Faces Of New Bedford #193: Monica Melo

Meet Monica Melo, 33-year-old owner and hairstylist of Salon Gigi. Monica was born in Portugal and moved to New Bedford with her parents when she was one. Growing up, she always had a passion for making people look and feel good.

When it came time for college she attended Bristol Community College, although she knew that she didn’t want to go to college. After a year of school, she dropped out and enrolled in LaBaron Hair Dressing school, where she knew she could pursue her passion. After graduating, she worked for a few years in a handful of salons before taking time off to be home with her newborn children.

Once her children were a little older, she knew she wanted to return to hairdressing but didn’t want to work for someone else. It was in 2014 that she open Salon Gigi, where she has been ever since. For her, it’s not about just doing her clients’ hair, but building a relationship with them and empowering them to be confident and love themselves.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.