About Mary Jo

Born in Louisville Kentucky, Mary Jo Large was the fifth of six children in her family. She learned about hard work and taking care of others from her parents and other family members. From a young age she desired to become a hair stylist and cosmetologist and had a passion for helping people look their best and feel good about themselves. Upon graduating from high school Mary Jo enrolled in the School of Hair Design (now Empire Beauty School) and excelled in her education becoming skilled in her craft.

Upon graduating from cosmetology school, she began her career at Bacon’s Salons (now Dillard’s) in Louisville. After building a solid book of business and a loyal customer following over her first 6 years, Mary Jo was offered the opportunity to manage a salon in Louisville that needed help.

This began a 35-year career of very successful salon and salon group management. Mary Jo received multiple awards for salon profitability and increased sales. She managed multiple salons for the Bacon’s and Dillard’s brands. Her ability to lead salons back to profitability and sales growth happened at every salon she managed. 

But what was more important than profits and sales was her ability to coach and mentor her stylists, nail techs and salon coordinators. Her focus on taking care of the customer and empowering her staff to build their client base, as if it were their own business, was a great key to her success. This also built loyalty of not only customers, but her team members as well. 

Mary Jo joined the salon division at JC Penney to replicate what she had done previously at Bacon’s and Dillard’s. In 2020 Mary Jo retired from JC Penney after a successful run and decided to look at other opportunities. Unfortunately, in July 2021 she passed away from an illness related to her treatment for cancer.

At her funeral visitation Mary Jo’s family was overwhelmed with the outpouring of respect, admiration and love for her expressed by the many stylists, nail techs and others who had worked with her over the years. What was most inspiring, is some people had not seen Mary Jo in more than 10 years. Yet they came to pay their respects. This was a testament to the impact she had on so many peoples' lives. In addition, social media posts to her personal Facebook page were plentiful as people paid their respects to her. 

After her funeral, her family felt compelled to start a scholarship in her name to provide opportunities for future stylists and cosmetologists. Her family would like to continue what she accomplished throughout professional life by helping prospective students of cosmetology with their education and success.