Codie Bennett’s pink hair and flair for cosmetology left her with a job offer after a friendly visit to N-Style Salon almost four years ago.

Although her hair is now brown, the Princeton senior still works at the on-campus salon – cutting, coloring and styling hair, waxing eyebrows and acting as what she calls an “underpaid shrink.”

Robin Owen, a Western graduate and owner of N-Style, said Bennett has been a great employee who naturally connects with customers.

“She really gets the job done,” Owen said. “She’s creative and full of energy. Everyone who comes in here remembers her when they leave. She’s really helped build our business.”

Bennett is the hair stylist who’s been at N-Style the longest. During the past four years, she’s accumulated many regulars from people on and off campus. Some customers have traveled from Nashville, and even as far as South Carolina, to get Bennett to cut their hair.

And all first-time customers leave the salon with a new friend, said Louisville senior Amber “Curlz” Cook, Bennett’s close friend and co-worker at the salon. Cook said Bennett tries to connect with customers and make them feel comfortable while she’s working on them.

“I have a good memory when it comes to names, and I try to remember something obscure about all my customers, like their hometown or dog’s name,” Bennett said. “I just love people, and I get to meet a broad spectrum of people here.”

Bennett has many memories from her time at N-Style, because she’s worked with many different customers in many different situations.

She said she has had someone request a mullet and someone who’s come to her needing help with hair that turned out fluorescent pink after an at-home trial. There have been some customers who come in after a wild drunken night with letters carved into the back of their head, or with one sideburn shaved all the way up past their ear.

“The story that follows the bad hair experience is always the best,” Bennett said. “You just have no clue what will come out of someone’s mouth. I just roll with it.”

Outside the salon, Bennett said she enjoys fishing, quilting, being outdoors, spending time with her family and painting abstracts on canvas or wood. But it is cosmetology that she is most passionate about. She said she wants to do something that combines event planning and hair styling after she graduates in May.

“I could never give up hair totally,” Bennett said. “I will do it ’til my wrists stop working and my legs can’t stand. And if my legs go out before my wrists, then I’ll just buy a stool to sit on.”

Reach Ashley Maines at features@wkuherald.com.