{"id":2082,"date":"2018-09-28T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2082"},"modified":"2018-09-28T15:56:09","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T19:56:09","slug":"soul-beautiful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2082","title":{"rendered":"Soul Beautiful"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strength in Grace and Beauty <\/em><\/h1>\n

Story and photography by <\/em>Susie Ippolito<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Terrie McNeil, founder of Soul Beautiful, Inc., and That Hair Place in Baldwinsville, is an inspirational woman. Her positivity is contagious and her spirit is vibrant. Terrie lives her life\u2019s mission to create beauty from ashes and, in the process, serves as a reminder of women\u2019s responsibility to care for one another.<\/p>\n

Terrie has been on a lifelong journey that led her to create Soul Beautiful, a nonprofit foundation that gives surprise makeovers to women undergoing cancer treatment. Recently, Soul Beautiful evolved to include \u201cany woman who is broken from a life circumstance or illness,\u201d Terrie said.<\/p>\n

When Terrie was just 9 years old, her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at age 41 with five children. Her mother lived for nine more years, going in and out of remission. Terrie watched her mother\u2019s appearance change many times as her illness progressed. Throughout her teenage years, Terrie wished she could help her mother look and feel better, but she didn\u2019t have the skill set to help. At age 16, Terrie decided she would go to BOCES for cosmetology to gain the skills to help her mother.<\/p>\n

Terrie\u2019s mother passed shortly after Terrie graduated high school and two weeks before she got married. Terrie never got a chance to help her mother feel better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew at that point that I wanted to help women with cancer,\u201d Terrie said. \u201cIt is my way to pay tribute to my mother and to honor her.\u201d<\/p>\n

You give what you get<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s often said that when we give of ourselves, we get back far more than we give and many of the benefits are unknown to us in the moment. Terrie is a living example of this. Her generosity and kindness are her way of paying forward the many ways people helped her family though her mother\u2019s illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always gave of themselves to help our family,\u201d she said. \u201cI could not comprehend that at 9 years old but, looking back, I realize that I was brought up this way. I never forgot everyone that gave and how it impacted our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

A generous spirit seems to come naturally to Terrie, who describes herself as \u201can all-in girl.\u201d She recalled the first time she donated her own money.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in church and I had just finished babysitting. I think I had $8 in my pocket. I remember the basket came by and something in me said \u2018Just give it all,\u2019 and I did!\u201d Terrie remembered. \u201cI remember putting it all in without hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is with this same spirit that Terrie created Soul Beautiful. She followed her heart and listened to her instincts and, once again, went all in to gain the knowledge she needed to accomplish her goals.<\/p>\n

Follow your heart<\/h4>\n

In 2017, Terrie became an affiliate salon for Hello Gorgeous, a nonprofit foundation that gives surprise makeovers to women undergoing cancer treatment. She connected with the foundation\u2019s owners at a hair show in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle did I know, I would meet someone who would help me obtain a plan for something that has been a dream of mine for a long time,\u201d she remembered.<\/p>\n

Terrie wanted her salon to be part of their program. She was initially told That Hair Place was not an ideal match because the salon doesn\u2019t include a spa. Terrie was disappointed but didn\u2019t take no for an answer. Instead, she asked them questions about how to do it herself. The Hello Gorgeous foundation was so impressed with her yearning to make a difference that they allowed her to become an affiliate salon.<\/p>\n

Terrie went through intensive training on how to address the special beauty needs of a woman undergoing cancer treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer immune system is compromised, so we have to take care of certain aspects of how we do things,\u201d she explained. \u201cEverything we use is brand new and\/or disposable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after Terrie started giving Hello Gorgeous surprise makeovers to local women, she \u201chad a heart to launch out and do it on [her] own,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In January of 2018, Terrie incorporated Soul Beautiful and was recently approved to be a nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cA vision is just a dream until you have a plan to see it through,\u201d she said. \u201cWorking with Hello Gorgeous for a year gave me a good idea on how things need to run.\u201d<\/p>\n

To fund the makeovers, Terrie accepts donations of gently worn accessories, handbags and clothing to sell at The Soul Beautiful Boutique located inside her salon in Baldwinsville. Terrie has been able to fully support the program with the proceeds from the boutique and 100 percent of the funds go towards the makeovers.<\/p>\n

Get past the struggle<\/h4>\n

At various times in her life, Terrie had to choose between her desire to help women battling cancer and all the curveballs life was throwing her.<\/p>\n

Soon after she lost her mother, her young husband was diagnosed with cancer. He beat it, living a long life until he was diagnosed again decades later. He was sick for three years. In that time, they faced the requisite battles with health insurance copays and exhaustion of resources to cover prescriptions costing more than a mortgage payment.<\/p>\n

During that season of her life, Terrie kept her faith and she knew she had to \u201cget past the here and now and the struggle that [she was] in in order to get to the purpose of it,\u201d she remembered.<\/p>\n

Terrie\u2019s purpose is clear; it\u2019s to focus on helping hurting and broken women in the area, she said. Her mission is to tie beauty and self care into \u201can important soul truth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about making an imprint on the soul and how we feel in the moment,\u201d Terrie said. SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

To learn more about That Hair Place and Soul Beautiful, Inc., visit thathairplace.org<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strength in Grace and Beauty Story and photography by Susie Ippolito Terrie McNeil, founder of Soul Beautiful, Inc., and That Hair Place in Baldwinsville, is an inspirational woman. Her positivity is contagious and her spirit is vibrant. Terrie lives her life\u2019s mission to create beauty from ashes and, in the process, serves as a reminder…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[695,698,302,262,697,694],"class_list":["post-2082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-october-2018","tag-soul-beautiful","tag-susie-ippolito","tag-syracuse-woman-magazine","tag-that-hair-place","tag-the-pink-edition"],"gutentor_comment":1,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_5833.jpg?fit=6000%2C4000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2078,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2078","url_meta":{"origin":2082,"position":0},"title":"Susie Ippolito","author":"Staff","date":"September 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Building a Brand in Syracuse By Lacey Roy | Photography by Alice G. 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