Don’t Be Sorry
At Bounce, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive, safe place. Our team is made up of epic human beings, full of grace, acceptance and love. In case you haven’t seen, we also are a genderless salon. What is that? It means to us, hair has no gender. We will never ask if you are a woman, a man, or how you identify, because hair is hair. We quote based on the time the service will take the stylist, not anything else. We know there is such a big world outside of our salon and we want anyone who walks through our doors to feel comfort, relaxed, and safe.
It’s so common to hear “I’m sorry….” from clients who sit in our chairs and we want you to know, you do not have to apologize to us.
It’s the great Canadian “joke” that we apologize a lot, for everything, for things beyond our control, for minor things, for things we’re not at fault for, for things we don’t have to apologize for. So sometimes it’s just ingrained in us. Other times, our apologies stem from deeper life experiences, a comment that was made to us that stuck through, an idea of “how we’re supposed to be”, societal expectations and more. Growing up with curly hair, you can hear a lot of things- your hair is fluffy, your hair is frizzy, its so hard to brush your hair, it’s better if you straighten it. And I’ve had it “easy”. Listening to friends and clients who are BIPOC and the comments and ideas pushed upon them from various sources has always been eye opening and heart breaking. To be told your hair is too difficult, too much, too curly, too coily, too big and that the only way to be beautiful is to wear it straight, to not wear your hair in protective styles or do this or do that, it’s really disheartening.
Although we hear it a lot from our curly clients, it’s not just our curly clients.
I’m sorry my hair is tangled
I’m sorry my hair isn’t washed
I’m sorry my hair is too curly
I’m sorry my hair isn’t straight
I’m sorry it takes so long to do my hair
I’m sorry it’s so frizzy
I’m sorry I didn’t put product in it
I’m sorry I have so much hair
I’m sorry I don’t have makeup on
I’m sorry I’m not dressed nicely
Let me tell you, you do not have to apologize to us. We’ve seen and heard it all. You don’t have to apologize for your hair. You don’t have to apologize for being busy. You don’t have to apologize for taking space in the world. We want you to feel proud of who you are, no matter what that looks like for you. We want you to feel confident. We want you to look in the mirror and see the beauty we do. We want to hear about your stories, your excitement, your life and we want you to be excited to tell us.
One of the best parts of what we do is seeing our clients feel lighter, brighter, and confident when they leave our space. And this is exactly why we love what we do.
So remember, we want you to love you- no need to apologize.
