Katie Steller is a young entrepreneur who owns a hair salon that touches lives far beyond the four walls of her Minneapolis studio.
At least once a week, Katie brings out her now-famous roaming red chair and hauls it around the city in the back of her SUV asking homeless people if they would like a free haircut.
He business happens to be a lot more than cutting and styling people’s hair. She goes out into the community with the hope of inspiring others to help others.
“If fear is contagious, why can’t kindness be,” Katie says.
Katie and her assistant, Emily Lall, stops for anyone holding a sign asking for help and asks them if they would like a free haircut.
“I could technically cut somebody’s hair on a folding chair or on a curb or wherever, like I don’t need that chair,” Katie says, according to Kare 11 News.
“But it’s not about what’s easy, it’s about really showing value to people.”
Katie first began giving out free haircuts to the homeless in 2013, but it then took a break to build up her salon business, Steller Hair Company.
Now she’s back at it, but this time with the help of her salon employees as well as volunteers. She also gives out essentials to folks in need, such as sanitary napkins, food, and water.
“It’s looking at what skill do I have, what gift do I have, and how could that benefit somebody else,” Katie says.
Katy says she wants everybody to feel good about themselves; then, notes that they can be inspired to do great things.
The feeling of not being happy with your self-image is one Katie is all too familiar with. She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was 11-years-old and had her entire large intestine removed when she was 18.
Soon Katie’s hair began to fall out as a side-effect of her condition.
“When you start to lose it, you’re like, wait, I didn’t realize what a big part of my identity that was,” Katie tells Kare 11.
“That’s probably my main motivator. I mean, I don’t do hair because I’m naturally good at it, I’m good at it because I saw it as a way and a vessel to connect and care for people.”
Just Be There To Give Back
Katie admits that she doesn’t have all the answers but believes strongly, “if we want macro changes, we have to start on a micro level.”
The Steller Kindness Project she also runs wishes to “give a platform, and create opportunities, for people who want to show up, and give back.”
You can find out more about Katie’s Kindness Project in the video below, and please be sure to share her inspirational story with your friends and family.