A judgment-free zone, a place where everyone feels welcomed—that’s the goal for salon owner Chelsea Joffray, owner of the in the heart of East Nashville, Tennessee.
She prides herself on creating a safe environment for the .
“I think that should be the default with most spaces. You know, most spaces should just be inclusive,” said Joffray.
At her salon, hair has no gender.
“For most of my career, I’ve had genderless pricing. So rather than, like, men’s haircuts, women’s haircuts, it’s always been short cuts gone by length. And I didn’t really see that a lot here in Nashville when I moved here,” said Joffray.
Wanting to make a difference, she opened her own salon in 2018. Since then, they’ve held community events like art shows and pop-up markets.
In the salon’s first ever Pride pop-up market for Pride Month. Client Tristain Heitzke says having a safe place to go where they can be themselves makes all the difference.
“So definitely knowing that there’s a place that I can come to from my house, door to door, where I know that I’m not going to be accosted in some way is very heartwarming. And having a community is so important,” said Heitzke.
Stylist Miranda Rockow says she’s grateful to be part of a place that is so inclusive.
“It doesn’t always feel safe for LGBT community members, and having a place, you know, [where] you can come, where your pronouns are going to be respected, where, you know, you’re not going to have people looking at you like, ‘Oh my gosh, who the heck is that?’ like, it just feels good,” said Rockow.
“We just really want to be clear, like you are welcome, and there’s no doubt about it,” said Joffray.
East Nashville is a very artsy and creative community, and the salon is very involved in the community. They work to put up a couple of art shows every year, working with non-profits and local artists. And all of the proceeds go to the nonprofit they’re working with and the local artists.
