LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington man became a business owner after serving eight and a half years in prison. He wants his wrong turns to be a lesson to youth in the community. He discovered the passion of barbering behind bars and hasn’t let go since, while celebrating a year in business.
Gordon Carsby is a Lexington native, a father of six children and the owner of Nippy’s Barbershop. He never imagined his life after prison would be owning a business. Now every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Carsby fulfills his passion for cutting hair and staying on the right path of life.
He accepts appointments and walk-ins and has lots of business ahead of weekends.
“Probably down there a little bit?” Carsby asked a client.
Cutting hair is a passion Carsby found when he was in confinement at the age of 16. He credits it as a lifesaver.
“Honestly without it [barbering] I don’t know what I would be doing, probably wouldn’t even be alive to be honest with you,” Carsby said.
Carsby opened Nippy’s Barbershop on Harrodsburg Road in February 2021 after serving eight and a half years in prison. The thought of going back behind bars exhausted him, and that motivation is what landed him where he is today.
Carsby says he grew up with a loving family and plenty of support, but took a wrong turn that lead to a downhill spiral. The first time he went behind bars was at age 16 after dropping out of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.
“I had a juvenile judge pretty much give me an ultimatum. She said either you do six months in jail for truancy or you go to a state-funded program in Fort Knox that’s military based and do that for six months and get your GED,” Carsby said.
So Carsby chose to get his GED in 2002 while in confinement. He says his life didn’t slow down after that. It was drugs, guns and an assault charge that landed him his fifth and final sentence at Northpoint Prison—just 34 miles south of Lexington in Danville, Kentucky.
“I got there [prison] and it was just show time, you know I came in with so much aggression and just a mentality of I felt like I had to get it going or I was going to be a victim,” Carsby said.
Carsby didn’t become a victim of the system, and he earned his barber license in 2013. Just two weeks before he opened his barbershop, his grandmother Nippy passed away from stomach cancer, but her picture and her presence remain in Carsby’s shop.
Carsby’s grandmother was a beautician in Lexington for many years. For Lexington youth, the message Carsby has for them is clear after struggling on the wrong path for so long.
“I got a couple of friends who have served time for murder and they’re out now and they’re doing great. They’re working, taking care of their families and married. You know if you think it’s cool, go and ask one of them what it’s like to do 20 years flat,” Carsby said.
Carsby wants people in the Lexington community to see that there’s a chance for hope and success, even after losing years of your life behind bars.
“What else is there to do but keep going? I mean, I just came from the bottom, there’s no backwards for me,” Carsby said.
It’s only forward for Carsby because he knows what backwards feels like. Carsby’s future goals are to team up with Lexington community leaders like Devine Carama to help direct youth on the right path.