Theresa & I started Cobalt Blue Salon in 2003. We had been working together for around ten years in a few different salons while planning our vision for Cobalt Blue. Finally in August 2003 while Theresa was making her daily run to Taco Shack, she saw the little house up for rent where we ended up starting our business.
Theresa always loved the industry from a young age. After high school, she went to college & received a marketing degree. But after working in that field for a while, she was dissatisfied. She decided to pursue what she always wanted to do & enrolled in cosmetology school.
Theresa loved the profession & took the time to learn about every aspect of it. After we opened Cobalt Blue, she became a Goldwell Color Educator for a few years. She enjoyed working with new staff, teaching them how to apply & use color.
Around 2007, Theresa & I found out about Redken’s Summit Salon business program & jumped on board. We started hiring & training people right out of cosmetology school. Theresa loved watching people grow & was always encouraging them to take “baby steps” no matter how hard it seemed. She had to be one of the most positive & encouraging people I knew. Her heart was always in the right place.
By 2011 our salon was growing quickly. Theresa & I were so excited about our future. Towards the end of that year she started feeling ill. She was losing weight, looking pale, & tired all the time. By the end of January, she finally went to the doctor & was immediately put in the hospital & diagnosed with AML leukemia. The doctors gave her a fifty-fifty chance.
She started treatment to get the disease into remission, but the only hope for her survival was a bone marrow transplant. Her family was tested, but no one matched her. A match was almost found but the numbers didn’t quite match up. During that waiting period, her body weakened from the chemotherapy & after a few setbacks, the disease came out of remission. She passed away July 25, 2012, six months after her diagnosis.
Theresa never gave up hope & had a positive attitude until the end. She walked through her illness with dignity & grace.
In honor of Theresa, Cobalt Blue holds an annual cut-a-thon with all proceeds going to the Leukemia Research Foundation. We also invite the blood bank bus from Central Texas Blood Bank, & “Be the Match” operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, where you can take a simple saliva test to be added to their bone marrow registry. We’ll post on our website when we have our next cut-a-thon, so please come out & support these great organizations.
You can also donate to the Leukemia Research Foundation in Theresa’s name at https://leukemiarf.org/
-Amy Sinclair
