Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Residents of Northern Kentucky! Based in Union, KY....The Good Neighbor Podcast helps the residents of Northern Kentucky get to know local business owners as people. We allow the business owners and influencers in NKY to tell the stories of how they started their business and why. We hear about their families, their personal interests and why they love living in and serving resident of Northern Kentucky!
Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
From Family Barber to VIP Experience: Trina Brackens' Hair Journey
What happens when a haircut becomes more than just grooming? Trina Brackens, the dynamic owner of VIP Specialty Haircuts at Florence Mall, has transformed the mundane task of getting a trim into a therapeutic experience that nourishes both body and spirit.
From the moment you settle into her chair, you're treated to what Trina calls "the experience" – a multi-sensory journey beginning with a charcoal-infused peppermint hot towel facial wrap, followed by aromatherapy, pressure point massages targeting the temporal, zygomatic, and mandibular regions, and hot stones on your neck and shoulders. All this happens before scissors even touch your hair. It's no wonder doctors, executives, and even celebrities seek out her services not just for grooming, but for genuine stress relief.
Trina's path to becoming a master of her craft began at just nine years old when she rescued her brother from a botched home haircut that left him with an accidental "reverse mohawk." When her father witnessed her natural talent, he handed over his clippers and proclaimed, "you do the haircuts from now on." Three decades later, Trina has built a business that offers more than haircuts – she provides sanctuary. The VIP in her salon name stands for "Victorious, Inspired People," reflecting her mission to leave clients feeling renewed inside and out.
Beyond her business, Trina's heart for service extends to at-risk youth through her nonprofit, Victorious Ministries. Started during the pandemic, the program offers individualized mentoring, challenges, and support for young people struggling with depression and difficult circumstances. "I'm here on assignment," she says simply, seeing her work as both vocation and mission.
Want to experience what makes VIP Specialty Haircuts special? Visit Trina at Florence Mall or email vipspecialtyhaircuts@vipstore.com to book your appointment. Whether you're looking for a premium grooming experience or simply need a place to decompress, Trina and her team are ready to serve you with excellence and heart.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, mike Murphy. Thank you, charlie. Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host of the Good Neighbor Podcast. We are a podcast intended to introduce the residents of Northern Kentucky to the businesses, business owners, that serve them, and today I have a business owner with me. I've just spent about 15 minutes getting to know her. We have not met until 15 minutes ago and she is a wonderful woman that I'm excited to introduce you to because she has a big story, so we'll have her tell it as much as we can in a half hour. So, without further ado, I want to introduce you to Trina Brackens, the owner of VIP. Help me out, what's the full name of the?
Speaker 2:salon VIP. Help me out. What's the full name of the salon? Vip Specialty Haircuts? Hello world, hi America.
Speaker 1:So welcome Trina. So VIP Specialty Haircuts. And you know, we all know, that VIP stands for, you know, very important person.
Speaker 2:But in your case, what does it stand for? Well, vip to me is victorious, inspired people. Okay, so I like to serve VIP. So when people say VIP, when they see VIP, yes, I want to serve very important people, but more so than being important, I want you to be a victorious, inspired person. I want you to shine light and share joy.
Speaker 1:I like that. Well, I told you, a light shines from your face and you're excited about what you do. You're passionate about what you do.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love cutting hair.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, speaking of cutting hair now, I would say, from what what I've seen of your work and what I've learned about you, you do more than just cut hair. You know what you're providing is a very intimate service to people and you've been doing it for longer than anybody would realize, because you don't look old enough to have been cutting hair for as long as you've been cutting hair.
Speaker 2:Oh, mikey, stop it, stop it, tell me more, tell me more.
Speaker 1:You told me how you started, but nobody's heard that story yet. So briefly, tell us how you got started cutting hair. Who's the first head of hair you cut? Briefly, tell us how you got started cutting hair. Who's the?
Speaker 2:first head of hair you cut my brother Steven. Stevie. Hi, steve, hey, okay. So again, I come from a very large family. It was ten girls and eight boys and of course we're not going to the beauty shop and barbershop every weekend like the typical family. So my daddy, he'd always cut my brother's hair, but he wasn't very good at it. He would just skin them off. He would just skin them off, and of course they get teased on sunday, getting a fight on monday, get grounded on tuesday, and then the process will start all over again. By the time they was free on the weekends, it was time for the haircut to start. So this one particular time uh, stephen, he wanted to get his hair. Uh, he wanted to be like mr t, because this is back in the 80s. Now you got we're 9, 10 11 years old.
Speaker 2:So instead of going, let's see, uh on the sides. He went down the middle like george On the sides. He went down the middle Like George Jefferson.
Speaker 1:He was having a mohawk. He had a reverse mohawk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he had a bald spot. Yeah, he had a bald spot with a photo. So of course he got in trouble and he got, you know, he got in trouble for that and I felt so bad because I hate to see him always. It was a non-ending cycle. I knew it was going to be a bad haircut was a non-ending cycle. I knew it was going to be a bad haircut. I knew they was going to cry and I knew they was going to get teased. And so the Saturday after that, the following week, it was time for the haircuts again. Now we was playing with the clippers. I said, steve, let me do it. And I took the clippers and I cut his hair and I evened it up and it looked pretty good and he was happy and I was happy and we thought we had done something. Well, when my dad came home, he was a livid, you know, he, he, he liked to use um, higher octaves. So when my dad came home he was, uh, he was pretty lit.
Speaker 2:Who did it? Who did it? Who did it? I said Steve, don't tell, don't tell, don't. He said Trina done it. And I was like I can't believe this man just threw me under the bus. I saved him from a bad haircut and a whooping. So my brother Steve, what he did? He said I did it. And my dad is shocked. All of us and of course me. I still got a little tear in my eye. He still got a little tear in my eye. He took his clippers and he wrapped up the cord and he handled to me in my hand. He said you do the haircuts from now on. And I said who me? Oh my God, I couldn't have been more than nine or 10 years old, but that's how I got started cutting on hair. So it was my brother, steve, and then, of course, trill, travis and Tyrone. Those are my nephews that live behind me, and I promise you Trill had a lot of practice haircuts.
Speaker 1:So, my brother and my nephews, your punishment in the moment was you are now always and forever.
Speaker 2:for the rest, of your life, the family barber.
Speaker 1:You're the family barber. You're cutting everyone's hair, whether you want to or not. So obviously that was something that even at that young age you must have had some sort of inane skill set in you, and I know that from that point on you've done nothing but grow in that business. So that takes us to today, and I know that you've had. You had a business, I think, in New Albany, is that correct? A shop in New Albany?
Speaker 2:I did New Albany. That's where I opened my second salon. I was 20 when I opened in New Albany. My first salon was in Clarksville, indiana, when I was 19.
Speaker 1:Okay, how far is Clarksville from New Albany? For those of us who don't know the map, New Albany and. Clarksville are side by side, like 10 minutes, five minutes Okay and they're just across the river from Louisville, is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yes, louisville, kentucky, new Albany is the southernmost point of the state.
Speaker 1:And that's where I grew up at. What brought you to Florence? How did that work? What's that story?
Speaker 2:Well, it was right after 2020, and it was right after the pandemic, and I heard some things about the Florence Mall needing tenants and they may be closing. They may not be closing. I didn't know what was going on with them, but what I did know is every mall in America at some point had two salons in it and the Regis Corporation. They would always have a Regis and a Mastercuts, a Regis and a Mastercuts. So I knew the infrastructure was already here and it could save me quite a bit of money. All that I had to do was come in and, with the grace of God, we was actually turnkey ready, like I was able to move right into the salon and just relabel and repackage and bring in products, and I know it was nothing but the grace of God.
Speaker 1:So how were you received there at Florence Mall? Did it take you a while to build a clientele, or did they just kind of follow you because they knew you? Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, when I came here I didn't know a soul. I didn't know not one person in Florence, kentucky, and it was not. When you walk by faith and not by sight, they say a good person's steps is ordered by God. And I'm a true believer in the higher power. You know, I believe in God, I believe he's, you know he's everything. He created us all and he's in us all. So when you have that love of God in your heart, then your steps are ordered. So I believe a good person's steps are ordered by God.
Speaker 2:I think I'm here on assignment and then my assignment was I met a bunch of kids when I got here and so when I got here I continued to establish. I established a program called Victorious Ministries for at-risk youth. So when I got here I didn't have a lot of clientele. I would have these cute little Caucasian boys sitting around in my chairs pretending to be barbers and spinning around making my shop look busy. I call them now my brat pack. So I ended up taking those boys for their graduation.
Speaker 2:We all went up to the Covington the 18th restaurant. It was so fancy. I made them wear shirt, ties and suits because for four years those boys were like my children and they were really good kids and they would bring their other kids. Even when I wasn't busy, they made me look busy. Monkey, see, monkey. Do People want to go where the action is? These boys had my shop popping. Of course they got free haircuts in between, but it did take a while to build up. Once people knew I was here and the quality of the work, then my clientele rapidly changed to a really upscale clientele I don't know the right word to say, but I have some really influential clients.
Speaker 1:Okay, clients, that names we may have heard.
Speaker 2:Correct, yes, I'm not going to name drop today, because that's part of being VIP you get pampered in privacy. Yeah, so I'm not going to drop the rappers or the football players.
Speaker 1:Okay, trina. So one thing you shared with me is you speak four languages and you kind of shared with me why that is. So tell the listeners why does Trina speak four languages?
Speaker 2:Well, come on now, mike, you're making me sound like a genius. Now. I'm not affluent in like four different languages, but I know enough in four different languages to ask for haircuts. See, vip is a multicultural line and we do not discriminate. We serve everybody. You know eight to 80, blind, crippled, crazy. I don't care, I really love people and if you need me, then I want to be that person, to have to give you that experience. So, yeah, so I had to learn how to speak a little Spanish, a little French, a little German. You know just to, you know just to know. I mean, you know, you kind of put me on the spot there. You kind of make me seem like I'm just this, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, you had an opportunity to look like a genius and finner everybody, but now you're just sort of.
Speaker 2:I'm just, you know what? I'm flying by the seat of my pants, by the grace of God. It's nothing but the grace of God, sweet honey. Nothing but the grace of God. And I walk by faith and not by sight. So I came down here and I'm excited about being down here. But I came down here because of the like I said, the setup and infrastructure and everything that was already here. But I was here for a certain group of people and until my assignment's up I'll be here in this area catering and taking care of that group of people. And then, who knows, I might get to go to Paris and cut hair, I might go back out to California, back down to Atlanta I mean, I've been licensed in five or six different states, you know and you got to be multicultural, you got to be well-versed. At the end of the day, money's green.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and people need help and you know, no matter what their background is, they all need help and my wife sometimes teases me that I cut my hair with a butter knife. My wife sometimes teases me that I cut my hair with a butter knife Because there's not a mistrainer in my life.
Speaker 2:That's why that is hey, hey, hey, you do now your VIP's on me. You come and get the experience. And once you get the experience, you'll know the difference. So it's not just the haircut, but it's the total experience. I want each of my customers to leave feeling good. I want to leave you with a word or a phrase to help you succeed in life struggles. It's not just about the haircut, it's about the total experience, it's the whole person. It's like a health thing for me.
Speaker 1:So you kind of explained to me earlier what that looks like. I think some of us, especially men, you know, because oftentimes we just don't want to care for ourselves the way we need to. So if we just sit down in someone's chair and they buzz, buzz, buzz and we throw down some money and we leave, that's kind of what we're used to. But your experience is way different.
Speaker 2:I specialize in grooming the professional male. So I have oncologists, I have doctors, I have pilots, I have people bankers, I have people with very stressful jobs, like you know, the people whose lives are in their hands, like if you're a doctor and you, you might. I'm sorry, I don't want to stutter, but I've had experiences where people have come in here literally crying where they has just lost someone on the table and they don't even need a haircut, but they want the experience. So I do a charcoal infused peppermint face towel and when I put that on, I do aromatherapy with the peppermint oils. So once you get your face covered and you start inhaling the natural oils, that already de-stresses you.
Speaker 2:So it's not just a haircut. I want to de-stress you. I want you to feel healthy inside and out, mentally strong. I don't know, it's just like a gift. It's like when you do what you love to do, you never work a day in your life. If God gives you an assignment, you have to follow it. I want to be in the Bahamas somewhere on the beach, but I have to be here because when that person comes in that needs that haircut but not the haircut, they come in. They don't need a haircut. But they need a haircut. But they don't need the haircut, they need the counseling and we're used to loving on people and people are used to loving on them. It was easy to build up a clientele here. It it just grew, grew, grew and word of mouth. So I went appointment only. After my first year I couldn't take walk-ins anymore personally, but the store does take walk-ins for other customers.
Speaker 1:Well, so you get to know your clients, I'm sure you get to know what their needs are, you get to know a bit about them personally, and so, whether you want to or not, you become a little bit of a armchair psychologist. I would think Like the bartender yeah right, you're not just destressing them, but I don't know. You just know what questions to ask so that they, like somebody, put it to me once if you hit the right note, they start singing. So, yeah, if somebody sits in your chair, your chair, are you used to talking to them? Is there interaction?
Speaker 2:In case you can't tell, I, lightweight, got the gift, the gab. I can't help but talk. I talk a lot and I blame that on coming from a big family as well. When you're the youngest of 18, you just want to be heard. I mean, everything happened before you were born and I'll hush up and and one day I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm always reminisce, because growing up in a big family has made me well-rounded, it has it instilled so much. I've dealt with every personality type before I ever left my home. You understand what I'm saying and when you're the youngest you're usually supposed to listen. I always like to talk, but you don't really. So I do talk a lot. I do have the gift of gab, so when people sit down, it's just organic. I can't help but talk. They can't help but talk. Sometimes people start telling me stuff.
Speaker 1:I don't want to hear that.
Speaker 2:Don't tell me no more, but again, they needed to get it out and I hear it and you know I love it. I do love the people, but it's the experience. We were talking about the experience and we got off on something else. So when people come here, it's not your basic haircut, it is a VIP experience. You really do feel priceless, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm sure there's a warm towel involved in it somewhere, so you get a. So you get a charcoal infused peppermint hot towel face wrap. So that's the first thing and what it does. It allows you to decompress. And then I come in with a peppermint experiment or whatever, man, because I have a wide range of aromatherapies. Some stimulate you, some make you want to go to sleep, some relaxes you, but at the end of the day it's just aromatherapy. So that's just an extra that you get for the haircut. It's not just a cut. So by the time you get de-stressed, you get the charcoal infused peppermint face towel and then you get pressure point massages in your temporals and your zygomatics and your mandible. We talk a lot and what people don't know, when you get your face massaged, it relaxes your entire body because a lot of the pressure is in our face, and you also get a cranium. So we do the parietals. So it's not just a haircut.
Speaker 1:It's like almost it's a it's a spa, it's a haircut spa. It's a relaxation. Has anyone fallen asleep in your chair before?
Speaker 2:All the time, like I got to make them leave. I definitely got to make them get out of the shampoo bowl area. They don't never want to. Oh, oh, it's over. Yeah, get up, baby, it's over. But then, when you get to the chairs, we also do hot stones on your neck and your shoulders, and we also have the massage guns as well. So you'll get um a charcoal infused peppermint face towel, you get your cranium, you get your neck and shoulders and you haven't even got your hair cut yet. I mean, the package is. It's just crazy. So you already feeling wonderful and then you actually leave with a specialty haircut. And the reason why it's a specialty haircut is because I've been cutting hair 30 years and anybody I touch is special.
Speaker 1:Well, I like that. But I got to say I hope you're charging what you're worth, because that's a lot and it's a valuable service.
Speaker 2:Well, believe it or not, I'm moderately priced intentionally. So there's packages, of course, that the upscale clients get, but because I love everyone, I make it affordable. So you go to the barbershops right now. Your basic cut and shave is going to run you 50, 60 bucks, 55, 55 bucks, 60 bucks with a tip. I mean you can go to, you know, to some of the chains with the inexperienced. But if you go to a nice upscale private salon you're going to pay 50 to 60 bucks for a haircut. My basic haircut starts at $40.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And then the VIP is 80. And so you can't beat it. You just can't beat it, walking, riding or flying.
Speaker 1:Well, that's, that's incredible. So I'm glad that we got to sit down today, because you know there are people out there that I'm sure are like what are you kidding me? And they're going to be. So the problem might be that if I heard you earlier. You're appointment only. Is that correct? I mean you're protecting time. A lot of people that want to see Ms Trina.
Speaker 2:I do have Rose and Mikey here as well, so they can still get a service, but if they want me, they may have to wait a little bit, but it's well worth the wait you mentioned your staff.
Speaker 1:You say rose and mikey. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:yeah, rose is a braider, okay, and uh, that she specializes in braids. So what we want to do here is have. So you know, there's a lot of doctors, there's a lot of so. There's dentists, and then there's podiatrists there's all different types of specialists that work on your body. So you don't want to go to a dentist and say, give me heart surgery. It's like you're a doctor, aren't you? Well, yes, I'm a doctor, but I don't perform heart surgery. So what I try to do is whatever your expertise is, whatever it is, that is your thing. Then I have a person that just specialize in that. That's why it's called a specialty store, because we specialize in whatever you're doing.
Speaker 2:So if you want to get some braids done, they're going to be the best braids you've ever done. If you want to get makeup, mikey's going to make your face look like he's ready for the runway. You see what I'm saying. So, yeah, we did. Yeah, so I'm excited. And oh, don't let me forget Teresita. She's here to greet you and treat you. She'll offer you a drink or a Coke, or take your jacket for you and hang it up, and all that good stuff.
Speaker 1:So those are all the people we're going to meet, see, interact with when we come to your salon. Yes, we've let you talk quite a bit about the salon and the experience, and that's all well and good, but you mentioned something earlier about the nonprofit. Before we leave, I want to make sure that you get to love on the nonprofit a little bit. So one more time, tell us about the nonprofit and what's up.
Speaker 2:So, again back in 2020, during the pandemic, when a lot of people were losing their minds and kids were acting crazy and they were just couldn't get out the house. They didn't know if they were going to live or die or they didn't know what was going to happen. So you had a lot of kids suffering from depression and I had met a couple of kids that were they were cutters and I just couldn't take it. They they were, they were abusing themselves and doing all kinds of crazy stuff. So I prayed and I said, lord, what can I do? And he said, lord, what can I do? And he said Victorious Ministries. And so that's what I did. I registered Victorious Ministries and it's a program for at risk, at risk youth. But all people are invited to come, because we have some adults, too, to have issues as well.
Speaker 2:A lot of times, people focus on the youth because that's where the grant money is, and this and that and the other, but it's welcome for everybody, everybody, victorious ministries. So what we do? Uh, victorious ministry. So I have a mentoring program. So my first set of kids um, they was with me for four years and they graduated through the program and we had a big um. Actually, a couple of them wasn't even able to graduate. I didn't know if they were going to graduate or not. So I created a challenge and I told the other ones. I said, if you make sure these two graduate, I'm going to take all six of you guys to the 18th, to the towers, to the restaurant in Covington it rotates and all that. And it was such an amazing experience and they had never been there and it just gave them something to look forward to.
Speaker 2:So what Victorious Ministry does is I find the kids who need it and then I create a challenge for them. But each challenge is different for each kid, so it's not one specific program. I actually cater to each kid individually and I make sure that, whatever they do, there's a checks and a rewards and a balance. So a couple of my clients had gotten into a little trouble and they had to get on probation. So I also registered with the authority so that I would be able to allow them to do their community services hours here at VIP. So I'll make them sweep up, preach to them a little bit, give them a hug, maybe pull their ears, but I think it's a beneficial program for the people that need it and that's my assignment. And until my assignment's up, I'll be doing haircuts and taking care of kids or at-risk people.
Speaker 1:Well, it sounds like you've been given a lot of assignments and you're handling them all very well.
Speaker 1:I know that there are people who are listening to this, that when they heard about that nonprofit and what you're doing for youth, their ears perked up and they want to help too. So, all that being said, before we sign off, I want people to know what's the best way to reach you, regardless of what the need is, whether they want to engage with you and come to your salon or learn more about the nonprofit. How would you prefer people reach you?
Speaker 2:just so that you can, they can engage with you and you can help them, whatever that might mean so I have an email that I prefer because once you get in writing you can keep up with a lot better. I get a lot of calls on all of my lines, so I do have different phones, but it's email. So the email is vipspecialtyhaircutsatbvipstore. Okay.
Speaker 1:So what I'm going to do, Trina, is when I put this on social media, I'm going to make sure that that's spelled out for everybody. Yes, for sure yeah, and there are people that are going to start to beat a path to your door now that they know about you.
Speaker 2:A lot of people know about you A lot of people don't, and now they do. Oh well, thank you, but also you can.
Speaker 1:there's and you know, okay, what's the app called.
Speaker 2:It's VIP Specialty Haircuts, okay Of course it is.
Speaker 1:Why wouldn't it be?
Speaker 2:It's just VIP Specialty Haircuts. So I'll send you a link, definitely, that you can put in your bio and then when they click on it it'll go straight to there, and I also have a QR code that you can put on the bottom of the screen.
Speaker 1:They can just scan it put on the bottom of the screen, they can just scan it. Yeah, all right, I love that. Yeah, any help you can give me to help you is much appreciated, because you deserve to be loved on in the community because of all the good stuff you're doing.
Speaker 2:So what you can do is come one time. Come one time and get that straight razor, get the hot towel, get all the treatment, and your wife will thank me for it because she'll be in such a better mood, you'll be such a happier person, you'll come in feeling confident, feeling yourself.
Speaker 1:There are many of us men out here that need your services. We just don't admit it, you know.
Speaker 2:And that's another thing. When you service the upscale male, so you go into a barbershop and tell a guy to wash your face or, you know, get the hair in between your eyebrows and do all that. A lot of barbers are kind of iffy about that. So this is a place where, if you're upscale male and you have to have male grooming, you don't feel any quorums or any any shames about it. It's like, yes, this lady's taking care of me as if I was her own son.
Speaker 1:OK.
Speaker 2:Yes, you get people hooked on your services is what happens. I hope so. I mean, I've been at this thing 30 years, man, and I don't know how much longer my legs got to go. I always talk about that Bahamas beach trip deal where I want to just sleep on the beach in the Bahamas, we all. But I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this until I can't do anything else. I can't help but believe it. This is I'll probably die cutting hair. I love serving people.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, you've certainly found your pocket, your groove, and we would all love to be part of it. I'm glad that you and I got to meet today, and I'm glad that I got to introduce you to the community at large here.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. It's been a privilege and an honor. Let me see. Let me see. I can't see without my glasses.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that comes with aging. I know, hey man, it was so nice, You're awesome.
Speaker 2:It was really nice meeting you. I didn't know what to expect. I was quite nervous, but you're a pro at ask a question or two and I let you go.
Speaker 1:Like I said before, I hit the right note and you start singing. So thanks for singing your song to us today. I really appreciate it. I'm going to come down to the mall.
Speaker 2:Well, send folks my way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're going to beat a path to your door. I promise yes, yes, yes, and you and I are going to have a part two to the podcast. We don't know exactly when that's going to be, but I look forward to staying in touch with you and becoming your friends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, part two is coming. Don't know when, don't know where, but it's coming. So, trina, thank you for spending time with us today. I know that today is your day off. You're a hardworking woman. You need your playtime, you need your time off, so go, go to it.
Speaker 2:Bye, thank you. I'll see you for part two.
Speaker 1:What I'll say to the community is this is the Good Neighbor Podcast. So until next time, everybody out there, be good to your neighbor and we'll see you soon. Thanks everyone, bye-bye.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to the.
Speaker 1:Good Neighbor Podcast Union. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPUnioncom. That's GNPUnioncom, or call us at 859-651-8330.