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From the time she opened her first shop, Gladys’ House of Hair Design, off Bristol Street and Randolph Avenue in 1977, Gladys Olmedo has maintained a steady business in Costa Mesa.
In her 20s, and pregnant with her second child, Olmedo steadily built a base of satisfied clients who came to her for coloring and styles that would transition over the years, from shag cuts to feathered bangs to Brazilian blowouts.
“I never took a vacation for 24 years I went without taking vacations,” said Olmedo, an Estancia High School graduate. “I had to provide for my kids, and I did it through the beauty salon, just doing hair.”