THE TRANSACTION FUND
THE TALE OF TRANSACTION
ABOUT US:
In addition to being our long-suffering business manager and Kelsey’s personal Jiminy Cricket, Ryann is herself a trans woman a year into transition. When we started out on this chaotic little adventure, we knew we wanted to do everything we could to help our transgender and nonbinary brothers, sisters, and siblings see their true selves in the mirror regardless of their situation. Thus the TRANSaction program was born.
MEET RYANN, THE FOUNDER.
TRANS OWNED, TRANS INSPIRED
SELF EXPRESSION HAS NEVER COME EASY.
I learned early that standing out risked being cut down.
Self-expression has never come easy, especially through my appearance. Growing up transgender in a deeply conservative region where even wearing the “wrong” color invited ridicule, I learned early that standing out risked being cut down. Even when I worked up the courage to try to be anything other than “Generic White Man #3”, there was an obstacle preventing any exploration into identity. Growing up, control shaped my choices. As an adult, it followed me into relationships, making even small freedoms feel out of reach.
Everywhere I went, I found myself stuffed into a box I didn’t fit into. I learned to pretend that I didn’t care about the opinions of others.. Being unkempt becamemy personal brand. My clothes were ratty and worn out because I was taught that fashion was vain and materialistic. My hair was messy and my face unshaven because I was a laid-back nerd, not because I wielded them as a shield from my deeper insecurity. Showing the world (and myself) who I was, was hard, scary, and expensive, so I just… didn’t. I hid behind forced nanchalance, and like every box withholding something greater, the shell began to crack.
This emergence is fondly named by the Transgender community as one’s “egg cracking.” It’s an apt metaphor for embracing your true self, a second birth of sorts, your memories from before feel muffled and subdued as if a barrier was separating you from the world, and in the case of transfemmes, like myself, you emerge as a “chick.”
There was still a lot of growing to do.
Hair. Clothing. Makeup. Even the way I spoke, or my posture. My physical expression was so carefully curated to blend in as a man for so long. I was figuring out who I was, and how to show that to the world. It was a process akin to everyone’s cringy teen years, but not as an eighth grader—as a 30-something woman. I felt like my peers were years ahead in these kind of things. I could never anticipate if the employees at a salon, or store, would be welcoming, uncomfortable, or even hostile towards me. There is so much joy in my identity and expression now, but back then it was harder, scarier, and more expensive.
A year and a half later, I’m still learning who Ryann is. It’s been the most challenging, awkard, frightening experience of my life, but it is also more beautiful and joyful than I ever imagined my life could be. That is why I started spending my evenings and weekends helping run Hex Appeal Hair Studio. I know better than most, how important it is to show the world your true self, and how terrifying that can be.
“I NEED A GENDER-AFFIRMING HAIRCUT!”
You’ve come to the right place. We are so glad to have you, and so excited to see the person you become. Please fill out the form below, so we can get the information we need to help you, and get your butt in the salon chair!