Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes available for pick up until mid November
Brooke (Rogoza) Krasnesky’s road to being a hairstylist has not always been easy, but her business, Brivnica Co The Barbershop Company, shows what hard work and perseverance can do.
The young stylist started her professional career a decade ago and hasn’t stopped for a second to give up on her dream, even when things got tough.
In 2017, when she was 18, she went to the Salon Professional Academy in Winnipeg. Shortly after that, her grandpa died on her birthday, and she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her knees and ankles, which made it hard to stand.
“It was a pretty hard go trying to get through school,” said Krasnesky.
Since she graduated, Krasnesky has always been out on her own, pursuing her career in hair styling.
In May 2022, she opened her business, renting off Deb’s Hair Design on the corner of the street, and when she and her husband got married in May, they decided to upgrade their building and got 312 Main Street.
But Krasnesky’s ideas and aspirations for her career haven’t stopped – she is looking to give back to a community she feels has given so much to her.
And that’s a part of why she loves doing what she does. Krasnesky says her favourite thing about owning her own business and cutting hair, in general, is how she can help others.
“It’s the satisfaction you get of making somebody happy,” she said.
Krasnesky wants to give back in a bigger way this Christmas season through her initiative, Christmas shoeboxes for charity and a special potluck with gifts and free haircuts on Christmas Eve.
Krasnesky was raised in faith, which plays a huge part into her giving heart.
“Growing up, giving back and whatnot, always thanking God. If it weren’t for God, I wouldn’t be here and where I am right now.”
This year, the couple have decided to support Samaritan’s Purse for Operation Christmas Child.
Krasnesky ordered a bunch of shoeboxes so other children who come in the barbershop can pick up a shoebox and fill it up for another child. The deadline to fill the shoeboxes is the second week of November.
“It’s filling a hole in your heart by giving to people that don’t have as much as you have,” she said.
The other way Krasnesky hopes to give back to the community this Christmas is through a fundraiser through GoFundMe that will raise funds to provide a potluck on Christmas Eve for the community at the Barbershop.
If she and her husband Austin can raise enough, they also want to use the money to get Christmas gifts and wrap them to give to the children in Stonewall.
To make these dreams a reality, they are hoping to raise $5,000 to $10,000 before the week prior to Christmas Eve. Krasnesky will also be offering free haircuts that day.
“One day, I was just sitting in the shop and felt called in my heart to do a GoFundMe for the shop, for the shop to give back to the community,” she said.
She said she still wants to provide free haircuts if they cannot raise all the funds, but hopes that they can do it for the community.
“It’s home… The community is important to me, growing up here. A lot of my clients are people I went to school with or their parents, their grandparents or their kids. Their family. You know these people, and you have your heart for them, and you want to help them,” she said, crying on the phone.
On top of the fundraisers for Christmas, Krasnesky and her husband are trying to work on an apprentice program to bring jobs in town, as well as a bunch of community events like paint night and events for guys.
To donate to help make a community children’s Christmas in Stonewall possible for those who may not otherwise have the opportunity, visit her website: https://brivnica-co.square.site/.
Brivnica Co Barbershop is open Monday through Sunday. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it is open from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; on Sundays, it is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Photos of a few of the cuts that Krasnesky has done
