By Joёlle Bayaa-Uzuri
Walk into the Hot Towel, an all–female–run, queer-owned, full-service barber shop (stylized as ‘Barb*Her’) located in Houston’s Uptown/Galleria area, and you’re immediately struck by the space’s comfortable and relaxing vibe. Even more so, you’re hit with the overwhelming sense of love among its team members. It’s clear that the Hot Towel isn’t a one-woman show centered around owner Tinisha Cox; it’s a place of genuine comradery. This feeling was confirmed when I reached out to Cox for an interview. She readily agreed, as long as two of her barbers, Dominique Amanda McElroy and Nadia Jackson, had their voices represented as well. What followed was a powerful conversation about the struggles and opportunities of being Black, lesbian entrepreneurs, their passions behind barbering, and overcoming the anti-LGBTQ climate that has traditionally defined Black barber shops.
Joёlle Bayaa-Uzuri: For starters, how do you identify? What are your pronouns?
Tinisha Cox: She/her, and just ‘Nish.’
Nadia Jackson: I’m an African-American female. Lesbian. She/her.
Dominique McElroy: Lesbian. She/her.
Are you a Houston native?
TC: No, I’m not. I’m originally from Louisiana, but I grew up in California and Nevada.
Tinisha Cox, owner of the Hot Towel.
Tell me a little bit about your upbringing. What made you initially want to get into barbering?
TC: I’m the only daughter [in my family]. I have two brothers. I grew up [with] a desire to do hair. That desire transformed into me doing all of my friends’ hair, and I learned how to cut [from my] grandfather, who was a barber in the Navy. I got my first pair of clippers and just found out I had something.
NJ: Long story short—I was in college and broke. I had to keep my hair cut. I went to Walmart to get clippers and got good at it. Then I went to night classes and got my license. This is actually the first year I’ve been [a barber] full-time.
DM: For me, it was a desire to be my own boss. Like Nadia, I went to Walmart and got clippers. I kept messing up while cutting my friend’s hair, and I wanted to know why. In wanting to answer that question, wanting to be my own boss, and not wanting to answer to anyone, barber school became an option.
Nish, what made you want to open your own barbershop?
TC: Just working in other people’s barbershops. I never had a desire to do it, but my clients would say, ‘Why don’t you open up your own shop?’ The last space I was in, I was ready for a change. [I wanted to be] somewhere I was comfortable coming to.
How has the intersectionality of your identity—your race, gender, sex, and orientation—been both a challenge and an opportunity in the barbering business?
TC: I haven’t felt that it’s been a challenge, because at the end of the day, I’m a people person. It’s been a benefit because we service everyone. I think my space is one where everyone feels comfortable.
How has your personal story and identity played into your entrepreneurship?
TC: I just think that, as the individual that I am, I never put limitations on myself. With that being said, [I’m also grateful for] the circle around me. I have an amazing circle of people I deal with. It’s a blessing.
Dominique and Nadia, in your opinion, how has Nish, as a boss and business woman, created an overall inclusive environment? You don’t tend to see that in a lot of Black barber shops.
NJ: She’s a triple threat in the sense that she’s a woman, she’s Black, and she’s a lesbian. So she knows the complexities of all of that. She knows that it’s a rough road, so she creates an environment that celebrates those things. Her customers are loyal and have followed her for years. She has an open door policy. I probably come to her every day with a question. It’s really like a family.
DM: I’ll piggy-back off of that. I’ll add [that she’s an] entrepreneur, so she’s a quadruple-threat. Her vision is one that she lets people know and understand from the jump.
Barbershops within the African-American community have been known to be very homophobic and anti-LGBTQ. How are you working to change and dispel that?
TC: Basically everyone at the Hot Towel, minus one barber, is lesbian or LGBTQ. I think the variety of clientele we have come through is accepting. No one deals with labels. It’s a good space.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
TC: Hopefully, with God willing, with a Hot Towel #2. I would like to franchise; that’s my goal. And to do more within the community. I actually just acquired a nursing home. I just want to give back more.
Congratulations! That’s amazing. So, if you could give your younger self any piece of advice, what would it be?
NJ: Don’t be afraid to take chances. Be who you are and live in your truth, but don’t be afraid to take chances.
DM: I would say don’t be so uptight. Relax. I’m pretty disciplined and there were things that I kind of overreacted about. I’d tell my younger self to take your time. Go harder. If you mess up, it’s a lesson. Don’t take it so negatively.
TC: Be okay to be you. Whomever it is that you are, be okay with it. Love comes from within, so love yourself first.
Do you have any final thoughts?
NJ: I’m going to say the first thing that popped into my head: Come check us out at 2400 Augusta Drive, Suite 285, on the second floor! Come check out Dominique, myself, Nish, or Fran, here at the Hot Towel.
DM: That’s what I would say too! But another thing, support your people! Support your family. Anybody you know starting a business, support those people and encourage them. Support the family you’re born into and your chosen family.
TC: Never limit yourself. That’s my whole thing. I’ve learned that your only limitation is yourself.
To learn more about the Hot Towel, visit thehottoweltx.com.
