Glance Goes Global
We Left to Give… and Came Back Changed
One thing about Glance, we are rooted in community. It’s who we are. It’s what we breathe! Where there is a need… we show up. So when the opportunity for a mission trip to Guatemala was brought to us by our Team Coach, Steve Swanson, it didn’t take long for us to say “YES!”. We didn’t hesitate, we just knew. This was our calling. Our hearts were set on something bigger than ourselves. We weren’t just going to cut hair we were going to equip. To teach. To empower.
We thought we were going to teach hair cutting. We thought we were going to give back. We had no idea how much it would change us.
A Place That Took Our Breath Away… and Then Our Hearts!
We left Bismarck and traveled nearly 3,000 miles to a small, remote town in Guatemala that is only reachable by boat. We were serving at a Boarding School called Ak’ Tenamit. In Guatemala, generally a student only goes to school only until the fifth grade. This causes a whole lot of problems for the children to include teenage pregnancies and poverty. Ak’ Tenamit’s goal is to continue to educate local youth until the equivalent of 12th grade, teach them job skills, then help them find a stable job after graduating. This set the students up for long term success! We were thrilled to be small part of this journey.
Guatemala was beautiful. But it was also humbling in a way you can’t prepare for. The moment we stepped into that world, something shifted. It was breathtaking, but what we didn’t anticipate is how quickly that beauty turned into something deeper, something that would stay with us forever.
We started with something simple, haircuts. We asked who wanted one, and instantly every hand shot up. It was one of those moments you don’t forget. What began as us teaching them quickly turned into something so much bigger… they began teaching each other. Watching that spark of confidence, connection, empowerment spread from one person to the next was truly unforgettable.
But the moment that broke us, wasn’t the haircut. It was the mirror. When we handed them mirrors to see themselves. They weren’t used to looking at themselves that way, some had never had the chance. And then, they smiled. Not just a smile, but a ‘seeing themselves for the first’ time kinda smile. A pure genuine happiness. The kind of sensation that hits you in your chest and stays there. “To watch them look at themselves and smile, that was everything,” - Andrea said (Owner of Glance Spa and Salon).
And in that moment, we realized this was so much bigger than hair. We Came to Teach, but they taught us! We didn’t want to just leave them with a haircut. We wanted to leave them with something that could change their future. We taught them haircuts, french braiding, flat iron curls and bubble braids! We didn’t expect how quickly they picked up and ran with this new skill! And that’s when it hit us. This wasn’t just about a moment. This was about creating opportunity. About planting something that would keep growing long after we were gone!
They changed us more than we changed them. We laughed with them. We dance with them. We built connections without even speaking the same language. And somehow, they still understood us. And we understood them. They didn’t have much but they gave us everything.
Their joy. Their love. Their openness.
And somewhere in those 10 days, walls broke down… perspectives shifted… and hearts were completely undone. “I cried when we left said Chloe (stylist at Glance).
Because how do you leave a place that changed you like that? How do you say goodbye to people who made you feel something so real, so raw, so human? And even now, back home, those kids are never far from our minds. We left pieces of ourselves there.
Our time in Guatemala we taught haircutting and styling. We taught English Classes. We built showers facilities. We gave what we could. We packed several additional carry on suitcases full of hair and body products to donate to the kiddos. We poured into them in every way we knew how. But the truth is we left pieces of ourselves there. And we came back different.
More grateful. More aware. More connected to our purpose than ever before.
“It changed my life completely,” Shelby said (Glance Stylist). And she meant it! This Is Who we are at Glance, we’ve always believed in showing up for our community.
But now we know community doesn’t have borders.
From Bismarck to Guatemala…
From being behind the chair at the salon to a village across the world. This is what we are called to do. To serve. To love. To show up wherever we’re needed. Because in the end. We thought we were going there to change lives. But they changed ours.
