Rooted in Plant City, Jackson is embracing a calling that reaches beyond the salon chair and onto the pages of her first book.
For Ava Jackson, Plant City has always meant home.
Although she was born in Jacksonville, Jackson returned to her mother’s hometown with her siblings after her father passed away. She grew up surrounded by grandparents, family, and the familiar rhythms of a small town: riding bikes through the neighborhood with friends, exploring and simply enjoying being a kid.
Years later, after living in larger cities, she found herself appreciating Plant City in a different way.
“Plant City means family to me more than anything,” Jackson said. “When I think about Plant City, I think about home.”
That sense of community has remained part of Jackson’s life as she built a career in hairstyling, became a mother and, most recently, published her first book, “The Lost Mind That Finds God.”
Today, Jackson owns and operates Selah Hair Studio in Valrico, serving clients throughout Plant City, Valrico, and the surrounding communities. But the path to owning a salon, and eventually becoming an author, began much earlier.
As a child, Jackson played with baby dolls and Barbie dolls, eventually moving on to doing her siblings’ and friends’ hair. Creativity and hairstyling were always present, although she never imagined they would become her profession.
In fact, Jackson once turned down an opportunity that now feels almost prophetic. Her grandmother offered to give her one of her properties so Jackson could turn it into a salon.
“I declined and told her I did not want to do hair for a living,” Jackson recalled.
Years later, Jackson came to see hairstyling differently. She began to view it not simply as a career, but as a calling.
For her, the person sitting in the salon chair has always been more than a client. Jackson found that her ability to listen, encourage, and offer perspective could be just as meaningful as the work she did with someone’s hair.
“There are times when I will silently pray for a client while I am shampooing their hair,” she said.
After managing a franchise salon in Plant City and later working in Brandon, Jackson eventually wanted to create a space where her faith could be more openly reflected. That desire led her to open Selah Hair Studio.
It also helped lead her beyond the salon.
The idea for “The Lost Mind That Finds God” came unexpectedly while Jackson was watching a YouTube podcast featuring spiritual counselor and author Tiffany Buckner. During the podcast, Buckner questioned why people who have spent years offering advice and spiritual guidance to others had not written a book.
For Jackson, the message landed differently.
“It felt as though God was speaking through her directly to me,” Jackson said. “It hit me very clearly that I needed to write a book.”
She began writing without worrying about publishing, marketing, or what would come next. Instead, she focused on getting the message onto the page.
The resulting book explores memories, thoughts, responsibility, boundaries and seasons of life through Jackson’s Christian perspective. At its heart is the idea of renewing the mind, honestly examining how experiences have shaped the way a person thinks and responds, then allowing the Word of God to provide a foundation for change.
Jackson uses everyday analogies throughout the book, drawing in part from her experience as a hairstylist and her naturally visual way of thinking.
She hopes those familiar comparisons help readers connect spiritual concepts to everyday life.
The response from readers has already given Jackson a glimpse of the reach she hoped the book could have. During its first week, readers shared how the opening chapter caused them to revisit memories and emotions they had pushed aside.
One reader, who had recently experienced a loss in her family, told Jackson she read the e-book in one night and found herself reflecting on areas of her life she wanted to change.
Those responses have become meaningful enough that Jackson has started keeping a journal of them. For Jackson, success isn’t ultimately measured by book sales. “As a businesswoman, I do understand that there is a business side to publishing,” she said. “But the number means something different to me than simply the amount of money it brings in.”
Every sale, she said, represents another person gaining access to a message that might encourage them to seek God. And perhaps that is the thread connecting all of Jackson’s work, whether she is behind the salon chair or putting words onto a page.
“I want people to see in me someone who loves God, loves people and understands the importance of making others feel seen, heard and understood,” Jackson said.
For someone who never expected to become an author, Jackson is still taking the journey one step at a time. Whether there is another book in her future, she says, depends on where she feels God leads her. For now, she has one message for anyone who feels lost: whether in hardship, uncertainty, or even success.
“As long as you have breath in your body, you still have the opportunity to seek God, to find healing and renewal, and to be redeemed,” she said.
And for the Plant City girl who once thought she might leave small-town life behind, the journey has ultimately brought her back to the things she values most: community, connection, faith, and helping others find their way home.
