One of the first jobs Rose Highland-Sharpe ever had was at Belk department store in the cosmetics section at University Mall in Chapel Hill.
Flori Roberts and Fashion Fair were some of the biggest name brand makeup lines in the late 1970s, and Highland-Sharpe had clients coming every week to get their faces made up and to tell her all about their personal problems.
“This is what I was told I was good at, listening to people’s concerns,” said Highland-Sharpe, a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. “I could help solve other people’s problems.”
She saw a person’s face as a canvass and inherently knew what colors matched best with which skin tone or how to prep the skin before applying foundation. To her, making people feel good about themselves on the outside was just as important about how they felt on the inside.