24 Oct With Their ‘Clippers Ready,’ Women Barbers Compete to Be a Cut Above
Dozens of women barbers and braiders competed to be crowned the best during the Ladies Get Your Clippers event at Concord Plaza Hotel on Oct. 12.
Story and photos by Denis Perez Bravo
Under the buzz of clippers and the sound of cheers, dozens of women barbers and braiders showed off their skills during the third annual Ladies Get Your Clippers Ready competition.
Participants gathered at the Concord Plaza Hotel on Oct. 12 to compete for trophies and recognition.
The event was created to honor the late Kerry “She’s My Barber” Booker, a pioneering force in a male-dominated industry, who founded the She’s My Barber Battle to give women barbers a platform.
Booker died of lupus in 2022, but her mission continues to shape the barbering industry and her community.
When she lost her mother to breast cancer, she became an advocate for its awareness.
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- Competitor Jasmine Lee’s shirt honors her family members who have died of or survived breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“This event means a whole lot to me,” said Jasmine Lee, a competitor known as hairstyles_by_jazzi on Instagram. “I’ve lost multiple family members to breast cancer, so I’ma do anything I can to support all this.”
Lee, a braider in her first barbering competition, said pushing herself beyond her comfort zone is part of getting better at her craft.
“I stay ready so I ain’t gotta get ready,” she said. “To me, practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes improvement.”
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- “To me, practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes improvement,” said Jasmine Lee, a braider in her first barbering competition.
Among other competitors was 17-year-old Nevaeh Walton of Antioch, who entered the braiding category.
“I’m really shy and a little nervous, but I’m just excited to be a part of this,” she said. “I started braiding during COVID, and I just love it. One day, I want to open my own salon.”
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Walton is an alumni of a local entrepreneur program taught by event organizer Tatiana Hernandez. The event exposed her to many local businesses giving advice as well as professional braiders and barbers.
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- A competitor braids a model’s hair.
That kind of early exposure is exactly what Booker wanted to encourage, said Cutz By JoJo, a Pittsburg barber based at KP Barbershop who declined to give her real name.
JoJo competed in multiple categories.
“It is difficult being in a male-dominated industry,” she said. “A lot of people don’t trust women to cut their hair. But it’s all about the personality, the vibe, the energy that you give off.”
JoJo said she learned about Booker’s story through videos. “I didn’t know her personally, but I heard her story.”
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- “It is difficult being in a male-dominated industry,” said one Pittsburg barber known as Cutz by JoJo, who has won the She’s My Barber Award. “A lot of people don’t trust women to cut their hair.”
She connected with Booker and even was recognized at one of the events she inspired after her death.
“I won the She’s My Barber Award last year. It’s all about community work, making sure what’s best for the clients, getting them right.”
That legacy of mentorship and strength was a recurring theme for those who knew Booker personally.
Dallas hairstylist Trelll Parker, a.k.a. Trill LadiBarber, worked alongside Booker during her final years.
“She was great in the barber industry. Great person to know, great person to receive education and mentorship from,” she said. “It was a blessing to work beside her and get to know her as a friend.”
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- The Dallas hairstylist known as Trill LadiBarber, left, was one of the emcees at Ladies Get Your Clippers Ready, which she says gives female barbers “a platform to showcase their skills without the male barbers being involved, other than to support.”
Booker’s She’s My Barber competition began in Oakland as an annual event to “put the female barbers on the map,” Parker said. “It gives them a platform to showcase their skills without the male barbers being involved, other than to support.”
She said Booker’s influence was felt far beyond California. “She made She’s My Barber a movement not only for Oakland but all around the U.S., all around the world.”
“She started that name because she wanted that moment where a client would come in and say, ‘No, she’s my barber,’” Parker said. “She created it, lived by it and stood 10 toes down for it.”
Today, the She’s My Barber movement stands as both a tribute and a torch passed to the next generation — a reminder that women in barbering deserve their own spotlight.
“Show out,” JoJo said with a grin. “This is the ladies’ barber battle. Y’all better come through. We always root for the guys — I hope I see a lot of males here rooting for us.”
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