I've been working with the lovely people at Studio 6 for a bit now, and a while ago I had the not so revolutionary idea that we should start doing makeovers on the show. Sort of Portland's version of the Today show's makeovers. Except since we don't have a plaza to go out and pull candidates from, we would have to solicit people to enter, which ended up being a good thing. I personally read through the candidate's submissions and so many of them were heartbreaking. Originally I thought this would just be a fun day for some lucky person, but most of the entries were from people who had had it so hard they desperately needed even a small boost like this to help them through. Making a final decision was not easy, as I wanted to help everyone.
But, a decision had to be made and we went with the lovely Yelena. It's hard to tell from her perpetually sunny demeanor, but Yelena has had more than her share of hardships. I feel ok revelaing some of them, as she seems to readily tell anyone. First her husband is disabled from a work accident and unable to continue to work. So he is a stay at home dad to their two boys while Yelena works 10 hours days to support her family. Her two boys are a miracle as well, since Yelena and her husband had tried conceiving for nine years unsuccessfully until one day-poof- she was knocked up. Also, two months ago Yelena underwent a hysterectomy for certain health reasons at the age of 35. In fact Yelena admitted she was somewhat high on pain killers from the operation when she applied for the makeover!
Anyway, that's the back story on this makeover, which I hope will become a recurring monthly thing on Studio 6. Basically, this is philanthropy, Sirlennox style. Check it out and let me know what you think.
And of course thank you to Macy's, Benefit & Prima Salon!
