![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/1-3-1024x683.jpg\")
That legacy mattered to Gina, but it was not the whole story. Her real dream lived somewhere else \u2014 backstage rather than center stage. Hair, makeup, and the quiet transformation that happens before the lights come up were where Gina felt most herself. After years in the music business, she made the difficult decision to leave what she knew and return to school, determined to pursue beauty work professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She approached that pivot the way she approached life: fully committed, without apology, and guided by instinct. The phrase, \u201cLive life to the fullest,\u201d was not a slogan for Gina so much as a practice. She dreamed, she worked, and she followed her heart \u2014 even when that meant starting over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Gina died, the shock rippled through every corner of her community. At her funeral, amid grief and disbelief, another friend voiced an idea that would change everything: What if Gina\u2019s dream did not end here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From that moment, the Gina Putman Foundation began to take shape. Stacey, alongside a group of Gina\u2019s friends, helped turn mourning into motion. Two goals anchored the foundation from the start \u2014 to keep Gina\u2019s memory alive and to raise money for student scholarships for those pursuing careers in cosmetology, aesthetics, and related beauty fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The selection process has developed its own rhythm. Stacey believes Gina still plays a role in it \u2014 not through mysticism, but. through alignment. Patterns emerge. Names resurface. Circumstances connect in ways that feel less accidental than they appear. Stacey calls these moments \u201cGina-ventions\u201d \u2014 small, affirming coincidences that feel like guidance rather than chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year\u2019s recipient, Zack, embodied the foundation\u2019s purpose clearly. He answered his calling when he packed up and moved to New York to pursue his dream of working in the beauty industry \u2014 a leap that mirrors the one Gina herself once took. The foundation\u2019s support does not guarantee success, but it removes one barrier, one moment of hesitation, one closed door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is the heart of the work Stacey now leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/2-3-1024x683.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/4-4-1024x683.jpg\")