Big Bro's Barbershop
1685 Nanaimo Street V5L 4T9 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Two of our dear clients have released a pretty cool resource, available digitally by donation! From their download link: "Are you a trans man/acquainted with one intimately? Look no further! This is a guide for all that we (two bi trans men) wish we knew at the beginning of our journey into the world of sex and sexuality. Pay by donation, because knowledge should be accessible for everyone!" Access here: https://gumroad.com/l/NWgmp

"The January Marie Lapuz Youth Leadership Award is an annual award bestowed upon a deserving youth who is 16 to 30 years of age and who has demonstrated involvement, commitment and leadership in the 2SLGBTQ+ community whether locally, nationally and/or internationally." Winner: $1,000 CAD 1st Runner Up: $600 CAD 2nd Runner Up: $400 CAD... Honourable Mention: $200 CAD Winners will be announced in January and will receive a letter of congratulations, a certificate and a cash prize funded by DIVERSEcityour exclusive sponsor of the January Marie Lapuz Youth Leadership Award" More information: https://www.shervancouver.com/youth-award.html

Signal boost for Gender Creative Kids Vancouver! --- Poster text:... We acknowledged that we live, work, play, heal and create community on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil Waututh people. GENDER CREATIVE KIDS VANCOUVER A group for kiddos 2-10 years. Where stories, joy, and fun are centred. A place where all gender expressions and gender identities are celebrated! Come meet our community hero storytellers on Zoom every month. Registration required. Please contact us via Facebook and Instagram (Gender Creative Kids Vancouver), or email [email protected]. Thanks to our funders, Transcare BC & the Vancouver Pride Society.

PATREON UPDATE! Some folks may remember our original 2015 art studio location on Franklin St, upstairs from an industrial warehouse. These unused "vlog" style clips document the shop's transformation from a dusty cement box into a semi-professional queer space! Subscribe for access: https://www.patreon.com/bigbrosbarbershop

Small Business BC interviewed some local LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs for Pride season, including Jessie from Big Bros Barbershop! https://smallbusinessbc.ca/article/pride-in-our-community/

We've just posted our first Patreon-exclusive video! For $5/month or more, gain access to bonus content uploaded as a token of our thanks. In this video, Jessie... rewatches the GoFundMe campaign video for Big Bro's Barbershop from 2015, and compares the original vision to the shop as it stands today! Join now: https://www.patreon.com/bigbrosbarbershop

Hey folks, Sincere apologies - Jessie has cancelled his next 2 weeks of appointments due to minor health concerns! There is a *strong* chance that his health symptoms are stress-related, but these days, you can never be too careful. Those with appointments have been emailed. Stay safe!! We'll be back on track one of these days!!

"Facts are facts." -@iammoniqueheart

Thanks for your patience while we adjust to our new reality! We are simultaneously immensely prepared and also figuring things out on the fly. We promise to look after our community with our meticulously-sanitized work environment, and if you'd like to help take care of us back, please check out our Patreon! We're going to start figuring out some cute digital content to upload for patrons along the way. (Video tutorials? Queer panel discussions?) http://patreon.com/bigbrosbarbershop

Hello, dearest clients! Wow, COVID-19 has REALLY thrown us for a loop this year. We've got commercial rent to pay, we're occasionally shut down by the province, and when we are allowed to be open, we're fitting clients in between extensive disinfection routines and trying to protect ourselves and our own physical/mental health challenges. These limitations mean that we cannot work much harder, and I think we are already working smarter. Raising prices would price out a large ...portion of our marginalized LGBTQ2SIA+ clients, defeating the purpose of our inclusive, trans-centred community space. Because of the circumstances of 2020, we are humbly requesting help! We understand that many folks are scrambling for cash right now - we are not at risk of an immediate shutdown, but our future is precarious. If you can safely afford to throw a monthly donation our way, big or small, it would really help us maintain our presence in the city. Do you want some form of digital content in exchange? Newsletter updates? Trans Q&A videos? Let us know! We're trying to get creative. https://www.patreon.com/bigbrosbarbershop

We can testify that you are all lovely, caring patrons. Lets spread the love! https://www.afrobiz.ca/Vancouver

Confirmed: we will be re-opening on June 19th! Everyone who had previously booked an appointment should have just received a cancellation email with the attached message. Bookings are properly open now. Thank you for your understanding! https://bigbrosbarbershop.com/book-an-appointment/

Over the next few days, we will be confirming our re-opening date, and determining a new schedule for our workers based on each staff members health and safety needs. We will contact anyone with an appointment in June that needs to be rescheduled to fit into our new availability. We apologize for the inconvenience, and will keep our clients as updated as we can. For the full text transcript, see our blog post: https://bigbrosbarbershop.com/20//04/covid-19-safety-plan/

Black Lives Matter, always.

While were sorting ourselves out, I have an important question for you! Which of the following is an experience that YOU are most looking forward to from us, in terms of how youd plan your next booking with us? OPTION A: Open ASAP (June 15th at earliest) - mandatory masks for clients and workers - minimal chatting; quicker, all-business cuts... - only individuals allowed in at a time - no resource distribution or trying on products permitted (Consider: we will have limited disposable PPE on site and you would be encouraged to bring your own mask from home, which will 110% get full of itchy hair slivers if you are getting a short cut) OPTION B: Open Once Restrictions Are Lifted/Adjusted Further (summer sometime...?) - services will be more friendly and relaxed - resumed hands-on retail and resource distribution - small groups/families welcome (Consider: we still really dont have a solid idea of when this will happen) Let us know in the comments! And keep in mind, this is still the brainstorming process - neither of the lists above are locked down, complete policies yet!

Hi folks, As you may have heard, BC is allowing salons to reopen around Victoria Day weekend. This is causing a great deal of anxiety in the beauty industry as we all try to navigate risk vs reward in terms of regaining income at the expense of potential COVID-19 exposure. After thinking on it for around a week, I have decided that I am not willing to reopen ASAP as part of the first wave. I think queer and trans folks have done our fair share of being the guinea pigs for new... medical data, and it is well within our right to sit this one out a little longer. We are still navigating adjusted lease payment agreements with our commercial landlord, and we have no concept of what the future holds. And, so, Zed and I are taking complementary approaches: Zed will be reopening as soon as they are permitted to by the BC government. I am happy to support Zed by not bringing even more bodies and risk potential into the space, so that they may have full control over their sanitization measures. At this time, I am extending our tentative re-opening date to June 15th. By early June, we should have a clearer idea of what the first phase of reopening the economy looks like, and will hopefully be able to make more solid decisions as a community space. Many of you have continued placing orders and booking appointments, and I am so grateful for both your loyalty and your patience. Orders will be fulfilled as soon as I am able to safely reach the shop; appointments will be pushed forward in an effort to keep clients from needing to rebook over and over as we keep changing our reopening date. This is, in my personal experience, a truly unprecedented time, and it has been a rocky road determining the best course of action for myself, my coworkers, and of course, my community. Love, warmth, and socially-distant-fistbumps from Big Bros Barbershop. Sincerely, Jessie Anderson Big Bros owner

Hi folks, Weve seen that barbershops and salons are included in the next phase of re-opening BC, but...we dont exactly know what that means yet. Some shops may be opening later in May; we have no plans to open sooner than June 1st. Zed Payne is determining their opening date separately, and may be in business before the rest of us!... A few temporary(?) changes you can likely expect: - mandatory appointments (a BC policy, not just ours - we may enforce shopping appointments or online ordering for our products) - absolutely cancel your appointment if you are feeling any unusual illness symptoms, and well do the same - we absolutely will not charge you for a cancelled appointment - Wash! Your! Hands! We will likely have to work in some level of PPE, and will need everyones cooperation to keep everyone safe. Stay tuned!

Curious about Jessie's origin story as a barber? Here's some footage of him doing his mom's second cancer cut, circa 2008!

Happy Trans Day Of Visibility!! seriously though, stay inside and dont let anyone see you

Some tips for buzzing your own hair at home (we know, youre gonna do it eventually if you havent already): 1) Scissor cuts on your own head are extremely hard if you have fewer than three arms. Now is the time for an undercut or a fully buzzed head if you intend to take your fate into your own hands. 2) Use a guard thats longer than you think you need, and work your way shorter. MAKE SURE THE GUARD IS SECURELY ATTACHED BEFORE YOU BEGIN. 3) For undercuts, use the corners ...of your forehead hairline as a guide for where to stop cutting. If your hairline is a bit receded, this will be easier to find. If your hairline around your forehead is more soft and rounded, best of luck to you. Your hair might naturally part in a way thats helpful to you - muss it up a bit and see where it falls. 4) Youre going to make one big mistake somewhere. Its okay. You grow half an inch of hair per month. In the meantime, you can always buy yourself a gift card at http://BigBrosBarbershop.com/gift to assure yourself a touchup once this all blows over. See more

We've had a few folks ask us about purchasing online gift cards - yes, please! Any income would be very helpful during this time. <3 https://bigbrosbarbershop.com/gift/

Our remaining Sunday shifts are being cancelled; from now on, we will be closed until...were not?

UPDATE: In order to promote social distancing, we've decided to CLOSE Mon-Sat for the rest of March to discourage our staff and clients from needing to take public transit for "non-essential reasons" in order to reach us. We will remain open SUNDAYS (March 22nd and 29th) for folks who want to look cute for the apocalypse - Lia's got you covered! Note: This does not affect Zed Payne's bookings! If you're booked with Zed and don't hear anything about changes, then nothing has changed! Please pardon us while we contact affected clients and adjust our online presence. Stay safe, everybody!

Hey folks, in the wake of the recent pandemic, please note that we ARE generally still open, but if youre planning to drop by without an appointment, please check our hours on Google and/or call ahead first! The staff are doing our best to both provide our usual community services and also distance ourselves when unwell, and because we normally only have 1-2 folks on staff, our hours are absolutely going to be wonky for a bit. Those with appointments will always be contacted... in case of cancellation. Also, please cancel your own appointments if you are feeling unwell! We work real up close and personal with folks, and would like to continue being as available as possible. That said, were doing our best to keep things as clean and sanitary at the shop as possible, as we always do - everyone on staff is equipped with the rigorous training of our own anxiety and OCD, so we are well-equipped for this moment in time!

We had a couple of students come by and make this absolutely adorable documentary about us for their film studies class! Huge thanks to Bianca and Dana (@biancadelcarmen and @dana._.michellee on Instagram) for letting us share their video.

Apologies, folks - Jessie will be extending his leave by a few days, returning on March 21st! Healing is going well, but, as always, is not adhering to schedule very respectfully. Affected clients should be receiving notifications soon!

Heads up: Big Bro's will be CLOSED on Tuesdays throughout the rest of Jessie's medical leave! We will be open 7 days/week as usual after March 14th. Thanks for your understanding! -- If this interferes with one of your current appointments, Skylar should be in touch with you to reschedule or adjust otherwise. To clear up any confusion, feel free to email [email protected] or call the shop at 778.379.3248.

As your local queer barbershop, it is our duty to come up with our own gay holidays. So on February 17th, we're doing $5 full-head buzzes in honour of Britney's legendary cut from Feb 17th, 2007! Book your buzz in advance, if you like: https://bigbrosbarbershop.com/book-an-appointment/ EDIT: Our buzz cut bookings are half an hour long, which is more than plenty for a cut like this...that said, chances are good that if you need a Britney-style reset, you probably have some stuff to talk about. Take your time; get something off your chest while we shave everything off of your head!

Great news: Skylar got their chair!! Thank you all for your support, folks. We've also been able to confirm this way that the entire shop, minus our bathroom, is chair accessible! Our sidewalk, however...yiiiikes. Our whole walk is being torn up for the next week or two, and our Graveley bus stop is closed. We didn't get a heads up on this - we're so sorry to our clients with mobility issues and access needs!

Folks, we're a mess lately! Sky is resting in the hospital with a lung infection for the next few days, and so we've had to abruptly expand our holiday hours. Folks who were booked in should have all received cancellation emails. We should have more reliable hours again one of these days. Pardon our back-to-back holiday hiccups; we'll be fresh and renewed for 2020!

[UPDATE: Jessie is safe, but unrested and wacky - the shop will be mostly closed today!] We're gonna be opening up the shop late today, if at all - last night, er, Jessie managed to lock his phone, home and shop keys, and wallet inside the shop at closing. Still haven't really figured that one out yet. Also, due to double-device verification, Jessie cannot get into the Big Bro's email account, because, well, no phone to text a verification code to. It's been a long night.... PS: Zed, Skylar, check your email - I've been trying to contact you since 6pm last night! Help!!!

Staff medical updates!! If youre one of Jessies regulars, you may have to get a touchup with our other staff this winter Jessies going in for surgery (finally!) on Feb 4th, and will be off on medical leave through all of February! The first two weeks of March are currently blocked off on his schedule as well, but he may come crawling back in for a few cuts here and there. Apologies for the inconvenience! Check out our adjusted bookings: https://bigbrosbarbershop.com/book...-an-appointment/ In ensuring that Big Bros remains open, Lia and Skylar will be working more shifts during Jessies recovery time, and it would drastically help Skylar stay healthier at work and otherwise if they had a wheelchair they could use to improve their mobility! Theyve put together a GoFundMe to help raise funds for a used chair. If youd like to help out Skylar as an individual and/or Big Bros as a business during our wonky start to 2020, please consider pitching in! Skys fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-skylar-stay-independent

We just had a couple of walk-ins looking to get their hair done by 'Big Bro' - had to break it to them that Jessie is booking into 2020* already! Lia and Skylar are still booking within 2019, but availability is getting increasingly limited (as of right now, we're booked up until Wednesday)! https://bigbrosbarbershop.com/book-an-appointment/ *Currently, Jessie still has four spots left for buzz cut appointments this year.

HOLIDAY HOURS Big Bro's will be closed DEC 24-26th and JAN 1-2! The staff will all be working some irregular days during the holiday season, so be sure to pay attention while booking online. If you select "Any Available" for most appointments, the closure dates above should be the only change!... To get your seasonal haircut sorted sooner vs later, book now! https://bigbrosbarbershop.com/book-an-appointment/

Aw, phooey! We may have excitedly ranted to some of you about how we were in the running to get some fancy renovations done on reality tv (in other words, with money that isn't ours). We finally heard back from the network - no dice! You'll be stuck with our inaccessible bathroom a while longer yet. Sigh. On the plus side, now we won't have to figure out some kind of sketchy interim working space - though returning to a scary warehouse studio for a few weeks could have been fun!

Reposted (original source unknown): Vancouver, Here is an updated list of OPEN shelters from Homelessness Services Association of BC (HSABC).... *VANCOUVER EXTREME WEATHER RESPONSE* EXTRA SHELTER SPACE Directions Youth Services Centre 1138 Burrard Street OPEN 10PM-7AM Providing overnight accommodation to 15 youth (24 Y/O or younger). Mats provided after midnight. Pets are welcome (max of 4) 604-633-1472 EXT. 1 Evelyne Saller Centre 320 Alexander Street OPEN 11PM-8AM (Weekdays) OPEN 10PM-8AM (Weekends) Accommodation of food evening and morning, and 40 mats available NO pets allowed 604-665-3075 The Salvation Army Belkin House 555 Homer Street OPEN 11PM Breakfast served at 730AM 15 men and 5 women mats available 604-681-3405 Walton Hotel Amenity House 261-B East Hastings Street OPEN 830PM-730AM Pet friendly but some restrictions may apply. 20 mats available 604-688-9129 WARMING CENTERS Brittania Community Centre 1739 Venables Street OPEN 9PM-830AM Drop-in site can accommodate everyone, and accepts pets, bike, and carts. Hot beverages and snacks are available. No RSVP required. Overdose Prevention Society 58 East Hastings Street OPEN 11PM-8AM Overdose Prevention Society is a harm-reduction site. Drop-in, can acccommodate everyone, and accepts pets, bikes and carts. Hot beverages and snacks are available. No RSVP required. If you require more information of available shelters please phone 2-1-1 or visit BC211 website

Signal boost from Out on Campus (SFU): "We're currently planning our Spring 2020 events and we're organising a clothing swap shop for March 31st and April 3rd to coincide with our Trans Day of Visibility Programming. I wondered if you'd gotten any interest from any makeup artists who would like to share their skills with trans and gender diverse students looking to use makeup and improve their skills? We have a budget available to pay for this expertise and I would especially... love this opportunity to go to somebody within the trans community - though anybody with an enthusiasm for makeup and gender inclusivity would be fantastic!" Interested folks should contact the Out on Campus Coordinator, Ashley Brooks! He/Him/His Tel. 778-782-5933 [email protected]