BILLINGS — Inside Carizzma Salon in Billings is a breast cancer survivor who’s giving back via free permanent eyebrows for other survivors. Her name is Athena Gorder, and it is her way of offering a little bit of hope and a big boost of confidence to those who need it most.
“I want to be able to give back to these ladies the chance to feel like they are feminine, feel like they are beautiful again. When you lose your hair, your eyebrows, or eyelashes, I think that takes a part of you," Gorder said.
Hair loss can be devastating for many women, says Gorder, a breast cancer survivor and owner of Cosmetic Ink Artistry.
Hair loss was devastating for Patti Means of Lame Deer, who went years without eyebrows when she completed her breast cancer treatment in 2016.
“For 13 years, I had mammograms. And the 14th year, it came back positive. I didn’t have a lump at all. I couldn’t even feel it, but it showed up. I had triple negative breast cancer,” says Means.
That was 2016, but in 2022 her life changed as her husband watched KTVQ’s annual Pink Breakfast morning show, dedicated to breast cancer survivors.
“So right away I got her phone number and called her up. I was excited about it,” says Means.
“Patti here, she came to me, she had no eyebrows whatsoever, she showed me what she wanted. I just saw her walking in and I was just ecstatic to see her with eyebrows and the smile that she had,” says Gorder.
The custom brow experience takes Gorder a few appointments and touch-ups over the years, all free of charge for any breast cancer survivor.
"You know I was really self-conscious about my eyebrows and used an eyebrow pencil,” says Means. “Now I look in the mirror and they look great every day so I don’t have to worry about them. I was just amazed that she would do something like this for people like me, cancer survivors.”
"From my standpoint going through chemo, and the medications I take for my cancer, I have hair loss, hair thinning and I know the feeling. I just want to help, I just want to give back,” says Gorder. "They’ve got enough to worry about, going through treatment, finishing treatment, taking care of family, taking care of themselves, that they just don’t need to worry about one more thing.”
Gorder is changing lives one survivor at a time, but she’s also amplifying her message about breast cancer awareness on a new stage as Mrs. Billings Montana 2023.
“My platform was breast cancer research and awareness so we can try to help fight breast cancer from even becoming a thing,” says Gorder.
If that wasn’t enough, she’s volunteering as the experience co-chair for Yellowstone Relay for Life.
“Of course we want to be able to raise money to help research,” says Gorder.
Something the local relay does, as one of the top 10 fundraisers in the world, consistently raising a half-million dollars each year.
Registration for Yellowstone Relay for Life is now open and anyone who registers by June 15 gets a free T-shirt. The main event kicks off July 14 at the Billings West High track with a survivor lap and opening ceremonies at 6:45 p.m. Survivors are invited to a separate survivor celebration July 13 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Masonic Temple.
