For Tasha Swafford, cutting her father’s hair is a bittersweet memory she’ll always cherish. She began trimming his locks after his hair began thinning due to side effects from lung cancer treatment and he stopped going to his barber.

Swafford is the new manager of Moffitt’s Magnolia’s Salon. She recently relocated to Tampa from Chicago and was drawn to the salon located inside the cancer center because of Moffitt’s reputation and the opportunity to provide a unique salon experience to cancer patients and team members.

In addition to managing salons, Swafford has been a licensed cosmetologist for more than 20 years and teaches cosmetology. She says she teaches her students that beauty changes lives and it’s all about the experience a client receives while in the chair. Her goal is to provide support to patients before, during and after treatment. She likes to meet with patients before treatment begins, so she can come up with a plan to get them through treatment and look their best afterward. “We’re definitely going to make you look and feel amazing, but we also focus on the long-term as well.”

Swafford stresses that Magnolia’s welcomes team members, too. The salon even stays open until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays to accommodate busy schedules.

Though she’s only been at Moffitt a few months, Swafford is taking the salon in a new direction as she turns her attention to scalp health by carrying Nioxin products and treatments that are specially formulated for thinning hair or hair loss. Density and Derma Renew Therapy Treatments are widely popular at Magnolia’s. These products are great for anyone who wants thicker, fuller hair.

Swafford has also introduced a sensory journey that includes a shampoo, condition, scalp massage, and an aroma therapy hot-towel wrap. Clients are guided through a breathing exercise to calm and center their minds and bodies. She says, “People come in with a lot of stressors and things going on in their life. Sometimes that time with their hair stylist is the only time they feel pampered and can talk about what’s going on.”

Swafford is proud to have joined the Moffitt team, and her work at the salon helps her stay connected to her own family’s experience with cancer. Though her father succumbed to lung cancer, she feels his spirit with each patient that walks through the door.