'We're universal:' New Yellowknife barber shop specializes in Black hair, welcomes everyone

Earlier this year, a new business opened in downtown Yellowknife a barbershop that welcomes all customers, with a focus on Black hair.

This is a first in the Northwest Territories, and a rarity in the North.

The story of LJJ Barber Shop began in 2017, when Jonel Louis-Jean was visiting the city for the first time and needed a haircut.

At the first barber shop he visited, the only hairdresser who had experiencewith his hair type wasn't working that day, and other, less experienced staff members didn't want to try cutting his hair.

At a second barber shop, he was told none of the barbers had ever styled an Afro-Canadian before.

"I went back home and said I'd do my own hair," Louis-Jean said.

Now, more than four years later, he has opened LJJ Barber Shop on Franklin Avenue in Yellowknife.

Two more barbers, Brian Tuyishime and Northwyne Remigio, have joined his team.

Louis-Jean's wife Diana Lubansa handles the administrative side of the business.

This new barbershop hopes to meet a need in Yellowknife, said Lubansa, who used to go to Edmonton or Toronto to get her hair done.

And while LJJ Barber Shop specializes in Black hair, she says it welcomes everyone.

"It's the first salon in Yellowknife that focuses on afro hair, but at the same time, we're universal," she said. "We don't discriminate."

After years of work, success

As soon as the business opened, it started attracting customers.

"We opened on January 4, and every day since then we've been getting clients," said Louis-Jean. "Our weekends are super busy."

But a lot of work had to happen before the first customer could walk through the doors.

Louis-Jean had previously worked in salons that specialize in Black hair in Montreal and elsewhere. In 2018, he decided to go to school in Edmonton and get trained to style all hair types.

That same year, he met Lubansa, and by 2019, they were nearly ready to open their own business in Yellowknife but then, the pandemic struck. They put their plans on hold, and Louis-Jean decided to take a job at another Yellowknife salon.

They also ran into trouble with the first location they had chosen for their business, which they eventually had to give up.

"We spent a lot of money on construction and, at the last minute, when customers called to find out when it was going to open, we didn't know what to tell them," said Louis-Jean.

The Haitian-born barber said this was a difficult, depressing time for him.

But in December 2021, things started looking up again. A new location for the barbershop opened up, and after the lease was signed, it only took the team three weeks to get everything ready for opening day.

Promoting young talent

Already, LJJ Barber Shop is an artistic place.

Louis-Jean, who describes himself as a multidimensional artist, designed all the murals in the business himself.

And Lubansa says the team also wants to work with young talent in the community.

"We need to help build them up [and] encourage them," she said.

That's how the couple recruited one of their hair stylists, Northwyne Remigio.

Remigio had told Louis-Jean that he was having a hard time finding work in more established salons, then showed him some photos of what he could do.

"For me, the important thing is the potential you can see," said Louis-Jean. "If this person has the drive and passion for what he wants to do, why not give him the chance to be seen?"

When the team isn't at the barbershop, they're often making music together, as well.

"We want to promote talent," said Lubansa. "We are very diverse and unique."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.