Gracie Kroeger is Setting The Beauty Standard Draft

By Mackenzie Branstad

As the blue light shines brightly onto the face of Gracie Kroeger, Tiktok blasts through the speaker of her phone as she longingly watches yet another woman’s face light up with the sheer joy of getting her hair done. After a long session of doomscrolling, Kroeger looks across the hospital room praying that she can get back to the salon soon. For six months, Kroeger was unable to do what brings her the most joy, hair. In between the hospital and her house in Bentonville Arkansas, Kroeger was beyond ready to return, due to her Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Alpha Gal syndrome. Gracie wasn’t sure that she would ever be behind the styling chair again. 

Alpha Gal is most commonly known for making those with the condition unable to eat red meat but it also gives many an irritation to perfumes and scents. This is because of the animal derived products in many fragrances. Many of these fragrances are found in hair products. In Arkansas, 31.2% of adults were estimated to be seropositive for Alpha Gal antibodies. Arkansas has the most cases of Alpha Gal due to its high population of ticks. 

Gracie is 25 years old and has been doing hair for six years now. She fell in love with the hair salon while growing up watching her mother do hair at Wildflower Salon in Bentonville. After cosmetology school, she began working alongside her mom and loved the energy of the busy salon but as an introvert struggled finding a moment of quiet in her busy work day. After her diagnosis she opened her own suite, The Beauty Standard. The bright pink walls carefully decorated with pink whimsical prints filled with swans, bows and roses were way more Kroeger’s speed. “I noticed clients open up so much more being one on one. Even clients who struggled to open up immediately felt more comfortable here,” said Kroeger. 

Photo by Mackenzie Branstad 

In August 2025 Gracie noticed she was feeling really nauseous and dizzy all of the time at her old salon, she realized all of the chemicals and fragrances she was using at work where what was giving her the reaction and as her symptoms grew more intense Gracie knew she had to take time off of work. “I got to the point where I was completely bedridden. I was going into Anaphylaxis all the time and I could hardly eat anything at all,” said Kroeger. From that point in the hospital she found out what to avoid and got on some medication for it. All of Gracie’s symptoms are from both Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Alpha Gal. 

From the hospital bed, it was Gracie’s goal to find out how she could get back to her clients and behind the styling chair. Her main motivation throughout her entire career has always been her clients. “I have a client that told me she was locked in her house for years because she was just reacting to everything and hadn’t had her hair done in five or six years,” said Kroeger. “Having clients that have this shared experience means we can connect on a different level,” says Gracie. Her big smile lights up when she talks about the best part of her job. Making her clients feel beautiful. “It just makes my day,” she adds. 

Her lengthy hospital stay rejuvenated her and reminded her how much she loves doing hair. Olivia Sneathern, one of Gracie’s clients before and after Alpha Gal was worried for her stylist especially because Gracie was going to do her hair for her wedding day. Gracie started doing Olivia’s hair two years ago and they became instant friends. 

“Not only was she supposed to do my hair for my wedding but she was also in my wedding,” said Sneathern. Olivia has noticed a real difference in her hair since Gracie switched to no fragrance and vegan products. Although she doesn’t have Alpha Gal she much prefers Gracie’s products. “I don’t think my hair gets as greasy with the new products,” says Olivia. 

Photo by Mackenzie Branstad 

“I actually didn’t even know I had been bit by a tick,” said Kroeger. When she was hospitalized last November for her Mast Cell Activation Syndrome she was tested for Alpha Gal and the results came back positive. Another Northwest Arkansas resident, Cherrie Johnson had a similar experience. “I had no idea I was bitten by a tick,” said Johnson. Cherrie lives in a smaller farm town in Northwest Arkansas and says that many people in her community also have Alpha Gal. Cherrie was undiagnosed for a year and went to many doctors trying to find answers before a friend with Alpha Gal had similar symptoms and encouraged her to be examined. 

Health care providers in the United States have low awareness of Alpha Gal. In a survey done in 2023, 42% of providers have never heard of Alpha Gal and 35% reported they didn’t feel secure in their ability to diagnose the disease. When the health care providers are uninformed, Cherrie and Kroeger are delayed in getting the care that they need. As Alpha Gal cases become more common, more solutions are necessary which is why Gracie is proud to be Northwest Arkansas first fragrance-free, vegan and allergy-friendly salon. 

Gracie slides her phone in her tall standup pink tripod next to her luxurious black styling chair in her own suite. Filming herself as she paints the coloring brush through her clients hair. Coloring, cutting, blonding and adding extensions. Gracie glances in the big mirror as her client radiates a new confidence only secured through a new hairstyle. The TikTok’s she was longingly watching only a few months ago, she is now creating and is reminded daily that this is what she was meant to do. “Absence really does make the heart grow fonder,” says Kroeger.