Sports - Panthers

Mike Minter tackles... hair?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Who would have guessed? Life after football landed rough, tough Mike Minter in the pampered land of his own Imaj Salon and Spa. One of the hardest hitters in Panthers history now beams at granite nail counters and pedicure whirlpools.

"If we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it right, we're gonna do it first class, and we're gonna change people's lives,” Minter says as he guides the tour through his business he built with his sister, Rosalind. It's a dream Minter's mom built long ago, raising four children in Lawton, Okla.

"Mom was everything to us. She actually took care of us by making money in the salon. We knew that was her heart,” he said proudly.

Minter's quest to honor his mom never rested, not even on a recent trip to Africa.

"You see hair salons all over the place. You see weaves all over the place, so I'm asking questions,” he said.

Rosalind did, too, honoring her mother's tireless work with a design two years in the making. And an aunt who battled cancer inspired a private room with its own entrance for women battling cancer and hair loss.

"Changing lives" at Imaj means innovative hair weaves and hope.

Rosalind says, "Just the smile on their faces, just to see that they are truly excited about the transformation. That brings such joy to my heart.”

She calls her clients’ hair "a woman's glory" but she also cut Mike's hair, long before the NFL came calling.

"My mom, she would texturize his hair, but I'd cut it. I was the creative one. I would try anything once,” Rosalind said.

With a laugh, Minter replies, "Oh man, now that's funny. That goes a back a long ways."

That's just the way Mike's mom laughed when he told her he was building a salon in her honor. Florida didn't live to see it, but her children know she'd say "wow" if she could walk through the doors at Imaj.