April 27, 2018 – Kalyn Goode, owner of Scissors and Shears Salon, wanted to find a way to give back to the community that she loves so much.
“It’s hard to find a way to give back when you’re just cutting hair,” Goode said, but she certainly found multiple ways to do just that.
To begin with, she lowered her hair cut prices to $6.
“It doesn’t cost me any money to cut someone’s hair and takes an average of 15 minutes. This community is small, and a lot of people can’t afford that on a regular basis. Six dollars seemed like a fair price for a basic haircut,” she said. It’s a small matter, she added, but it’s had a big impact.
“I see a lot of people come in and say, ‘I haven’t had a haircut in four years. It’s not in our budget.’ We don’t think about things like that. But there’s a lot of people that can’t afford $10 or $15 haircuts,” she explained. “I think when you look good, you feel better. And I’m good at what I do. So, it’s ultimately about making people feel better about themselves.”
In addition, on Mondays, Goode donates $1 of every haircut to the Excelsior Springs Educational Foundation. She chose the Foundation for several reasons. As an Excelsior Springs High School graduate, she sees the value in what the Foundation does.
“I grew up here, I graduated from here, and my daughter and son will go to school here,” Goode explained. “If we don’t donate and give to these foundations, we can’t expect our children to benefit and grow here. So hopefully the kids now benefit from what we do, and my kids will benefit later. It’s investing in the future.”
“And I just love children. This is my way of working with kids,” she added.
She found another way to both work with children and give back to the community, with the addition of her classes. Goode schedules classes for girls in order to help with self-esteem.
There are two age groups — age five to nine, and ages 10 to 14. Goode serves pizza and sparkling grape juice, and spends time giving the girls tutorials on how to do their hair. She also talks about general hair care and hygiene.
But the major point of the class is self-esteem.
“We talk about self-esteem a lot,” Goode said. “We read books in the little girl class, about how what you look like doesn’t make you who you are. If looking good makes you feel good, that’s great, but beauty is inside. Everybody is pretty.”
In the little girl class, she dresses them in feather boas and tiaras, and does a quick make-up session with each of them, and then “reveals” their new look to them.
“Then they look in the mirror, and åit is the sweetest thing,” Goode said.
“I wanted to do something for the kids in Excelsior that was within my knowledge base for my industry. I focus primarily on working with the little girls because as a mom of one, I know they need that extra bit of building up, especially around the age of five to14. In my opinion it’s the most crucial time in a little girl’s life, it’s when she is deciding who she is as a person and who she’s going to be. Watching them gain confidence and realize that they really are beautiful inside and out is the best part of all of it.”
Goode added that she grew up surrounded by women, and described herself as a “product of women.” As such, she knows how important and necessary that outside female influence can be on a young girl.
Goode found an additional way to give back with her classes, and donates 10 percent of each class back to the Educational Foundation.
“Kalyn Goode has such a giving heart and the educational foundation and school district have been on the receiving end of her generosity now for years. Whether it’s a supply drive, donating an auction item, or offering profits raised from her own business, Kalyn is dedicated to the students well-being in Excelsior Springs,” said Educational Foundation Director Courtney Cole.
Scissors and Shears Salon is located at 1226 N. Jesse James Rd. in Excelsior Springs.