EDITOR’S NOTE: Sara Thompson, owner of Xpressions Salon, is one of nearly 100 local businesswomen who will be recognized Sept. 23 during Main Street Manning’s annual meeting. The Manning Times will be featuring a few of these women each week throughout September in The Manning Times, and posting stories daily on manninglive.com.
When Sara Thompson isn’t running her salon on West Boyce Street inside the Merle Norman Studio, you can find her in the woods hunting with her husband, Benji.
The Sumter native also enjoys singing in the choir at Clarendon Baptist Church in Alcolu. After high school, she enrolled in nursing school, but quickly realized that it wasn’t for her.
“I thought back to my childhood. My aunt is a cosmetologist, and I have always loved styling hair,” Thompson said. “I can remember my grandmother sitting on the floor for hours while I invented new and very interesting styles for her.”
In 2001, Thompson enrolled in Sumter Beauty College.
“My first day there was an eye-opener. I thought, ‘How hard could it be?’” said Thompson, who admits to her initial naïveté. “Mrs. Faye Smith, the owner of SBC, was a huge mento for me. She saw the potential and wouldn’t allow me to give up on myself.”
Thompson said she never really dreamed of opening her own business, but was at a crossroad in her life. A literal one.
“I was driving and not sure of my future and I stopped at a stop sign. I saw a church sign,” she said. “I have always enjoyed reading church signs. This particular one said that faith is taking the first step on a staircase that is unseen.”
She took that step and hasn’t looked back.
“Since moving locations, my favorite thing is getting to know all of the people that come in either to shop and Merle Norman or those that come in for hair services,” she said. “I thank God daily for all the guidance and blessings he has bestowed upon me.
Thompson and her husband two sons, Ethan, 15, and Aiden, 5.
