definitely rewarding, and that’ssomething I treasure. I’m so glad I chose this career.”
When she’s not working, Bays enjoys spending time with her daughters and granddaughters and taking trips with her mom. Bays has two grown daughters, Ashlee, 31, and Chloe, 25. She has six grandchildren.
Her father, Robert Walraven, passed away nearly 20 years ago, and her mother, Linda Kent, lives nearby in Stephenville. “She’s retired from Tarleton, and she still loves to go and travel, so she is always planning a trip for us,” Bays said. “I just wait for her to plan a trip for us and tell us where we’re going.”
Bays’ mother has been Bays’ greatest source of inspiration throughout her life. “She raised me as a single parent, and I saw her do that, and all the struggles,” Bays said. “She did it, and she made it work, and always provided for me. She went above and beyond, and I feel like that helped me know I could do it and it was going to be okay.”
Bays herself raised her children mostly as a single mother, too. When they were growing up, she showed them how to be independent, and live a full life without a partner. “They can just do things on their own — I mean changing the headlight in their car, just different things like that that normally a man would do — and they’re proud of themselves after they’ve done it. It just brings a little bit of pride in yourself when you realize you don’t have to wait for somebody else to come do it for you. You can do it yourself.”
Bays advice to Dublin graduates is to follow their dreams, even if it’s not a direct path. “I waited a year after I graduated before I went into doing what I actually wanted to do,” she said. “I always knew that I wanted to do hair; the fact that I didn’t do it right when I got out didn’t stop me from chasing my dreams. If there’s something you really want to do, stick to it.”
She also encourages Dublin graduates to value their family. “That’s who’s there at the end of the day,” she said. “Love your family; they’re the ones that will be there for you.”
Where are they now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.