ATLANTA — Behind the chair, Larissa Camp feels powerful.
She found her purpose on accident, growing up with her mother.
"She used to do my hair with a pressing comb and she burned me at one point and I fired her. I learned how to do it myself," she laughed.
Learning took time and courage, too.
"I always thought that I couldn't do it because I am right hand dominate," she said.
But her clients are confident in her talent.
"I've had clients for years and they've never noticed," she said.
They never noticed what is impossible for Camp to ignore.
"I put my hand directly in front of the gun," she recalled. "And I hear a loud bang, I see smoke, my ears are ringing."
Camp survived intimate partner violence in 2004. The details are still fresh in her mind.
"The second bullet goes through my arm, and through some layers of skin on my chest and through the door," she said.
Camp lost all of the fingers on her right hand, but she made it out alive. When that door closed, the rest of her life opened up.
"I knew in that moment I was saved, I knew I was saved," she said. "I knew it was an encounter with God and that changed my life forever."
Camp's story is unique, but she is not alone.
One in 5 women and 1 in 7 men experience severe intimate partner violence in their lifetimes. More than 1,700 people were killed as a result of domestic violence in Georgia from 2012 to 2022.
The numbers are staggering, but Camp said there is hope.
"I am very grateful to have this testimony, because this testimony provides me purpose," she said.
Every time she gets behind the chair, she wants to cut away the stigma of domestic violence.
"If you have a gift, a lot of people sit down on it, because they feel like it's something they can't reach, or it's too late, and that's not true. It takes maybe, sheer willpower," she said.
With sheer willpower, and a custom pair of adaptive sheers, she is creating a new look for herself.
"When I completed my degree, I cried, I shouted, I jumped for joy. Because it's a testament that the gifts God has given you, no man can take away from you," she said.
Camp now uses her experience to speak to other men and women going through domestic violence to help encourage them to get out of that situation.
Resources for those facing domestic violence
If you or someone you know suspect there may be violence involved in a relationship, it's important to be understanding. Here are a few resources to introduce:
How to book Larissa Camp
Camp works with Lifetime Fitness Sandy Springs as well as the Boardroom Hairstylist by appointment only.
People can reach out to Camp via her website.