Seattle Reign FC Legend: Georgette Watje – Founder, Barber & Advocate

The Legends Campaign, a partnership between Seattle Reign FC and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to Seattle Reign FC’s match against Racing Louisville FC on June 23, the club recognized Georgette Watje, a small business owner, founder, barber and advocate. 

Watje’s path to becoming a barber was anything but simple. She started her career as a social worker, but as many do, felt a sense of burn out after working in the field for nine years. Searching for something that felt right, she transitioned to a contrasting role in logistics before she and her wife then moved out to the Pacific Northwest. Upon arriving, she began to work in non-profit human services, but wasn't feeling the sense of belonging she so greatly desired. 

“I remember expressing frustration to my wife because I truly did not understand where I fit. She was in education at the time and decided to invite a few friends over for dinner and that’s where this all really began.” 

The dinner was a meeting of minds, as Watje describes it. The friends all gathered outside, sitting around the porch, armed with several giant sticky notes and began to ask a variety of questions about what she wanted to do. Did she want to work with her hands? Did she want to work with people? How about working independently? 

“I feel like not enough people get asked these questions on a daily basis. No one takes the time to dive that deep into what they want to do and why they want to do it.” 

After the barrage of questions, her friends put their heads together and wrote down professions they thought she would excel in. That’s the first time it came up. 

A barber. 

“I must have looked at those answers for a week and half and I kept coming back to the barber idea. I just kept thinking about how I always notice hair. I continued to think about it and realized how lucky I was that I had grown to enjoy getting my hair cut. I was lucky to find a person and place I felt comfortable with.” 

After that, Watje set up a barber appointment, where she asked her barber all of the questions she had about how he got into the business. She told him that she was thinking about getting into it and he was immediately very encouraging and supportive. That very same day, she went down to the local college and enrolled in a barbering class. 

" I remember just sitting there thinking ‘oh my gosh, what did I just do?’ I called my wife, and I was like ‘you're not going to believe this.’ She was over the moon ecstatic.” 

“From day one, I absolutely loved it. I knew that this was the puzzle piece that was missing. Things started to grow in a way that I never expected. My barber professor, Mr. Olsen, told me one day that I was going to be a really good barber shop owner and I fought him on it. I was adamant that I never wanted to own my own shop – I just wanted to cut hair.” 

The rest is history as The Barber Collective was founded in 2020 and has since become a space for people to not only get a really great haircut, but to gather and be their true, authentic selves. 

“It’s more than just a haircut when you come to TBC. We’ve made it into this hub for other things as well. There’s a Community Board. There’s a small business board. You need to find a queer plumber? We got you!” 

With a highlight reel of accomplishments over the last five years, a few standout moments come to mind for Watje. First, it’s the growth of the shop. The operation started in her garage and backyard and is now in a dedicated shop space. In addition, she has built a team of outstanding individuals who support TBC and its mission, including her Stylist Nae and barber Shanna. 

“Most of all, my highlight reel would be full of the transition haircuts that walk out our door. It would capture their faces as they walk out a true version of themself.” 

Watje’s encourages those who are unsure or nervous about pursuing their goal to push through the uncomfortable feeling and give it a try before counting themselves out. 

I started Barber school at 39 years of age and I was freaking out because no one looked like me. There was one other person in the class that was around my age – everyone else was younger. Nearly everyone was a cis male. If I had let fear take over and wouldn't have signed up for Barber school, I would still be trying to figure out that missing puzzle piece.” 

For Watje, being honored as a Seattle Reign FC Legend is a dream come true. 

"To combine sports and the community I love is a dream. There are very hard days, and this is all still wild to me. There are still times where I just don't believe it, so yeah, it’s the dream.” 

She continued, “I want to shout out my team at TBC and all of the brave people who were allowing me to chop at their hair before I even entered Barber school. I also want to thank one of my best friends, Tom Finley (PRÜF Creative) for being on this journey with me from the start of TBC and especially my wife. This this wouldn't have happened and grown the way that it has without her, because there were definitely times where I contemplated walking away and she had to talk me out of it.” 

Check out The Barber Collective online here or on Instagram!