A trans business owner continues to help create space for everyone with her barbershop and hair studio

Take a chance and believing in yourself, created Deep Cuts Barbershop and Hair Studio for a local transgender business owner.

"They were just not anywhere I personally wanted to work and felt like it was a good fit for me, and so I felt like I had to do my own thing if I wanted to create that space where I was going to feel comfortable,” says Bee Golding, Owner of Deep Cuts Barbershop and Hair Studio.

Golding opened the shop in august 2020, and things have been rolling for her ever since.

"It was just me, a chair, and a tool bench in here when I opened the shop back then. Now, we have me, two other stylists, an aesthetician, and stuff everywhere in here that reflects my personality now, and I love that."

Word spread about the business on different platforms, including Trans Northland, leading a client to try something different.

"So, I have been to plenty of salons where I have tried to have my hair cut very short, and they tell me that it is not a feminine cute. So, the first time I came here, Bee told me it is about hair, not about gender, not about the person; it is about the hair. We cut hair; that made me feel very comfortable to be myself and allow her to have that freedom to do that,” explained Kristi Moos of Superior.

When Golding came out on deep cuts social platform, she thought it might affect her business, but the reaction was the opposite.

"I was really nervous about it because in the barbershops, that does not really go over well. So, I was like, I am just pulling the band-aid off, and seeing what happens, and making a post that told people this is who I am. Being trans does not knock the clips out of my hands, it does not affect how my razor works, it does not affect how I cut your hair; take it or leave it essential. And thankfully, Duluth is a really cool place, and people have really supportive of it, and I am really appreciative of that and always will be.”

For Golding, looking back at how far she has come is a time to “reflect on where I started, honestly; it really does come down to an immense gratitude for this community and the people in it. They have made me feel so at home."

"I want everyone to feel welcomed here! Not just the people of this community; I want everyone to feel welcomed here.