Rugged Edge Cuts owner, cosmetologist Mindy Finzen (left) cuts the hair of client Mayor Pete Holden (seated) on a recent January morning inside Finzen’s new hair cutting shop located at 539 Second Street in downtown Traer and just steps east of the Traer Public Library. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

There’s a new star clipper in Traer – cosmetologist Mindy Finzen and her main street hair cutting shop Rugged Edge Cuts officially opened to the public in late December of last year.

“My dream has always been to open my own salon,” Finzen said on a recent weekday in January as she stood inside her shop located at 539 Second Street in downtown Traer. “This is just my little shop. I’ve done hair for 17 years. I’m happy to be local [now] – be in town and with people that I know.”

Since graduating from North Tama High School in 2004, Finzen has always kept her hands busy cutting hair in some capacity, she said, most recently by working for Great Clips in Cedar Falls – meaning she’s been cutting hair throughout the pandemic and amidst the current workforce shortage.

In the summer of 2020 when hair salons began to reopen following the COVID-19 shutdown and Iowans began to seek out professional hair cuts again after months of do-it-yourself attempts, the demand for a haircut at places like Great Clips – a corporate salon – was enormous, Finzen said, and really hasn’t slowed down since.

“The most [haircuts] I did in a day was 38 and the clippers felt so heavy by the end of the day,” Finzen said. “[Hair salons] are busier than ever now but there’s less people cutting hair, less stylists that want to be around people. But you still have everybody needing haircuts.”

The front entrance to Mindy Finzen’s new hair cutting shop Rugged Edge Cuts located at 539 Second Street in downtown Traer. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

One cosmetologist cutting a couple of hundred heads of hair in a one-week period – or 30 haircuts in an eight-hour shift – continues to be the norm at places like Great Clips, Finzen said, due to the workforce shortage.

After working so much for so long, finding a space to rent locally in order to open her own shop has been a welcome reprieve for Finzen.

In addition to her work at Great Clips, Finzen also cut hair under the late Jon Trousdale’s tutelage – Trousdale owned and operated Jon’s Barber/Styling Shop.

“I’m not technically a barber,” Finzen said while pointing to her cosmetology license hanging on the wall behind the shop’s front desk, “but Jon [Trousdale] taught me how to cut like a barber and that was a really neat experience.”

Apprenticing under an “old time barber” like Trousdale, Finzen said, taught her a lot of skills, skills not every cosmetologist or stylist has in their repertoire – like how to do a flat top.

Rugged Edge Cuts owner, cosmetologist Mindy Finzen pictured inside her new hair cutting shop Rugged Edge Cuts located in downtown Traer. Finzen opened her new shop in late December and has over 17 years of experience cutting and styling hair including barber skills she picked up while apprenticing under the late Jon Trousdale of Traer’s Jon’s Barber/Styling Shop. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

“This girl can rock a flat top,” Finzen said with a laugh. “A lot of the older people say to me, you must be a barber, you know how to fade.”

In addition to adult haircuts, Finzen – a former teacher associate at North Tama – also does children’s cuts, something she particularly loves, she said.

Beard trims are also on the menu at Rugged Edge Cuts.

The salon underwent a significant facelift before opening, Finzen said, starting as soon as she got the keys to the building which, among other things, has been a detailing shop, a feed mill, and even an armory at one point in its history.

In order to create a welcoming, rustic atmosphere for all her potential clients, Finzen and her husband Joe – a hobbyist woodworker – restained the doors and trim a dark walnut color and painted over the formerly bright red walls and yellow closet with a more subdued sage-teal.

Rugged Edge Cuts owner, cosmetologist Mindy Finzen stands behind the salon chair inside her new hair cutting shop Rugged Edge Cuts located in Traer’s downtown. Finzen opened her new shop in late December and has over 17 years of experience cutting and styling hair including barber skills she picked up while apprenticing under the late Jon Trousdale of Traer’s Jon’s Barber/Styling Shop. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

“I want everyone to feel comfortable here. Not too girly, a rustic, rugged look,” Finzen said.

In addition to feeling comfortable, Finzen also wants her clients to leave the shop feeling like a star.

“A good haircut makes you feel just amazing,” Finzen said. “A good haircut says a lot about somebody. My job is a fun job.”

Rugged Edge Cuts is open by appointment and also accepts walk-in clients during shop hours: Tuesdays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Wednesdays from 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m, and Saturdays 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. For an appointment call 319-240-2131.

Check out Finzen’s Facebook page Rugged Edge Cuts to learn more.