Pink Products: Paul Mitchell Schools Kick Off Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, we're highlighting products and collaborations that help support the cause.

This October, the nationwide network of Paul Mitchell Schools is doing its part to help raise money and awareness for cancer-related causes, including the National Breast Cancer Foundation as well as other local organizations.

Paul Mitchell Schools began actively participating in Breast Cancer Awareness Month after a corporate team member was diagnosed with the disease. Says Dean and Cofounder, Winn Claybaugh, "that first year, many of our school owners and directors personally donated money and shaved their heads to show support for our colleague." Since then, each of the Paul Mitchell Schools, totaling over 100 in number, has contributed to raising funds and increasing awareness "on their campus and in their community." In 2012, the schools raised over $74,000 total for the American Cancer Society. This year, with a goal of $1,000 per campus, the school system hopes to raise a generous donation of over $100,000 for various cancer organizations.  

Paul Mitchell The School San Diego started off the Breast Cancer Awareness Month early with their September Wig Competition to benefit Trinity LifeGuard Ministries, a nonprofit organization founded by Paul Mitchell's original artistic director, Jeanne Braa Foster and her husband Dean Foster, who were both in attendance. Trinity LifeGuard Ministries aims to fight cancer and bring beauty to cancer survivors as well as those still struggling with the disease. The event featured a collection of wigs styled by students. Celebrity judges include industry icon Robert Lobetta, Latin American Hairdressing Award winner Sheila Gomez, and San Diego salon owners Jet (of Jet Rhys) and Melissa Jaqua (of The Workshop). In addition, well-known beauty photographer Gary Lyons was there to photograph the event, offering a donated photo shoot as the grand prize.

Claybaugh expressed the schools' immense desire to participate in the important Breast Cancer Awareness cause, saying that, "with more than 13,000 future professionals attending our schools, nearly all of us have been touched by some form of cancer. That makes it personal, and we want to do our part to support survivors and their families and help find a cure. We're often asked why giving back is such a key part of our curriculum. The answer is easy: it's the right thing to do and we care."

For more information about Paul Mitchell Schools' efforts to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or ways that you can get involved, please visit www.paulmitchell.edu