She spent her weekends washing combs and taking out rollers from the customers' hair.
She fell in love with the idea of doing hair for a living.
After finishing high school, she moved an hour away from her hometown Clinton, South Carolina, to Columbia to attend beauty school.
At the start of her career, she worked in a beauty salon that had a mostly white clientele. She often came to the rescue when a hair color mishap occurred.
She was particularly good at color-mixing for the desired results.
Shortly after her daughter, Zelbra, graduated from beauty school and became a licensed cosmetologist, Mary Ann ventured out and launched her own business, M&Z StyleMakers, where the mother-daughter duo are partners in this business.
Today, June 10, 2024, Mary Ann (Rice) Cullum celebrates her 83rd birthday and 65 years of dedicated service in cosmetology.