CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte hairdresser is still dealing with the economic realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost a year later.

What You Need To Know


  • A Charlotte hairdresser says economic impact from COVID-19 keeps coming in new forms

  • From cancelled appointments to changes in rent, economic impact is wide-ranging

  • Even with all the headaches, she is determined to keep working

 

She, and other self-employed professionals, are dealing with a wide range of challenges and impacts to their businesses, which can be long-lasting and complex.

For Carrie Dye, her job never used to be considered dangerous.

She is not cutting steel or using a scalpel, she’s cutting hair. But in a world suffering through the COVID-19 pandemic, her type of close-contact business has fallen under increased scrutiny and new mandates.

For 15 years, Dye has been leaving home each morning with the goal of cutting hair for an honest day’s work.

Even after reopening, it was not business as usual. The state implemented new mandates and restrictions on close-contact businesses like salons, requiring specific distances between clients and staff, masks, and other rules.

Then, just this year, the person who shared her small salon space moved out. The decision left Dye with the space, appointments, and rent for two people.

Dye says the other hairdresser moved out of the space because the two were forced to split schedules and only work in the area one at a time

At the end of each appointment, she’s left cleaning and waiting for another one.

But, they come fewer than they used to, just another sign of the times as COVID-19 has kept people away.

"The biggest challenge has been getting clients to come as regularly as they did before COVID. I used to have every two to four week-ers and now they’re stretching it out six to eight weeks and there’s a handful of clients that haven’t even returned because they’re not working in their regular buildings anymore, and they’re just working from home. So, they’re letting their hair grow out. A lot of people I haven’t seen, so it’s just client retention,” Dye says while closing up for the day.

It would be natural to think after the last year Dye is reconsidering her career, but she would not even consider it.

"For me it’s definitely worth it. I would rather be working than having to find another job where it might just be the same close contact doing what I’m doing now. I feel like it’s very hard to avoid touching people at this point, even with all the safety measures people take. But no, it’s definitely better than having to live off of unemployment with the uncertainty of not knowing if you’re going to get your job back together or not,” Dye adds.