Linda J. Hernandez joined the team at Mary’s Beauty Shoppe, located on Main Street, Mathews, on July 8.

Hernandez is an independent contractor at the shop. “I love doing color,” she said, and also offers cuts, perms and related services for men, women and children.

Appointments are encouraged at Mary’s, owner Nancy Dicus of Susan said, but sometimes walk-ins can be accommodated.

Hernandez has more than 30 years’ hair care experience. She owned a beauty salon on Gwynn’s Island for eight years and worked at several other shops on the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula.

Originally from Mathews, Hernandez is a graduate of Mathews High School and of the former Jan-Mar Beauty Academy in Newport News. Hernandez resides at Gwynn’s Island. Her daughter, Vallin, 13, is a rising eighth grader at Thomas Hunter Middle School.

Dicus said her mother, the late Mary Enos Diggs, started Mary’s Beauty Shoppe in 1958. She has owned the business for 10 years...