Hair BRA-Zaar: Under the Big Top Event

At Summit Salon Academy, we celebrated our fourth annual Hair BRA-Zaar event on June 5th. This event has a special place in our hearts because it allows us to see our students’ creativity while also raising money for the breast cancer foundation, Wings of Karen! We are so lucky that we’ve been able to work with this incredible non-profit for the past four years. We’re always amazed by what our community is able to accomplish. All the proceeds from this event go directly to the Wings of Karen foundation to help fund important research in the effort to find a cure for breast cancer. This year we sold 152 tickets and raised $11,300 in total donations! We couldn’t have done this without the help from our students, staff, and the amazing community of Tacoma.

Behind the Event

Summit’s Hair BRA-Zaar event has raised money for the past four years to help support a community based breast cancer organization, Wings of Karen. This non-profit was started by Kristi Blair, an amazing woman and someone we’re lucky to have met! Her incredible story of resilience is what led her to start this organization. After both her mother, Karen and Kristi were diagnosed with breast cancer, she knew that she wanted to make a difference for others who are fighting the same battle. She started Wings of Karen to help support breast cancer research in the Pacific Northwest. All the money raised from our Hair BRA-Zaar will be donated to Kristi’s organization to help support the continuing research of breast cancer.

This Year’s Theme

Every year, our event has a theme to inspire our students’ runway looks. This year’s theme was “Under the Big Top” and we were so impressed by the looks they created! Like our previous Hair-BRA-Zaar events, students were asked to decorate a bra and then design an entire look based on that bra. In addition to being stylists and makeup artists, some of our students even took to the runway as models. With this year’s theme, we saw a lot of amazing circus-inspired looks. Our students’ circus looks included their makeup, hair, and even costumes! From a bodybuilder to a tiger, they gave the theme their personal touch.

We love seeing what our students come up with and their creativity always makes this a night to remember. This event is a great way for students to show off their beauty skills while also highlighting women’s health. With this event, we hope to bring awareness to breast cancer and the need to raise money for a cure. Some of our models were even breast cancer survivors themselves. These women are incredible images of strength, which is why we like to call them “thrivors.” We’re impressed with them and thrilled that our event shows off how amazing they are!

Special Guests

At our event, we had some great guests come visit with us. Sydney Berry, the President of Salon Services and a board member for Wings of Karen, shared her story with breast cancer before our show began. It was so humbling to hear her talk and it was a great start to our event. Mary L “Nora” Disis, MD from the University of Washington Cancer Vaccine Institute also came to talk about her research and update us on the breast cancer vaccine that’s being developed by her research funded in part by Wings of Karen. We want to thank them for coming to our event! Our students were inspired by their words and we know the difference it makes for them when they can see the people behind the incredible work!

In addition to guests associated with the Wings of Karen foundation, we also had representative Kelly Chambers from the 25th District in Puyallup attend our event. Having the support from our community means a lot to us, so we’re glad that she could be there.

Join Our Community

At Summit Salon Academy, we love getting involved and helping out when we can. This Hair BRA-Zaar event has become a special day that we look forward to every year. We know that this wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing community and students! A main principle at Summit Salon is to “Lead With Our Heart” and we see that all the time in both our students and staff.

If you’re looking for a beauty school to call home, then Summit Salon Academy could be the right choice for you. Not only do we teach our students the latest in beauty techniques, but we’re also committed to helping you get involved in the community. Contact us to find out more about our cosmetology program and how you can start the application process!