And to celebrate her new location and continued longevity in the community, May's Beauty Salon opened its new doors and shared its 19th anniversary with the community.

"I love this area," Lin says. "That's why I can't go away."

Lin quickly found new space and says most of her clients have followed. She views her work as a hairstylist to be a form of art, so her first order of business was to introduce vibrant touches of color to her new salon, which had previously been decorated floor-to-ceiling in black and white. Lin added engaging wall art, the relaxing green of numerous plants and an eye-catching, colorful, 3-foot-high frog that greets her clientele near the front door.

"I love doing hair," Lin says. "I love people, and you see different people every day, so you do different hairstyles every day. I like doing hair on older ladies also because it is art. You do the best you can do to make someone beautiful."

Since she was a teenager in her homeland of Taiwan, Lin has worked in the beauty industry.

"I wanted to be a makeup artist and went into training for Shiseido [makeup] for six months at a department store," Lin says. "They transferred me to the countryside, and next door was a beauty shop. I saw the shop was busy and thought I could make a good living doing makeup, facials and hair."

After attending a beauty college for hairstyling and makeup in Taipei, Taiwan, Lin went to Japan for additional training. She soon opened her first beauty salon in Taipei, hired someone to run it, and kept traveling back and forth to Japan. A school there offered continual training in new techniques for haircuts, hair color and makeup that was unavailable in Taipei.

She came to the United States in 1978 with her former husband and initially worked at a salon at the Town and Country Center. Lin still attends specialized classes twice a year in Hollywood.

"I think everyone who is a hairstylist should go for continuing education if you want to improve yourself," she says.

On a recent trip to Safeway, Lin saw a client leaving the store. Just then, three women were entering, and they all stopped the client and told her how much they loved her hair. Lin was pleased, but not surprised.

"The important thing is the cut," Lin says. "If you have a good haircut, it doesn't matter what else you do."

Although she is on her feet all day, she likes to hike a lot, lift weights and do yoga in her free hours. But it is running that Lin loves the most. It goes back to when she used to run as a kid, with her runner father setting the example. She will often jog after a long day at work, and last year she began training for a marathon.

"My girlfriend said 'If I can do it, you can do it, too,'" Lin says.

A couple miles a day by the creek in Almaden turned into 18-mile runs on Sundays. But she overdid it and injured her knee, which she says still gives her trouble. So this year she isn't training for a marathon, but still managed to participate in a six-mile run from Santa Cruz to Capitola in July.

She shrugs, smiles and says, "I'm a runner."

May's Beauty Salon (408-286-1317) is located at 1045 Lincoln Ave. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with special appointments available. The salon serves women, men and children.