Jodi Shultz | The Grit and Grace Project

My Epic Halloween Mom Fail Turned Into a Great Story

“This is so not how I pictured it going in my head.” Have you ever been in the middle of an epic mom fail moment, shaking your head and saying this to yourself? Oh, I sure have, and I don’t know about you, but the holiday season seems to bring on a next-level expectation and drive to produce some perfectly Instagrammable moments for my family. You know, the kind where festive music is playing, holiday projects are finished, and everyone is smiling and happy so you snap a picture to post on social media so everyone will rise up to praise you and call you blessed. Which is all fine and well when things go as planned, but when it doesn’t, look […]

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What Happened When I Finally Heard God Whisper

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

I used to think that only super special and holy people got to hear from The Almighty. You know, the ones that live exemplary lives, with full knowledge of Scripture and holes worn in the knees of their jeans from the many hours in their prayer closets. I also thought that only preachers and pastors that speak eloquent messages that shoot straight to our hearts could hear from God. Yes—those were the extraordinary ones that got to hear the divine whispers from our Lord, but definitely not me. I’m just a simple girl who loves Jesus; you won’t find me listed in the “special” or “holy” category. The holes in my jeans aren’t worn in by hours of prayer. They’re there because

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How to Adapt When You Have No Control

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

Hey sister, have you ever noticed that when everything else feels out of your control and hard to handle, you can find a sense of power and joy in deciding to change something? I’ve always joked that when a woman feels the need to make a change in her life, she has four options: her living room furniture, her purse, her shoes, or her hair. I’ve witnessed it many times in my career as a hairstylist—when a woman experiences major life disturbances or gets antsy with life in general, the quickest solution is to get bangs, chop it off, or switch up the color. Coco Chanel said this: “A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.” Ah yes,

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The Legacy of One Who Knew How to Love Changed Me

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

There are women who come and go in our lives, some leave a lasting impact, and some don’t. But then there is a whole different category of those who leave an indelible mark on you… without you really even knowing it—until they are no longer with you. As I mourned the loss of my grandma, I became fully aware of how much she had impacted me. Funny how a life speaks louder to you after they are gone. The day after Grandma had passed, my mom and her four sisters were planning the service and I received a text from Mom asking if I’d like to share anything. Honestly—my first reaction and my actual response was this: “No, I feel like the

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When You Can’t Suppress Your Pain Anymore

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

One sentence. That’s all it took. One sentence bouncing around in my head. Slowly eroding the emotional walls that I had put up. One sentence that annoyed the crap out of me but also brought about freedom. I had no idea how much I had stuffed down, all in a massive effort to “just get over it.” One sentence, that’s all it took for the dam to break loose… “If you mute the pain, you’ll mute the joy.” And just like that, all the pent-up emotions came gushing out. Anger, frustration, grief, anguish… more anger, more grief. It was like this internal storm cloud broke loose with a deluge of release and then after it had unleashed all its fury, the calm

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Do You Know Why You Need the Kindness of a Touch?

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

Imagine living in isolation, deprivation, and depression. Completely cut off from family and friends yet knowing they are out there, living and going on without you. Deep within, there is a longing for connection—to greet with a handshake or embrace, to sit down together for a meal, to be close enough to rub shoulders and laugh over a snarky remark. But you can’t, because no one can come near you, and even if they could, they couldn’t stand the stench… Such was the life and longing of a person with leprosy. We can read a powerful story about this in the Gospel of Mark 1:40-42. Now, before you check out on me thinking that this story has nothing to do with you,

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God knows your life, your needs and the hair on your head

Can You Be Confident God Knows What You Need?

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

I call them “Woogies.” It’s those lost hairs that I try to collect out of the shower drain so my hubby doesn’t holler at me. I wad them up into a ball and perch them on the little shelf on my shower as a visual reminder that I’m a good wife that cares about her husband’s aversion to cleaning out the plugged drains. I’m waiting for the day he sees them on the floor of my daughters’ room… she has long, naturally curly hair so they randomly fall away, and then as she walks about on her floor they gather into a Woogie ball. What can I say, it’s a grossly hilarious part of having long-haired women living in your house? Those

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How to Face Confrontation With Grit and Grace

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

I found myself blankly staring out the window while having a silent but very serious debate in my head: “Hmmm, I have a two-hour opening until my next client. What shall I do?” I started to list all the things I could get done, but I quickly narrowed it down to the most pressing issue at hand: “I need to wash my hair; it’s really gross, and this messy bun I’m rockin’ is giving me a headache… but I’m not in the mood to put in the effort of washing and taming the beastly mane today…” Listen, this is an intense debate I often have. I like to do other people’s hair, but I run out of the energy it requires to

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Now You Can Live for the Applause of One

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

Most women I know wear their heart on their sleeves and tell a story with her eyes. Let me tell ya, in my experience as a “Thairapist,” I’ve learned to recognize when something is going on, sometimes within seconds of a client walking through the door. For instance, one of my clients blew in the door of my salon with a little more huff and sass than usual, so I just got right to the point and asked, “Hey girl, what’s got you so riled up today?” She plopped her purse down, threw her phone and keys in it, then turned to me with a hand on her hip and fire in her eyes, and announced, “I’m grumpy Jodi, that’s how I’m

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Now You Can Ignore Your Haters and Pursue Your Passion

How You Can Ignore Your Haters and Pursue Your Passion

By Jodi Shultz / Purpose

Have you noticed how everybody has an opinion these days? Whether they hide behind the protection of a screen or look you square in the eye and spew their negativity, there’s a fo-real struggle with how to handle the haters who are gonna hate and the naysayers who are gonna naysay. Sister, the minute you step towards your purpose, you better be ready for the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers to speak their mind, whether you ask for it or not. Even after two decades have passed since I stepped into my passion and purpose as a hairstylist, I still remember the comments and opinions that were hurled my way. “Oh honey, are you sure you want to do that? You won’t

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Who Else Wants This Kind of Hairdresser?

By Jodi Shultz / Faith

You have heard it said that behind every beautiful woman is a hairstylist who loves her. I’d have to agree because that’s me, Jodi Shultz, the hairstylist who passionately loves my clients! After 19 years working behind the chair, I have to say that the relationship between a woman and her hairdresser is a rare but close bond. Similar to a bond I find in my faith, something I plan to tell you about in each of my articles as I share “The Hair Parables”—lessons I’ve learned about myself and God behind the chair as a “Thairapist.” We will get to that in a minute, but first, sister, come on in and let me pamper you. Picture yourself walking into my cute,

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