22-year-old owner of Bailee’s Barbershop feels ‘blessed’ after 2 years of business in Scottdale

Bailee Frey says she always knew she wanted to cut hair in some way, and she made it happen when she opened Bailee’s Barbershop in Scottdale when she was just 20 years old.

Frey of East Huntingdon opened her barbershop’s doors on Broadway in the borough for the first time a little more than two years ago.

She said she remembers her dad calling on her opening day to ask if she was nervous.

“I was like, well, the way I’m looking at it is, you know, it’s not really a sink-or-swim kind of thing,” Frey said. “As long as I can at least doggie paddle, I’m gonna make it somewhere.”

And swim, she did.

Becoming a barber

Now 22, she graduated in 2019 from Southmoreland School District, a place she said was “a great outlet” to find herself.

“They didn’t push me into college, even though I was a straight-A student,” Frey said. “They really helped me with realizing that … you don’t have to go to college to be successful.”

She then began working for Kreations by Kallie Hair Studio and, while she was there, she quickly realized that she wasn’t interested in doing women’s hair.

The reason? Frey said she’s never been a big fan of drama that can float around a hairdresser’s chair.

“I’m very literal, and I’m very … harsh in the best way possible,” Frey said. “Kallie said, ‘I think you need to be a little more gentle.’ I was like, ‘No, that would be me lying, and I’m not gonna do that.’ ”

Soon she was off to visit a barber school in Pittsburgh and said she immediately had a feeling that she was “at home.”

“This is like what I’m meant to be … I know that for a fact,” Frey said, “and I signed up literally right then.”

She completed barber school in about a year and took on an opportunity working at Smitty’s Barbershop — just down the street from Bailee’s.

Building Bailee’s

Frey’s grandfather would take her with him when she was a little girl to Frank’s Barbershop — which is now Smitty’s — every Sunday before church.

“I realized like whenever I was down there … I think I just knew I was meant to be on the other side of the wall,” Frey said.

Frey met and worked with Ron Smith, the namesake of Smitty’s, after barber school.

“He is actually the one that had said, ‘Maybe you should open your own shop (and) make it your own,’ ” Frey said.

She decided she would go for it, and for three months, she looked for a building. Originally, she was targeting the Mt. Pleasant area, but then she saw the storefront at the southern end of Broadway.

The inside “was a mess,” Frey said. The floors were orange, and the walls were blue.

“But I had the same feeling when I walked in here that I had when I walked into my barber school … everything you see is how I saw this place looking,” Frey said. “I just knew this was it.”

When she renewed her lease after one year, Frey said her landlord told her, “I think you broke the curse.”

She said she hopes to buy the building one day because she doesn’t plan on ever leaving.

“If he doesn’t want to sell it, and he keeps me, I will stay here for forever,” Frey said. “I love my location.”

Expanding her shop

Two years after opening, Frey hired another female barber, Harlee Mullins. The two had known each other while growing up in the Connellsville area.

“It’s been fantastic; it’s like everything that I’ve ever hoped and dreamed about,” Frey said. “So every day, I feel like I just am living in a fantasy world. … It’s perfect.”

She said the amount of support she’s gotten from Scottdale locals was something she “never would’ve imagined.”

Mullins, 21, of Connellsville started at Bailee’s on Tuesday. She graduated from Connellsville Area School District in 2020 and started barber school in 2021.

“She’s a great person to work with — we get along great,” Mullins said of Frey. “It’s so nice working here with her and … trusting each other.”

Moving forward, Frey said she wants to “keep growing” and eventually be able to hire more barbers.

She’d love to open another Bailee’s Barbershop location as well — one she said Mullins could run.

“I want to help (Mullins) grow, and I want to help other people grow as well,” Frey said.

The female barber

The two agree there are not many women in their field, but that isn’t a hindrance.

“I love just learning people’s stories,” Frey said. “Honestly, they always tell you in school you’re not just a barber — you’re basically people’s therapist, and I love that.”

She feels “so appreciative and blessed” to be able to have Bailee’s Barbershop, and she said she always cries talking about it.

“I didn’t come from much, so being 20 years old and being terrified to open your own business … it just feels so amazing to have this,” Frey said.

“I just want to make an impact … and kinda let little girls know that … just because it’s a man’s job — doesn’t mean you can’t do it. You can really do anything you put your mind to, and I just want them all to know that.”