People Profiles

4M METALS IS HELPING DEFINE THE LOWCOUNTRY LOOK.

You’ve seen the shirts. They’re everywhere. Stamped across the front: “Got Metal?” Across the back is the stylish, angular logo of 4M Metals. When it comes to popular T-shirts, it’s second only to the brightly colored shirts for a certain canine-based seafood restaurant. As far as getting the 4M Metals name out, it’s a stroke of marketing genius. 

FOR HILTON HEAD COUPLE, SUCCESS RUNS IN THE FAMILY

For Myla Lerner, it’s always been about the domino theory: Connect with creative, smart, energetic people and obstacles will fall down, one after another.

“I’m not shy,” said Lerner, an award-winning Broadway producer and president of the board of Lean Ensemble Theater, a performing arts company on Hilton Head Island. “When we first got here, we knew hardly anyone, so I made some connections.”

HARDSCAPE COMPANY PAVES THE WAY FOR FAMILY TO BECOME REALITY TV STARS

At first glance, the Currys seems like any Lowcountry family, but they aren’t your average next-door neighbor. For starters, the family runs a local multimillion-dollar business. They also happen to be the Lowcountry’s newest reality TV stars.

LUNDY'S HAIRSTYLE SALON

When Gina Orage’s mother was ready to retire, her daughter knew she couldn’t let the business, Lundy’s Hairstyle Salon, close. So she took over, continuing to run the shop from the small cement building between her home and her parents’ on the Hilton Head Island road named for their family.

THE G-FREE SPOT

Nicole Gardner struggled her entire life with migraines, eczema and other medical issues. When her daughter began experiencing similar symptoms at age 4, the Hilton Head Island woman decided they would both go on an elimination diet, cutting foods that could trigger reactions and slowly reintroducing them one at a time.

BLUFFTON SCHOOL OF DANCE

Like the comic-book superhero Wonder Woman, Dawn Rosa Miller grew up surrounded by smart, powerful women and girls.

She attended an all-girls Catholic school and was a camp counselor and dance instructor by age 15. Her mother was an obstetric nurse who worked her way up through the ranks to become manager of the neonatal infant care unit at New Jersey’s Hackensack University Medical Center.

Ana Maria ZimbronFIESTA & PARTY

Brightly colored helium balloons bob outside the front door of Ana Maria Zimbron’s shop in Bluffton when it’s open, and the spirit of Fiesta & Party’s owner couldn’t be represented in a better way.

Zimbron smiles warmly as she welcomes customers into her small showroom, where an elegant banquet table is set with a sparkly tablecloth, a golden charger, stemware and cutlery. She invites her visitors to sit down, offers bottled water and leans forward enthusiastically, taking notes about the customer’s needs and vision.

THE LITTLE FISH BOATEAK

Talent. A creative drive and the desire to excel. Add to that the deep love of a mother who wanted to be a role model for her two daughters, and you can begin to understand Melissa “Lissy” Wood-Rawl, who owns Littlefish Boateak.

AIRBORNE EXERCISES HELP BOOST FLEXIBILITY AND AGILITY

Did you ever dream of running away and joining the circus when you were a kid? If the idea of flying through the air with the greatest of ease on a trapeze still appeals to your sense of adventure, then aerial arts may be for you. And there’s a place in Bluffton where you can make that dream a reality.

ISLAND DESIGNER JONI VANDERSLICE DISCOVERS A GREATER PURPOSE DURING TRAVELS

Joni Vanderslice believes that when we travel, we bring a piece of the destinations and cultures we experience back home with us — an idea that has influenced both her life and her work.

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