- When the pandemic hit, small businesses
were absolutely blind sided.
It's kinda hard to keep bringing customers when
your doors are closed. So this season, we decided
to do our part and shine a light on
mom and pop shops trying to hang on and rebuild.
This is back to business!
♪♪ Back to business ♪♪
Yes! Back to business!
There was like a businassss
I liked it.
Um-get it Jesse!
There's a super cool barber shop in
Washington D.C. unlike any I've heard of before.
And offers an all-female barber shop staff.
And is designed to be inclusive no matter a
client's gender or sexual orientation.
Let's welcome the owner of Lady Clipper,
Lesley Bryant! What's up?
[Clapping]
- Hi Kelly!
Hello!
So why did you want to open up a more inclusive
barber shop? Why was this your passion?
- Well, as we all have probably experienced
sometime in our life, barbershops are like
man caves.They're not always very welcoming to
women, or anyone that's not-
the typical hetero- manly man.
So, I thought it would be interesting and I
think it's very important to have a place where
everybody can feel comfortable and receive the services
that they're paying for.
- Yeah.
[Clapping]
but being a barber is a second career for you right?
It wasn't your first one.
- Yes, I was a graphic designer for twelve years
and I got laid off.
Went and visited my personal barber and told him,
"ya know I wasn't quite sure that
I wanted to enter corporate America again. I wanted
something new and fresh." And he knowing I was a creative,
he said, "Ya know Lesley, think about barbering. You're
personable, you're creative. Try it out!"
Right away, I enrolled in barbering school, fell in love
with it.
Here we are today.
[Laughs]
- I love that! I feel like every time someone
tells me "oh man, my life took a total different ya know-
change. Like a different path."
I feel like my life did that too! And I think it's
exciting! Ya know? And I don't like monotony.
I like to change it up.
I like to follow different dreams.
At different times of your life.
So, how did the business come together eventually?
- Well, the business came together,
first year, I opened by myself just to make sure that
One- I could get everything organized and knew how
to operate a business because I didn't go to business
school or anything um-
and my mom came up with the name Lady Clipper!
[Laughs]
- I like it!
- From there, I um-
a year later, I started to inquire at local barbering
schools to look for barbers that would
that had not only the skills but also had a
welcoming and vibrant personality.
So when I reached out to the barbering school,
they sent me
two barbers that I actually hired.
And they just so happen to be female.
- That's so cool! I love the art!
Is that also part of your vibe?
- Yes, that's also part of the vibe and part of the
look.
Every month, month and half, we showcase an artist
a local artist.
And they're allowed to just display for the month
And we sell the art right off of the walls.
So there's something always fresh and new, vibrant.
And we are also giving the artists an opportunity
to get exposure and to sell some art!
- I think that's brilliant! I notice whenever I moved
to Nashville, years and years and years and years ago
and I lived there, I've never seen that before
but it's such a cool thing for all these businesses to help
everybody else out. And then with the art, you could buy
in all the stores in Nashville. They had it up like that
so you could buy the art. So it was ever-changing like you
said and you were also supporting the community.
I think that it's really cool what you're doing.
Um- how did the pandemic affect you guys?
Obviously it had to hit you hard.
- The pandemic, we had to close for three months
and that was very hard because I had to continuously
reassure my barbers that we would reopen and be stronger
than ever.
I also had to come up with a pivot and do-
I came up with doing virtual hair cuts for clients
where they would call in
through zoom or FaceTime
and I would walk them step by step through their haircut.
- Oh my gosh! I could've used your help with my four year
old boy.
[Laughter]
I was like- it was hitting his eyes
and I was terrified
I was terrified I was going to give him some-
ya know what my mom did with the chili bowl thing
as a kid and I didn't want it look all crazy.
Um-see I could've used that!
The other barbers at Lady Clipper believe in Leslie's
vision and we have three of them joining us now!
So let's say hello to Daisy, Jo and Gabby!
What's up y'all!
[Cheering]
- Hi!
- First of all, I love everyone's hair!
So that's a great sign.
Like when you walk in, you want to see that!
So what made you want to work at Lady Clipper?
Daisy, I'll start with you.
- Okay well, when I was venturing into the barbering
career, I went on Instagram and social media
just to connect with other barbers and I came across the
Lady Clipper page and I just loved the logo.
I loved the energy that I got from it and I wanted to be a
part of the team!
I wanted to be a part of a brand that was inclusive
as Lady Clipper!
- I love that! What about you Jo?
- I joined- I wanted to be a part of Lady Clipper
barber shop because I'm also a black female barber myself
so why wouldn't I want to join forces with Lady Clipper
barber shop?
I've been getting my haircut for years and I've been to
several barber shops. You can tell the difference
just by walking into the shop, you can feel the difference
Um- we go by appointments so our clients never have to sit
and wait for a long time to get their hair cut.
We greet and treat everybody with respect.
- That's an awesome environment though,
Like treating everybody with respect.
I think sometimes, that doesn't always happen
and you can kind of get a weed in there.
It's important to have that kind of- ya know
that's a second family- ya know- other than the family
that you live with, you're with them all the time.
Gaby, what about you? What made you want to join?
- What made me want to join is pretty much the same reason.
The atmosphere and the energy was just completely different
I've always had my haircut short as well. And I have a son
who I would take to all types of places to get a haircut.
You go in and it's like walking into a pack of wolves
sometimes.
I'm getting my haircut, he's getting his haircut.
The music is not appropriate, the conversations are not
appropriate. So coming in here and seeing how everything is,
It's more family oriented, more energetic,
and more relaxing. I love coming here!
- Man, yeah. It's all about a cool, chill environment.
I'm with you.
Well, I want to bring one more person into this conversation
He's not only a client of Lady Clipper, his art is
prominently displayed there.
What's up David! How you doing'?
- Hey what's up? How you doing' Kelly?
- I'm doing so well! I love the art that's hanging up
behind you as well! That looks amazing!
How did you hook up with Lady Clipper?
- Glad you asked that!
As you can tell, maybe from this bald head, I was
just searching high and low in Washington D.C. for
a barber. Right?
[Laughter]
- But all jokes aside, I actually found out about Lesley
through an artist collective which my business,
Beyond The Canvas, my art business is associated with.
And Lesley wanted to reach out for an opportunity for
artists to display their work in her barber shop and
the first thing that came to my mind is the all female
operated barber shop. I've never seen anything like that.
Or ever heard of anything like that in recent years or
anything. So, I reached out to Lesley. It was a great
opportunity. I went by the shop. The first thing that
captivated me was the ambiance. It's not like your typical
barber shop. She's been a very professional person from
the get-go. So I knew that she treated her clients a certain
way. And it was something that I wanted to be a part of.
So we partnered together and soon after,
I was displaying my artwork in her shop and I sold
a few pieces, actually. Right off the walls.
I also put my artwork on apparel. Hoodies and t-shirts.
I've sold a couple of those out of her shop. She really
opened up the opportunity for me to be an entrepreneur.
And this opportunity not only allowed me to display my work.
But she also showed me that "Hey, you can come back to the
barbershop". A few years ago, I stopped going to the
barbershop after cutting my head bald and this
gave me an opportunity to be reintroduced to the barbershop
experience. But in an elevated way. And I feel very proud
and just very very pleased to be a part of it.
It was a great experience. It was amazing from the
beginning to now.
- I love it! I love everybody helping everybody out!
Especially in a time like 2020. And even now.
So Lesley, what's your vision for the future of
Lady Clipper?
- Well, I'll just say we are currently following all
the COVID guidelines and social distancing and making sure
the shop is clean.
In the future, we plan to continue to do that and continue
to spread our message of inclusivity. All over the U.S.
It would be great! But um- hopefully, I'll start
a plan on working on Lady Clipper 2 soon,
and maybe a product line
is coming down the pipeline.
- Aw, that's exciting!
Well, I have something good to share as well!
We reached out to Hims and Hers, a telehealth platform,
where you can access high quality, convenient health and
wellness care. Including an arrange of amazing products and
treatments for your hair.
And they value diversity and inclusion and they want to
honor you!
So they're going to give you $10,000 to keep helping
your dream happen.
[Cheers]
[Clapping]
- Yes! Oh my- All of your faces, even David's, he was like-
all right!
[Laughs]
- I'm happy for her, man!
- I know, that's so good! Thank y'all so much for joining us