At 99 years old, Memphis beautician Callie Terrell said she still loves making women look and feel their best.
“I work because this is what I’ve enjoyed doing all my life,” Terrell told WREG. “From a little girl I always loved messing with my sisters’ hair. They had beautiful hair … And I’ve always enjoyed doing this.”
Terrell only works to keep busy nowadays and to please a few longtime customers, like her daughter Inez. The seasoned hairstylist said she’s anxiously awaiting her 100th birthday on Nov. 26, which is when she plans to retire.
According to Tennessee state records, Terrell was issued her very first cosmetology license Jan. 30, 1945. She is the oldest licensed cosmetologist in the entire state.
“Whenever I give out my birthday to people, you have to pay for it,” she said, chuckling. “November 26th, how old will I be? One zero zero, how about that?”
She currently rents space in a local shop but once had her own thriving salon, according to the station. She said hard work and dedication are part of her secret to longevity. In fact, she said it’s how she’s managed to outlive most of her customers.
“People my age that I used to be buddy-buddy with, I don’t have a single one,” she said.
Terell added, “I’m not used to just being up in the house. You see I’ve worked so long, I’ve just been around people and doing something exciting. Most old people, they’re so dry and droll. I can’t deal with that. I gotta live and do the things that make me happy.”
When retirement finally rolls around, don’t expect this busybody to be sitting around the house twiddling her thumbs.
“I just be waiting on somebody to call and say, ‘Callie, you busy?'” she said. “They say we’re doing so and so, so I jump in the car and go. I just want to do something.”
Watch more in the clip below.