CLEVELAND — A female business owner who identifies as LGBTQ is making her mark in a male-dominated industry.

Kassity Moore is a painter and takes great pride in making sure every little detail is of its best quality. 

“Days like this where I have like odds and end projects, I just try to get a system down so it’s a little bit more seamless. I’m very big on being systematic with everything I do,” said Moore.  

“I love detailed work. I like attention to detail. I like doing things that make me feel like I can walk away and feel satisfied,” said Moore.  

Her work involves a lot of traveling to different places, but as a college biology major, owning Ohio City Painting wasn’t always the goal. 

“I just started painting with my friend who was running a college pro-painting business and just painted with her for the summer, and by the end of the summer I was signing on to take over the franchise,” said Moore.  

Moore drives a truck, but it isn’t her preferred way of travel. 

“I love skateboarding, so just cruising around Ohio City is probably one of my favorite things to do,” she said smiling.  

After getting supplies from Sherwin Williams, Moore gets back to work. But now, she’s going over Tik Tok and Instagram posts with her social media director, Jordan Simmons.

Simmons also happens to be her girlfriend. 

“I get to really showcase who Kassity is and just like so many of my other clients, Kassity said to me: ‘I’m never going to get leads off of Instagram.’ So I got to prove her wrong. Which I love doing,” Simmons said.  

Simmons often follows Moore while she works to give people an idea of who she is. 

“The more intimate you get, the more numbers we get. The more people leave comments, the more people engage, the more people follow us because they really feel like they're getting to know this business,” said Simmons. “Regardless of what I tell her, regardless of what her mom tells her, regardless of what society tells her, she’s going to take it and she’s going to tune in to what’s best for her and what is most aligned for her.” 

Moore knows she’s not your typical painter.

According to Zippia, only about 21% of house painters in the U.S. are women and less than 10% are LGBTQ.

Moore is a part of both demographics, and while she’s still found success owning her own business, it hasn't always been smooth sailing. 

“Sometimes I don’t even notice. I think I’ve just been around a lot of males my whole life, so I don’t think about it too much. But it’s a challenge in really just proving yourself. A lot of women, when you’re surrounded by men, you always feel like you gotta hold your own. I don’t know what that actually means, but yeah, I think I got to prove myself more because you know, you gotta hang with the boys as they say,” said Moore.  

But as Moore’s business and career continue to grow, she wants to give back to a community that’s embraced and accepted her. 

“I think a lot of the business I get is because people want to uplift us. They see a woman-owned business and you know, and they want to support that because it being (a) minority for so long. So running into struggles, I don’t, I really don’t. I can’t think of one instance that I felt discriminated against because of who I love,” said Moore.  

A skilled business owner setting an example and painting over barriers one brushstroke at a time.

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