There is something intimate about painting another person’s nails. One hand rests inside another. Conversation has time to unfold. Stories surface. For a senior who does not receive many visitors, the appointment can become less about polish and more about presence.

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Tiasha Jackson understands that.

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Through Gentle Glam for Seniors Inc., the nonprofit she founded, volunteers provide free nail services to seniors living in assisted living facilities and rehabilitation centers. But Tiasha has never seen the manicure as the whole point. What matters is what happens around it: listening, laughing, sharing time and reminding someone that she has not been forgotten.

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That instinct—to notice people and stay awhile—has followed Tiasha for much of her life.

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Born in Staten Island, New York, she grew up in a loving home as the oldest of six children. Being first in line among her siblings came with responsibilities. Younger eyes were watching, and she learned early that leadership could be practiced long before anyone gave it a title.

Church was also a regular part of family life. Tiasha volunteered in the children’s ministry at Elevation Church, ran track and participated in cheerleading. Service was not introduced to her as a grand idea. It was simply something people did.

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Her mother gave that lesson its clearest shape.

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Tiasha remembers being taught to keep moving when obstacles appeared, to love people without deciding first whether they deserved it, to give back and to remain willing to learn. Her mother also offered a definition of success that Tiasha carried with her: a meaningful life was not measured primarily by possessions, but by the people one helped along the way.

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That understanding eventually influenced how Tiasha viewed her own education.

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After high school, she attended college but came to realize that a traditional academic path was not where she felt most drawn. She did not stop learning. She changed classrooms.

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Community service became one. Leadership became another. So did relationships with people whose lives differed from hers.

Tiasha began to understand that some lessons arrive through textbooks and others arrive while serving a meal, helping someone locate a resource or listening closely enough to understand what another person needs.

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Today, she works as an office manager at Absolute Health Professionals, supporting daily operations, staff, communication, workflow and organizational needs connected to healthcare services. Outside the office, however, much of her attention returns to two groups especially close to her heart: seniors and people experiencing homelessness.

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Throughout Volusia County, she has volunteered through meal distributions, shelters, donations, prayer and resource assistance. The work is practical, but her motivation is personal. She wants people to know that their circumstances have not erased their worth.

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Gentle Glam grew from that same belief.

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Tiasha wanted seniors, including those living with loneliness or limited family visits, to experience care that did not feel rushed. Painting nails offered an unexpected doorway. A volunteer could sit. A resident could talk. Someone could listen.

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Starting the organization required planning, faith and persistence. It also required Tiasha to become more comfortable doing something that had frightened her for years.

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Speaking.

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For much of her life, Tiasha was shy. Standing before a group and talking confidently did not come naturally. Yet the causes she cared about were pushing her toward increasingly public spaces.

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She realized that wanting to advocate for people while being afraid to speak created a problem she could no longer avoid.

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So she began putting herself in uncomfortable rooms.

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Pageants became part of that process. Community speaking opportunities became another. She competed, appeared before audiences and practiced saying what she believed even when doing so felt unfamiliar.

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Confidence did not arrive all at once. It accumulated.

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Tiasha became Miss Black Daytona Beach USA 2024 and later Miss Revolutionary USA 2026. She also began serving in community leadership roles, including as Heart and Mission Advocate Board Member for the ABF Foundation, supporting teen drug prevention and outreach, and as a board member with the Pilot Club of the Halifax Area.

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The titles matter less than what they required her to overcome.

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The young woman once reluctant to speak before a crowd now uses public opportunities to encourage volunteerism, advocate for others and invite people into community service.

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Her ambitions are growing with that confidence.

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Tiasha hopes to someday open a homeless shelter that offers more than a bed. She imagines a place where people can also reach education, resources and opportunities that help them rebuild. She wants to expand programs supporting seniors and improving the dignity and care they receive.

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And within the next five to ten years, she hopes to serve as a Daytona Beach City Commissioner.

There is something fitting about that possibility.

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A woman who once feared addressing a room now imagines listening to residents, discussing public concerns and speaking on behalf of families, seniors and people experiencing homelessness.

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Her idea of leadership, however, remains surprisingly close to the lessons of her childhood. Listen. Serve. Treat people with respect. Leave them better than you found them.

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Tiasha often returns to one belief: “Kindness costs nothing, but it can change everything.”

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For her, kindness is not abstract. Sometimes it is a meal. Sometimes it is advocacy. Sometimes it is standing behind a microphone despite the nervousness.

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And sometimes it is simply sitting across from an older woman, holding her hand carefully, painting one nail at a time, and staying long enough to hear her story.