78 Photo Essay: Bennett Boylen

Words by Ingrid Hogue | Image by Blakeney Clouse

When Bennett Boylen was 18, she was living in Atlanta, working full-time and earning a degree in aesthetics. She had stepped out of Jasper for the first time and was reaching milestones. Yet, in the evenings, when she waited tables at a family-owned restaurant, she saw something she wanted more than prestigious jobs on a resumé. She saw people who knew each other deep in conversation. And she remembered what it was like. 

Bennett says her family was fractured when her father left, but she had had a strong mother who encouraged her two girls to stay close and a community in Jasper that had known and loved her family for generations. 

Bennett decided that Atlanta had all the aestheticians it needed. Jasper needed a spa, and she needed Jasper. 

Twelve years later, she is the co-owner of Rastore Day Spa. Her business is undergirded by constant prayer and faith in God’s provision and direction. Jasper women spill through her doors daily, and she supports them with an open ear, a quiet place, and words of encouragement. “We’ve led women to Christ in these walls,” she says.

Between shifts at Rastore, she is shuttling kids to school and gymnastics and feeding a baby. On off days, she juggles between scouring the house, playing with the kids, church activities, and reconnecting with friends. Nothing, she has decided, is worth more than relationships.

Bennett’s strong relationship with her mother had been a sufficient reason to stay in Jasper. But when her mother died almost a year ago, the women in Bennett’s life “loved me when I had nothing to give.”

She has found that love that remains through time and trials is what makes the bonds of a family, and family makes a home, and home is the place to be. 

On any given Tuesday you’ll find her at the Chick-Fil-A in Jasper, a baby on her lap, deep in conversation with someone she knows well. 78