Jessie Anderson is an entrepreneur and transgender activist who has resided in Vancouver, BC since 1995. After coming out as trans to his peers and family at age 16, Jessie quickly became involved in activism within his local community. Throughout the first few years of his transition, Jessie would co-organize two youth-led LGBTQ events at the Cultch (2008), write and present workshops on trans inclusion to volunteer groups at Vancouver Coastal Health (2010), and serve Davie Village as one of the full-time familiar faces behind the counter at Little Sister’s Book & Art Emporium (2011-2015). 

Following the death of Little Sister’s co-owner Jim Deva in 2014, Jessie decided to take the knowledge he had gained from his community elders and channel it into a new, updated project: Big Bro’s Barbershop, a beauty and resource centre with a primary focus on trans wellness. With a brick-and-mortar location, Jessie could offer business hours as his community’s “Big Bro,” and provide one-on-one peer support and community networking while earning income via haircuts and the sales of gender-affirming products.

Through his East Van shop location, Jessie currently serves transgender clients across lower BC from as far as Kamloops, and is a commonly exchanged resource among families of local trans youth. Having never strayed too far from the home he grew up in, Jessie now lives in an East Van co-op.

On September 1, 2015, Jessie Anderson opened Big Bro’s Barbershop for business on a budget of roughly nine thousand dollars, all crowdfunded from community members. In exchange, he had promised a brick-and-mortar space dedicated to the wellness of the trans community, created by a member of the trans community. Big Bro’s Barbershop would be a place where trans people could receive hair services without hassle, purchase gender-affirming products that are rarely available on store shelves, and have access to resources that are often difficult to find or afford.

The initial, trial-run location of Big Bro’s Barbershop was a 300ft² windowless art studio in an industrial Franklin Street warehouse. Clients would ring a doorbell on a discreet sign hung on the front gate, and Anderson would run downstairs to escort his guests up to the shop. However, this original location was surprisingly well-received – queer folks in Vancouver were hardly strangers to community events and resources being hosted in odd affordable corners of Canada’s most expensive city.

Seven months later, after winning Best Emerging Entrepreneur at the Small Business BC Awards, Big Bro’s Barbershop was relocated to a larger, brighter, 800ft² storefront, where the business would continue to grow for another eight years. As further awards and recognition were received and a few employees were brought in, Big Bro’s began to truly establish itself as an institution of Vancouver’s trans community. Not only did the shop establish a long-term partnership with independent queer hairdresser and artist Zed Payne–who began renting the rear half of the shop in 2016–but Big Bro’s also collaborated with several other organizations, including (but not limited to):

• Bakau Consulting
• BC Children’s Hospital
• Big Joy Barber & Salon
• The Birdhouse
• The Body Politik
• Clarico Electrolysis
• Coquitlam Express Hockey Club
• Cross & Crows Books
• Health Initiative for Men
• Jericho Beach Kayak
• Mission Possible
• Options for Sexual Health
• PACE Society
• Pacific Community Resources Society (PCRS)
• Qmunity
• Radical Access Mapping Project (RAMP)
• Raincity Housing
• Small Business BC
• UBC Commerce Undergraduate Society
• Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA)
• Vancouver’s Vancouver Trans, Two-Spirit, Genderqueer, Intersex Liberation & Celebration March
• Vancity Credit Union
• Vancouver Coastal Health
• Vancouver International Burlesque Festival (VIBF)
• Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF)
• Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW)
• ZeeZee Theatre

In 2024, Big Bro’s Barbershop underwent a hefty renovation and a final relocation to its current location at 2375 E Broadway. Now with a team of six staff members and two additional chair renters, Big Bro’s has landed in a large, visible location designed from the ground up to meet the needs of its workers and clients. After nearly a decade of operating, Big Bro’s Barbershop remains one of the most visibly by-trans-for-trans spaces in the Lower Mainland.

Big Bro’s online: Facebook | Instagram | BlueSky | BigBrosBarbershop.com