By Sym Posey |The Birmingham Times
What began as a hobby has become a career for Birmingham’s Isha Jones and not without some challenges.
“When I first started being a barber — being a female, — women had it a little harder in the industry than [men] for some reason,” said Jones, who has been cutting hair for more than 20 years.
The first shop where she worked there were already four or five other males cutting hair.
“I was the first female barber to come on the scene at that shop,” she recalled. “I know for at least two years; the guys were hesitant to sit in my chair because I was a female. It took a lot convincing one or two people to get in my chair, but I would give those one or two the best cut and the best experience to keep showing my work.”
Not only that, Jones said she wasn’t afraid of the challenge.
“Eventually more people would get in my chair. If one of the other barbers was taking too long, or if they were not there, then they would decide to sit in my chair and once they did, I just made that experience, one that they would always remember.”
It’s all paid off. Jones is now the owner of one of the few, if not only, female-staffed barber shops in the Birmingham area, Exclusive Choice Barber Shop, at 1301 Center point Parkway, Suite 107.
Jones, 45, who has three barbers, said having a female staffed shop wasn’t intentional. “It came into place by itself,” she said.
Jones said she first started cutting hair as a hobby at the age of 15. “I would do it in my free time and on my off days. Eventually it became my passion, and I fell more in love with it until I made it my career.”
She now participates in a barber bootcamp where she looks for more female barbers. “I just wanted to cater more to the ladies in the program as they start their journey. I wanted to be able to take what I’ve learned throughout the years and what I’ve experienced to the youth. I just wanted to be able to feed the information to someone else that’s on the same journey.”
One of those whose gaining experience is 16-year-old De’Coreya Henderson, an 11th grade student at Pinson Valley High School.
“It feels good to be able to work in the shop because it allows me more time to build my clientele,” said Henderson, who has been enrolled in the bootcamp apprentice program since last year with the support of her mother, CaTonya Scott.
Normally apprentices are required to have 1,500 hours under a licensed barber before taking the state exam and become a licensed barber.
“With De’Coreya having taken all four of those courses [in the apprenticeship], those hours, actually counted towards her hours, leaving her with only having to compete 850 hours inside the shop,” said her mother. “She will be a licensed barber before she finishes high school.”
“It’s pretty much like family because she knows the people that are there. De’Coreya is the second person to come up under Isha as an apprentice,” said Scott.
Henderson said her decision to take on barbering stemmed from her love of drawing and watching YouTube videos about cutting hair,
“I know how to draw. I like drawing different cartoon characters. They say if you know how to draw, then you could be good at cutting hair,” she said. “I feel like the classes poured more into me. I already had an interest in cutting hair. This just added to my skills.”
When Henderson is not at the salon, she is at band camp as a member of the drumline, playing the cymbals.
While in school, Henderson is balancing band, barbering and her grief. In February, she lost her older sister, LaDeidra Scott.
“It keeps her leveled. She’s excelling while grieving,” said CaTonya Scott. “She has been doing a lot with band and barber bootcamp while maintaining the A-B honor roll.
Jones is proud of her student.
“She has such an urge to learn. She’s willing to learn whatever I wanted to teach her,” said the shop owner Jones. “Her eagerness in wanting to become a barber and work in the shop, that stood out to me. She is a hard worker, and she’s dedicated.”
Exclusive Choice: 1301 Center Point Pkwy Suit 107, Birmingham, AL 35215 Facebook: Exclusive Choice Barbershop,
