by Lisa Reisman
On a recent Sunday, Olivia Brantley was having her hair styled at Trachouse Beauty Salon. Brantley was a police officer for 42 years in Bridgeport. She retired, then took another job in Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown as a therapist.
“Yeah, I’ve seen it all, but it’s not about that for me,” she told stylist Nakima Reece at the salon’s day of beauty as part of its annual Pink Project. “You see people at their lowest and you want to help them.” She paused. “You all are doing that for me today in a different way.”
Brantley was starting treatments for breast cancer in three days. For the team at Trachouse Salon — which was founded in New Haven and is now located at 39 Frontage Rd. in East Haven — that qualified her not just to have her hair styled but to enjoy a full day of pampering, complete with a makeup application, customized wig, and photo shoot; a lavish Sunday brunch with family and friends; and a general sense of balloon-festooned occasion.
Trachouse Salon founder and owner Renee Brown with Tashia, Pink Project participant. Credit: Stephen Joyner Jr. of pointsNsnaps
The mission of the Pink Project, according to Renee Brown, who founded Trachouse as a side hustle on Shelton Avenue in 2016 and this year celebrated the salon’s 10th anniversary: “to provide a day of service to strengthen and renew the mind, body, and spirit of breast cancer survivors and those going through active treatment through donated beauty services.”
Brown started the project — which has friends, family, or community members providing a “detailed and heartfelt narrative about the nominee’s breast cancer journey” — to honor her grandmothers, Lurah and Lois, both breast cancer survivors.
Over the years, it’s evolved, with a partnership with the Yale mammography van — an Instagram post pictures an ebullient woman exiting the van outside the studio with a sign reading “I Got the Girls Checked” — and Pilates in Pink, an annual fundraiser at Wellness Park on Chapel Street that features a full day of wellness activities including Pilates sessions, as well as raw juices, B12 shots, and complimentary massages.
Tracey Golden getting treated to gel manicure by Trachouse’s Katherina Robinson. Credit: Lisa Reisman photo
Proceeds from the event go in large part to buying wigs. Research shows that Black women have the highest breast cancer death rate of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S., yet, Brown said, “there aren’t a lot of wigs — especially ones covered by health insurance — that are designed with Black hair textures in mind. When you think about how much hair is tied to not just confidence but identity and normalcy, losing it can feel like you’re losing part of yourself.”
Brown’s hope is eventually to use part of the proceeds to afford a financial gift to the families of the participants. “The nominees, they’re always moms,” she said, amid the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and savory bacon in the warmly lit space. “When they’re going through this battle, the family is going through it as well. If she can’t work, if she’s unable to physically take care of her family, be there for them emotionally and spiritually, everything kind of crumbles.”
Olivia Brantley, after makeover, making grand entrance. Credit: Stephen Joyner Jr. at pointsNsnaps
It’s all in keeping with Brown’s mission to make her salon not just a one-stop mecca for everything from teeth whitening to nail care and waxing to facials and peels, but also a platform for sisterhood, public health literacy, and female empowerment — as its name denotes, “a place where beauty, confidence, and transformation happen one track at a time.”
That’s where the Trachouse Cares Foundation, a nonprofit outreach arm founded by Brown in 2022, and its initiatives, come in. There’s “Period,” an annual partnership with medical students at Quinnipiac University to educate and empower girls about their changing bodies. There are the visits to public and private schools to teach young people about entrepreneurship. There’s the intern from Chapel Haven Schleifer Center,which provides support and training for adults with intellectual disabilities, gaining vocational experience at the salon.
“It’s all about making people, especially women, feel seen and supported,” said Brown, as she styled the wig of Tashia, who’s still in treatment.
Carla Chappel, after makeover, accepting adulation. Credit: Stephen Joyner Jr. at pointsNsnaps
“I’m a fighter, not a survivor,” said Tashia, who has four treatments left, then surgery, then radiation. A medical executive assistant in Hartford, she said she loves caring for people. “This is hard, to have people taking care of you,” she said. Still, she allowed, “it feels good to be pampered.”
At another station, Tracey Golden was getting a gel manicure from Katherina Robinson who, like all the stylists, was volunteering her time on a Sunday. “It’s an honor and privilege,” she said. Golden said the treatments caused her nail beds to go black. “It’s growing out, but this really helps,” she said.
Across the studio, Nakima Reece was fitting a wig on the head of Olivia Brantley.
“I look like Beyoncé,” Brantley exclaimed.
“You look beautiful,” another stylist replied.