When you walk through the doors of Blessed Forever Aesthetics in Tullahoma, you’re stepping into Shannon Cole’s world. Every detail, from the calming colors on the walls to the gentle sound of soothing music, invites you into instant tranquility. The walls are well-adorned, and the furnishings make the space feel like home. Behind this business is a cozy space overflowing with benevolence, comfort, and care.
Take a stroll to the back of the building, and you’ll find a surprise that reveals another layer of Coles’ heart. In a cozy, climate-controlled room, you’ll meet her other residents — a handful of cats lounging in their own little oasis. These are her furry companions that she’s taken in, who have become her family and are loved just as fiercely as the clients she greets with a warm smile.
Cole has always had a natural instinct to care for and enhance others’ well-being. She began her career as a registered nurse, tending to patients during long hospital shifts. While she felt fulfilled by healing others, she dreamed of one day helping people feel good in their own skin.
That dream led her to open Blessed Forever Aesthetics in 2015. This spa is the perfect space for beauty and self-care, offering services like Botox, fillers, chemical peels, laser treatments, permanent makeup, and IV hydration therapy. Cole’s nursing education gave her the knowledge and experience she needed to perform advanced procedures as a cosmetic nurse.
As her business grew, so did her vision. She brought on two other skilled professionals who offer massage therapy and lash extensions, making Blessed Forever a one-stop destination for self-care.
While Cole’s professional life revolves around beauty, much of her personal life revolves around animal rescue. She ventured into this world almost unexpectedly when she started encountering stray cats around the community.
One day, Cole discovered a box of kittens abandoned at Tullahoma’s Rocket Ship Park. The tiny babies, still attached to their umbilical cords and crawling with ants, were barely alive.
“I had no clue what to do,” she said. “So when I reached out to the internet, I received a response from Linda Becar at Cosmos Kitten Rescue.”
Becar immediately began sharing kitten-raising tips with Cole, offering advice, and even dropping by with gifts.
“She came to my house to make sure that I had all the proper materials.”
Before long, Cole fell in love with nurturing kittens back to health.
“Around the clock, every three hours for six weeks, I fed these babies with a bottle and fell in love with the cause. I started doing what I could do and trying to take care of these creatures that could not take care of themselves,” she recalled.
Since then, Cole has actively supported Cosmos Kitten Rescue, a nonprofit that rescues and rehabilitates abandoned cats and kittens.
She has fostered many kittens, donated supplies, and even built a ‘cat apartment’ behind her building with heat and air conditioning.
Cats of all sizes and colors lounge on plush beds or play with dangling toys. A few are permanent residents, while others await adoption through Cosmos Kitten Rescue.
Not all of Cole’s kitten rescue stories end positively. Cole has cared for cats with heartbreaking stories: a blind kitten, another that survived an acid attack, and many others who had been abandoned and forgotten.
One time, Cole took in a tiny kitten named Nudge, weighing only a few ounces at three weeks old. Cole found Nudge in a concrete culvert in Hillsboro, and after rescuing him, she cared for him for three weeks.
He seemed to be doing well, but tragically, he passed away suddenly from a viral infection — Feline Immunodeficiency Virus — a disease that can be transmitted from an infected mother cat to her kittens if they aren’t vaccinated. The loss of Nudge was traumatic for Cole, but it did not discourage her from continuing to rescue and nurture other kittens back to health.
“I just keep on pushing on and do everything I can to try to help get these animals taken care of so that they can live a healthy life.”
However, the beauty of animal rescue often outweighs the difficult moments, and these are often seen in the adoptive stories that come full circle.
“I had one kitten that I posted on my Facebook that had been severely injured on its neck,” Cole said.
“Being a nurse, I knew what I needed to do in order to nurse this cat back to health. And, of course, he got adopted, and the family that adopted him said he was one of the sweetest cats ever, and they send me pictures of him all the time.”
Walking out of Blessed Forever Aesthetics, it’s clear that Cole’s work is far deeper than skin care. She has built an oasis where beauty, benevolence, and love intersect. Cole shows she cares for all creatures by helping clients embrace their natural glow and rescuing kittens in need.
Many clients come in for an invigorating facial and, as they leave, find themselves enriched by a bit of kitten therapy as well. It’s not uncommon for clients to peek in and say “hi” to the cats before or after their appointments.
Cole plans to continue to leave the world a little more beautiful with every face she touches, every kitten she rescues, and every act of kindness she performs, all while encouraging the community to do the same.
“I’m not saying you should go out there and spend your last dime on somebody. But even if it’s a hot meal, a hot cup of coffee, food for an animal that’s starving to death, or even going to see your grandbabies in a play at school, you have to do it. That one act of kindness can lead to so much more in your own personal life. It just makes your heart full and makes you a better person.”
