By Sue Moore
“Pay it forward,” is the mantra of Mandy Miller who opened her own Cutting Edge Salon & Spa last November on the corner of S. Main and Washington Streets in Vicksburg, next door to Mandy’s Candies.
Miller’s contribution to helping out in Vicksburg since her arrival here 14 years ago have not gone unnoticed when she opened the salon’s doors. She quickly had a swarm of supporters march in the door to help celebrate the occasion.
She has been volunteering at Sunset School while her two oldest daughters matriculated there. As president of the PTA she had her greatest fundraising adventure as a DJ for Sunset events and even the Relay for Life in Schoolcraft. She coached Girls on the Run for the last 10 years at Sunset and frequently played the role of classroom mom at parties and special events.
She raised funds for the Community Healing for Abused and Neglected Children organization by sleeping on the roof of a local building for three days and then told her own story as an abused child. She has organized a Cut-a-Thon with a group of stylists to raise money for her church and helped the Vicksburg Band Boosters with their fundraisers.
“I like to spend very little money and raise lots of money,” she quips. “My next big project is always in my head. I’m just wired that way with a desire to help others. In my childhood, I needed to have someone to help me out so I hope to do the same for someone else.”
Now she is doing that in the beauty salon world too. Previously she and her friend Shawn Verner worked together at Regis in Kalamazoo. Miller baby sat with Verner’s daughter for five years while she had a chair in her home for a few of her clients from earlier gigs. Now Verner is the manager at the Cutting Edge. They love how the village has embraced them, with their full-service offerings of styling, whether its eyebrows, body waxing, facials, manicures or pedicures. The salon is open Monday through Saturday with Miller’s oldest daughter Mariah (18) helping out at the desk after school, middle daughter Marisa (13) available for chores and Maycee (2) attending Child’s Play Learning Center for the first time.