If you know anything about Aveda, you know we’re a company that likes to put beauty into the world literally, through our services and products, and figuratively, by getting involved with our community. And by sharing stories of volunteerism and activism within our network, we have the opportunity to set off a ripple effect—inspiring others to give back, too.

With this chain reaction in mind, we developed #BeautyHeals, an evergreen program that honors and shares the stories of Aveda Artists’ philanthropic local community initiatives. Through #BeautyHeals, we encourage our Artists around the globe to find causes near and dear to Aveda’s mission of caring for the world we live in, and we give them the tools they need to share their stories effectively. We do this because we know that the benefits of volunteering – for the volunteer and those they support - can heal the spirit, and inspire others to take action.

Take for example David Wagner, owner of Juut Salon and Spas, and a cancer survivor himself, whose Daymaker movement has offered more than 4,000 head shaves to patients going through chemotherapy. David says, “People losing their hair have this incredibly tough burden of how to unmask themselves.” By creating a “sacred ritual” around the process, Wagner has helped eased that burden.

Then there’s Brad Van Dyke, of the Aveda Institute in Colorado, who shaved his head in solidarity with cancer patients to raise awareness for St. Baldrick’s Foundation. He says, “I wanted to lend support beyond money.” Beth Halter, director of the Aveda Institute South-Houston, who is a top fundraiser for Earth Month and Breast Cancer Awareness, lives by a simple message: “You can make an impact, and when you see the impact you have, it’s enough to make you want to keep doing it.”

Aveda Artist Stephen Pace, of Gary Manuel Salon, who since 2005 has raised more than $150,000 for Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, urges people to “look at your own community and find what needs to be taken care of.”

The common denominator between all of these civically minded beauty pros? Passion. As Ryan Trapp, an Aveda Artist at the Gary Lambert salon, who has raised awareness for St. John’s River preservation, so eloquently puts it “If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, no one around you will be either. So make a change.”

Search #BeautyHeals for more inspiring stories from the Aveda network. And if you are an Aveda Artist and have your own volunteering story to share, please do so using the hashtag #BeautyHeals.

We want to share as many of these stories as we can, because passion begets passion—whether it’s in the salon or the community at large.

ARE YOU EXCITED FOR #BEAUTYHEALS?

Share this story using the hashtags #LivingAveda and #AvedaMission