Amanda Morris is the founder of Great Ambitions School of Cosmetology and the author of As the Shampoo Spills — a memoir about setbacks, faith, and building a career from the chair up.
"If somebody says you can't, watch me do it — because I like to be challenged."
Amanda Morris
Amanda grew up moving between Hickman, Fulton City, South Fulton, Pilot Oak and Lynnville, Kentucky — more than ten times before she finished school. Cosmetology wasn't the plan; it found her at twenty, after a conversation with her own stylist changed her mind on her way to enroll at Murray State.
"I want people to walk away knowing that they should not let anything stand in their way of their dreams — nobody, no excuses."
Long before Great Ambitions had a name, Amanda was learning the trade one chair at a time — and taking notes for the book she'd eventually write about it.
On the day she planned to register for classes at Murray State, a conversation with her own cosmetologist changed her course entirely. She enrolled at Ezell's Cosmetology School in Murray, Kentucky instead — against her parents' expectations — and never looked back.
Her first job wasn't what she expected. She moved on to The Cutting Edge, a walk-in salon, and pursued massage therapy school alongside it — four years behind the chair before she felt the pull toward teaching.
In 2012, Amanda opened her own school to fill a gap she saw in the region — becoming the first school in Kentucky to start entirely from scratch with the state board since the 1950s.
A car accident and years of workplace setbacks forced Amanda to reevaluate her path — and became the spine of her debut memoir, out now as Volume 1 of an ongoing series.
"Amanda Morris shares her journey through the twists and turns of finding her true calling — dream jobs aren't always as dreamy as they seem."
After facing workplace challenges, difficult decisions and a life-changing car accident, Amanda was forced to reevaluate her path and purpose. Through determination, faith and perseverance, she learned that setbacks can become stepping stones toward something greater.
Beyond the Book
Amanda still runs the school she built — keeping class sizes intentionally small so every student gets real, personalized attention. She encourages students to shadow at potential workplaces before graduation, so their first job actually fits.
With growth plans for Mayfield and Murray locations, Great Ambitions is growing the same way Amanda built it — one deliberate step at a time.
Intimate class sizes mean instruction built around each student's pace, not a syllabus built around none of them.
Setbacks — even a car accident that upended everything — are treated as stepping stones, not stop signs.
Amanda's Christian faith runs through both her classroom and her memoir, grounding every "detour" in a larger plan.
Graduations, hands-on training and community moments — see more in the full gallery.
"Empowering Change" — a feature on Amanda's journey from country roads to cosmetology heights, and the school she built to prove no one needs anyone's permission to start.
"If somebody says you can't, watch me do it — because I like to be challenged."
"I want people to walk away knowing that they should not let anything stand in their way of their dreams — nobody, no excuses."
"Sometimes the biggest spills in life lead us exactly where we're meant to be."