The word on the street is “You need to talk to Melissa!”

Why? Well, read on and find out. First allow me to introduce her: Meet Melissa Sharbaugh, one of the most fun, put-together, kind, smart Chicagoans to recently move to Beaufort. In her two short years here, she has moved her business, Innovative Interiors, to South Carolina, procured her S.C. General Contractor’s License (which she has had in Illinois for well over 20 years), built a home, got married, made fabulous new friends, and fell head over heels in love with Beaufort.

Hollie Udvornocky graduated from high school at age 17 and moved to California to launch acareer in real estate. After giving birth to her son, she relocated to South Carolina to be near her family in the greater Hilton Head Island area. In her 30s, Hollie began experiencing a wide range of health problems that medical professionals were unable to identify or treat.

Plagued by stomach issues, eczema, struggles to regulate her blood sugar, falling asleep sitting up, and her hair falling out in clumps, Hollie felt awful and was terrified. “No one could figure it out,” she shared. “I thought I was going to die.”

Jennifer Brewer was born and raised in West Virginia, the oldest of three girls. She earned a degree in marketing from Marshall University in Huntington, WV, and her dream was to get to a big city as fast as she could. She worked at retail giants Gap and Victoria’s Secret and was living in New York City on 9/11. Finding herself unhappy and dissatisfied, she came to Hilton Head Island with a friend – with no job and no plan, but she loved being in the sun rather than the gloomy, dismal weather and aftermath of 9/11 in New York. From Hilton Head, she moved to Asheville, NC, where she discovered yoga at a non-profit organization. “I took a full weekend immersion workshop that changed my life,” Jennifer said.

You and your husband, Jim, have spent a lot of time supporting your children at their school events. Tell us how your lives became all about Friday Night Lights?
We loved sitting by the band at Bluffton High football games. Our son Michael played the baritone and spent a little time on the bass drum, too. There was just something about seeing his smile when he was in the band. We went to all the games and so many band competitions. When he was named Homecoming King in his senior year, I’ll never forget McKenzie jumping up and down with excitement. McKenzie spent a little time in the May River band playing trumpet but decided it wasn’t for her. We surely miss those days of Friday night games with the music, the crowds, and the time together.

In 1973, Charles Fraser hired Bob Masteller as the vice president of human resources at Sea Pines. This move would later change the complexion of music on Hilton Head Island.

Neither Bob nor his wife, Lois, had previously visited Hilton Head, and friends and family thought the couple were crazy to move to the tiny and mostly undeveloped island. Upon arrival, Lois needed pillowcases and sought directions to the downtown area. She was directed to Coligny, where one drug store and a grocery store were located. Devoid of pillowcases, the Mastellers soon began making the monthly trek to Savannah for supplies.

Laura Morgan is effervescent, bubbly, and inspiring. This Southern girl’s laughter is contagious, and fun should be her middle name. Laura worked in city planning to revitalize and animate cities. She worked in Greenville, SC, for ten years and said, “Look at Greenville now. There was economic development, and we put heads in beds.”

Fifteen years ago, she used those skills to create Loco Motion, intending to get the Lowcountry in motion. But for what cause? She considered breast cancer, children, and animals. “If I chose animals, I’d end up with all the shelter animals in my backyard. With kids, I’d end up with the whole orphanage. So, boobs it was! We can even say ‘booby.’”

The young couple who came to meet me were right on time. Rachel McBride is the founder of “The Helianthus Project,” and along with her husband, they describe their organization as God’s Non-Profit and Advocacy, Latina (she’s from Texas) and Veteran (USMC) founded.

The word “Helianthus” is Greek for the sunflower plant. “The Helianthus, aka the sunflower, represents Truth, Strength, and Light. It’s unique in that it can grow and blossom in the face of the harshest environments. Regardless of where the seed has been cast, the Helianthus rises from the dirt, its face always towards the sun. In the moments it cannot find the sun, it looks to its neighbor, both of them providing light for each other until they can find the sun again.”

At the age of 17, Carly Anthony has quite a success story to tell.

Like many students her age, this Heritage Academy Senior leads an active lifestyle and loves the beach. Carly has played tennis since age 6 and plays competitively. And among her many admirable qualities is her passion for and great success in raising large sums of money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital located in Memphis, Tennessee.

Cappy, you are a Hilton Head legend, and you’ve built a life clowning around. Tell us what you love most about being a clown.
Imagine the joy when a wheelchair-bound child twists (with a little help) a balloon. A child battling serious illness laughs for a few minutes. A kid with autism learns a magic trick. A teen who lacks confidence learns how to paint. Teaching and inspiring confidence in kids is what makes my heart happy.

You have built a BBQ Empire in a stereotypical male dominated field; how have you managed to be successful?
Staying focused on daily success in this business is imperative. For me it includes consistency in the quality of my food, in my management style, and in being locked into my vision for One Hot Mama’s both now and in the future.

Has becoming a chef been a lifelong dream?
Have you had a mentor through it all?
It was my goal to open my own restaurant by the time I was 30 years old. Steve Carb, the OG of Hilton Head Restaurants and SERG Group, believed in me, and gave me the opportunity to shine and learn how to be a great restaurateur.

Pink readers, you know we love inspirational stories, and Carol Lynn Vrana’s is perhaps the most dramatic one you will ever read here. In a nutshell, she was walking across the street to open her brand-new business, when a commercial TRUCK HIT HER!
This story sounds so unbelievable. It sounds like a Hallmark movie, or a soap opera, or AI—completely made up. And yes, it will INSPIRE you! But first, the back story on Carol Lynn, the starring character.

Carol Lynn Vrana has always been a mover and a shaker. After a successful corporate career as a Home Healthcare and Hospice executive, she and her husband were faced with empty nest syndrome when their only child, Adam, graduated. Her husband, Marek, is a successful contractor, and while they enjoyed living in upstate South Carolina, they always loved visiting Beaufort. And Carol Lynn had an idea, a dream, a plan cooking…

Trinita Franklin has been cooking since she was in third grade. Both parents worked; her mother was a teacher and a nanny, and her father was an electrical engineer. Trinita had four siblings, and she was responsible for preparing their meals, and in doing so, a seed was planted that blossomed into a love of cooking.

Trinita hails from Birmingham, Alabama, and moved to Hilton Head at the end of the summer. She had worked her way up from kitchen supervisor to assistant sous chef at the The Westin Birmingham. The chef at The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa contacted Trinita because he had seen her work and hired her as a pastry chef.

Tabitha Arsenault is happy to call Bluffton home. This hometown girl and her family moved from South Jersey to Bluffton when she was 15 years old. “Watching the island grow and change over the years has been incredible,” said Tabitha. “Some things have stayed the same, like the close-knit community, while others have evolved with development and growth.”

Tabitha is one of four siblings: sister Janice, and brothers Nick and Jimmy. Tabitha’s family has always remained close, and she got Nick his job at the same company where she currently works. Jimmy, just 22 months younger than Tabitha, used to work with his big sister at Red Fish Restaurant in Hilton Head. “Red Fish is the only restaurant I ever worked at, and it has shaped my life,” mused Tabitha. “I became more knowledgeable about food and wine, and it gave me exquisite and expensive taste when dining out.”

Dawn Seligman-McKay moved to Bluffton just 18 months ago from Indianapolis, IN, but she has quickly integrated into the community to offer her 30 years of experience in elder care and breast cancer care. Dawn is a social worker and a counselor specialized in gerontology who also volunteered in various capacities with the Alzheimer’s Association in Indianapolis. She offered ADL (activities of daily living) training for CNA’s and other types of caregivers. While in Detroit, she was instrumental in opening one of the first assisted living and memory care assisted living facilities.

However, it’s her personal journey that inspired her to do even more.

Cool art vibes saturate the air in every form and medium in the Lowcountry, one of the
most beautiful natural canvases on earth. With all the surrounding beauty, it’s no wonder
the Lowcountry is teeming with creative minds and talented artists. Some do it for fun.
Some do it for a living. All do it to nourish their inherent need to create.

Welcome to our fifth year featuring Lowcountry Originals, where you will meet six dynamic artisans, all filled with creative energy and verve for their work. They have allowed us a peek into their creative minds, revealed their fears and doubts, told us what inspires them, and given us insight into their processes.

Enjoy a creative stroll and step into the Lowcountry art scene:

Sandy Dimke

Art: Photography 

When and how did you discover your artistic talent?
I love creating art through the medium of photography. Luckily, the photography bug hit me early, so I’ve been able to perfect my art over the last 50 years. I photographed as a 16-year-old exchange student in France, and as an adult, my husband encouraged me to continue pursuing the art I love. My goal is to freeze a moment in time in a creative way by using unique camera angles, and I’m not afraid of adding a different perspective with post processing. A traveler at heart, I try to capture the excitement of the world we live in, whether at home in the Lowcountry or in more exotic locales around the globe. I use photography as a means of creative expression to see the world differently, with a fresh view of reality.

Cindy Lou Palko

Art: Theatre Sets/Props

When and how did you discover your artistic talent?
I have loved creative endeavors since childhood. I have been blessed to be able to take classes in auto shop, wood shop, sculpture, jewelry making, and drawing/painting in middle and high school. I went on to major in drafting and manufacturing for my college degree, whilst having electives in upholstery and fine arts classes. This broad range of training in how to “make things,” led to my career in Manufacturing and Supply Chain. This is where I had the opportunity to visit a multitude of factories to review the processes used to create products. This brought me to the dilemma of how I keep busy in retirement by having an endless supply of opportunities to “make things” in a variety of mediums. The solution…theatre!

Karen M. Serafini

Art Medium: Resin

When and how did you discover your artistic talent?
I studied classical piano from a young age and have always dabbled in art: jewelry making, painting, crafts and now resin art. I owned a gallery in Leiper’s Fork, TN, showcasing my jewelry, along with other local artists’ work.

How and/or why did you choose your medium?
I was fascinated by pictures and videos online of myriad colors and fluidity of resin works that reminded me of blown glass, which I’ve loved since I was a child. So, I started playing around with it, making coasters and trays. But that didn’t satisfy me, so through a lot of trial and error, I developed a process to use resin to create vessels and sculptures that look like the blown glass I love so much. My chemistry background helped in this process since the critical variables in creating these pieces are driven by temperature, humidity, quantity, and time.

Brooke Danielle
Career: Musician/Singer 

When and how did you discover your artistic talent?
What do you love about it?
I was around 5 years old when I discovered I could sing. My mother taught me my very first song: “How Majestic Is Your Name” by Sandi Patty. At age 7, I sang my first solo at my grandmother’s church—“We Shall Behold Him” by Vickie Winans. My mother loved that song. It was quite a big song to sing at the time; it still is! I knew from a very young age I loved music! I could hear and understand intricate things, and I was already into jazz fusion, R&B, gospel, even rock and roll because these were things I was introduced to through my dad, so I fell in love with music right off the bat.

Art Medium: Oil painting with gold

When and how did you discover your artistic talent? What led you to your medium, and what do you love about it?
I was always an artist—but a performing artist. Painting wasn’t even on my radar until much later in life. At 50, I returned to college to finish my undergraduate degree, planning to pursue a master’s degree in theater so I could teach at the college level. To avoid writing papers and group projects, I signed up for painting classes instead. What a surprise it turned out to be!

The very first time I put paint on canvas, I was captivated. I loved the feel of the brush, the texture of the paint, and the way something invisible in my mind could suddenly take form before my eyes. I had never drawn or painted before except in coloring books as a child. But from that moment, I knew I had discovered something that was truly mine.

Art Medium: Dancer and Costume Designer / Co-owner of
Belle Âme Dresses

When and how did you discover your artistic talent?
This is something I have been asked by almost every client: “How did you get into making these beautiful costumes?” I guess we need to begin with my love for all things that sparkle! My childhood was filled with creative play and imagination! I’ve danced since the age of 3, trained in ballet, tap, and jazz. My grandmother, a sewing machine wizard, regularly created tulle and tutu creations for me and my sister to perform our own shows in the living room.

Mary Olodun, ND, has led a remarkable career of service to her country and clients.

As a sickly child who missed 56 days of kindergarten, Mary became well-acquainted with the modern healthcare system throughout her childhood. With a special talent for planning her career steps, young Mary obtained her nursing degree right out of high school and her license as a practical nurse in 1989. Along the way, Mary encountered many moonlighting clinicians who educated her about the power of natural medicine. Time and again, Mary bore witness to the positive effects of holistic medicine. Through the years, her interest in a career in holistic medicine only intensified, but her career path would first take a

In fifth grade, Erin Benjamin decided that she would be an eye doctor. It’s rather unusual for an 11-year-old child to know her life’s vision with such certainty—and to hold steadfast until realizing her dream.

“In middle school I knew I was really good in biology and physics, where I excelled. I was not interested in history or English. There was no other option for me. I wanted to go into medicine,” Erin said. “I was fascinated by my eye doctor. I am very near-sighted and have worn glasses and contacts since I was 15. Mostly it was my dad who influenced me. He said it was a great field to get into because I would follow patients all their lives, it isn’t messy like surgery, and it has better hours.” Erin explained that she wanted kids and marriage, and as an eye doctor, she wouldn’t get called back on weekends.

Dr. Heidi Harrington has many qualities that you’d hope to find in a plastic surgeon.

She’s creative. She’s artistic. She’s unapologetically detail oriented. She’s passionate about the prospect of improving her patients’ lives and confidence through plastic surgery.

She’s no stranger to the concept of teamwork, either. While leading Beaufort Memorial’s Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics practice, she collaborates closely with board-certified, fellowship-trained breast oncology surgeons in the hospital’s Breast Care & Surgery Program. Together, they’re building a comprehensive breast reconstruction program—bringing life-changing procedures to breast cancer patients right here at home.

Jerri Barden Perkins, M.D. knew she wanted to be a physician from a young age.

Jerri graduated from Mary Washington College and was the first female student enrolled at the Medical College of Virginia in 25 years. During her medical school training, Jerri’s mentor secured a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research training grant for her, and soon she fell in love with medical research. Her career path set, Dr. Perkins became an award-winning and world-renowned researcher, scientific research paper author, educator, and lecturer on arthritis and infectious disease research. Following graduation from medical school, she began a three-year fellowship at the NIH where she helped rediscover and name an organism responsible for arthritis: the JB strain.

Danielle Miller grew up on Hilton Head Island when it was quiet and had two-lane roads. 


Gatherings of family and friends took place almost every Saturday and Sunday at her grandfather’s home, and they were always centered around a lot of good food. Danielle was raised in a large family where old ways of traditional island living, like fishing and crabbing, were taught to her at a young age. These special pastimes created many fond childhood memories for Danielle.

Her grandfather’s place also had a lush garden that was planted every year. They all referred to it as “the field”. Danielle helped harvest the fresh vegetables for the week ahead, picking sweet ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, and the like. Wild berries grew in abundance nearby, and when mixed with a little chew on some sugar cane from the field, it was like heaven. These age-old Gullah traditions were instilled in Danielle at a young age and have been a part of who she is, ever since.

Amanda, you are the Library Director for Beaufort County, meaning you oversee the operations of all libraries in Beaufort County. This is a huge job, but let’s start at the beginning. How did you come to the realization you wanted to be a librarian?
I’ve always been drawn to the idea of being a connector, helping people find exactly what they need. In college, libraries gave me a quiet place to study, but it was also where I realized I was good at finding information and loved helping others discover answers. That’s when I learned that as a librarian, I could do all those things to guide people in finding answers to their questions.

Life is all about playing the hand you were dealt like it’s exactly what you wanted. That’s how 32-year-old Caroline Campbell, who was born with Down syndrome, moves through her days and approaches the things she sets her mind to. You may have heard of Caroline and her adventures and accomplishments because she’s done some amazing things, exemplifying dedication, positivity, and cheerfulness in all she does.

In the June 2014 edition of Pink, we first met Caroline as an active 21-year-old who enjoyed taking dancing lessons and singing at church. However, her biggest claim to fame is she had set out to handwrite the Bible word-for-word. We are thrilled to announce she has completed this task, filling up 47 three-ring notebook binders, all stored carefully in her bedroom. Her Christian faith is a big part of her life, and she loves and reads scripture daily.

Roberta Weber knows how to get things done.

Born and raised in the Badger state, Roberta attended and graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a degree in speech and hearing pathology. She moved to Chicago where she raised a family and began her 40-year career in healthcare. She managed a radiology department and a large orthopedic office before becoming the Physician Administrator at Highland Park Hospital for just over 10 years. In this position, Roberta gained valuable experience in physician relations and quality, patient-focused services. Moreover, she built an enviable reputation and became w

Do you remember feeling that sensation as a kid when you walked into a candy store—eyes wide as you scanned the multitude of candy jars? It was pure joy knowing you would definitely buy something, but oh, the choices!

Walking into the The Spirited Hand gift store gives one the same sense of delight and expectation as your eyes settle on something of beauty one second, and then gaze upon something different, equally as delightful and appealing.