“My background is kind of all over the place,” McKinney said. “You might have looked at my résumé and thought, ‘Wow, this girl doesn’t have a college education.’”
DENVER — On a bus headed downtown, Cherri McKinney, a beauty expert with no college education, opened a compact mirror and — even as the vehicle rattled and the blinding morning sun filled the window — skillfully applied eyeliner.
McKinney is a licensed aesthetician. She went into bookkeeping after graduating from high school in 1992, then ran a waxing salon for years. Later, she shifted into human resources at a homeless shelter. But stepping off the bus, she started her work day as a benefits and leave administrator for Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment…