Female joins Monongahela barber shop’s cutting crew
Leah Brown of Monongahela is the first female barber at Main Street Barber and Supply in the city.
Leah Brown, the new barber at Main Street Barber and Supply, in the chair in which she has worked on customers since January.
Leah Brown, the newest barber at Main Street Barber and Supply in Monongahela, works on a customer
Leah Brown has taken quite a career route in her young life.
It’s a path that now finds the Monongahela woman in an apprenticeship program to become a licensed barber at Main Street Barber and Supply at 105 W. Main St. in the city. She is the first female member of the shop’s cutting crew and the first who is a native of Monongahela.
Brown, 26, began her working life as a dental assistant. She gave birth to her second son at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and with day-care facilities not in operation, she left that position to become a stay-at-home mom for a year.
In August, Gavin Varley, owner of Main Street Barber and Supply, offered her a position as a receptionist. A few months later, he had a different occupational question.
“He asked me about being a barber,” Brown said. “I said I was super-interested.”
In January, Brown began her apprenticeship, working toward her license. She needs to accumulate 1,200 hours in the shop, then she will be eligible to take the barber exam.
“I’ve been loving it so far,” Brown said, adding that this wasn’t a path that she saw her career taking. “So far, so good.”
The shop now has five full-time barbers. Brown will eventually become its sixth. But for now she is working part time three days a week.
Varley said it was just a natural progression to have Brown become a barber.
“I think Leah’s got a really good personality,” he said. “She’s very outgoing. She’s very hard-working. She grew up on a local farm, so she’s got a really, really strong work ethic. I thought she would be good at it.”
To prepare for her new job, Brown said she watched several hair-cutting techniques and has studied from books on the profession. Then she practiced on family members.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Brown said. “You have to know how to do a perm, how to do color. There are sanitation rules and regulations. You have to be aware of all the nerves and the muscles in the face. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just cutting hair.”
Brown, a 2014 Ringgold graduate, admitted there has been a little nervousness.
“Especially (when it comes to) shaving faces, because I don’t have facial hair,” Brown said. “I’m not used to how thick and coarse that hair is, so when I’m shaving someone, I’m always a little nervous about that.”
But she has attracted customers, especially some of the young ones.
“Some of the young kids have flocked to her, maybe because she has that motherly instinct, the softer voice,” Varley said. “It’s going really well. I just knew from the beginning that she’d do well.”
Brown said feedback has been good as many people have been calling to schedule an appointment with her. A young boy who was one of Varley’s customers now wants to have Brown cut his hair.
Also, one of her former patients at the dentist office has traveled from Claysville for a haircut.
“He heard that I was doing it and wanted to check it out,” Brown said. “He loved it.”
Needless to say, it’s been quite an enjoyable experience for Brown thus far.
“I am enjoying learning new things and being able to grow in my knowledge of the profession,” Brown said. “All of the guys are really great to work with. I enjoy meeting new people and hearing about their experiences and their lives.”