This Black Woman-Owned Barbershop Will Keep You Fresh & Faded

Women barbers are few and far between in the hairstyling world. Like in everything else, they have to work twice as hard to prove their line-up and fade skills — and may still experience flack.

A woman-owned barbershop is even rarer. “There’s not enough us,” says Imade Imasuen, owner and master barber of A1Cuts, in a new series profiling members of St. Paul, MN’s East Side community.

But her shop is up for the challenge, with a staff of both men and women who can fade, razor cut, twist locs, and everything in between.

She does admit, however, that it takes a special temperament to work in the male-dominated “barbershop social setting.”

The positives of cutting hair, however, far outweigh any negatives,”she says. She has freedom to be herself, to teach her son the ins and out of entrepreneurship, and to enjoy the therapeutic act of cutting hair.

“Us barbers, we are therapists, we are advisors, relationship experts,” says Imasuen.

And, she gets to change the minds of doubting men.

“A lot of men that have experience getting a haircut from a women barber, they end up saying that we pay attention to detail and they actually like getting their hair done by us,” she says.

“Eastside Stories” is the latest segment from journalist Georgia Fort’s Changing The Narrative campaign to impact how Black stories are shared in the community.

Press play below to watch the full interview.