Stylist returns to Hernando roots to open Penny’s Cuts

Penelope Golding has cut a lot of hair in Hernando County.

She began nearly 20 years ago in a barber shop on Kass Circle, which she would eventually buy and operate.

After a four-year stint in California, Golding is back in Hernando and cutting hair again.

Penelope Golding opened Penny’s Cuts in early May after working in the industry as a business owner and employee for more than 18 years. She returned to Spring Hill after a four-year stint in California where she tragically lost her husband. Golding and Dyhalmer Rios offer $6 haircuts as well as full salon services. KIM DAME

Golding opened Penny’s Cuts on Deltona Boulevard at the corner of Philatelic Drive, in early May. She and friend and colleague Dyhalma Rios worked well together at another shop and decided to pair together in Golding’s newest business venture.

“I love what I do,” she said. “And I want to spend my days doing what makes me happy.”

Golding spends her days cutting hair. She is a simplistic artist, quickly crafting haircuts at $6 a pop.

Golding plans to add more stylists as the community realizes she is back. She spent a number of years as a shop owner in various salons and as a stylist for other shops.

Golding’s experience in the business began 18 years ago when she took a job cutting hair for a barbershop on Kass Circle. The owner built a reputation on quality $5 haircuts and Golding helped him market to a community that began lining up outside the door.

The owner decided to sell and offered the business to Golding first.

“I didn’t want to own my own shop,” she said, and declined the offer. “Then he told me he couldn’t guarantee the new owners would keep me. So I bought the business.”

She built her own niche on a solid foundation, grounded by the previous owner’s marketing of the $5 haircut.

“He told me not to change the price,” Golding remembered. And she never did, expanding the business to five stylists who worked a line of customers that lined up on most days.

When it grew to a capacity that was no longer manageable, Golding decided to sell.

She opened another salon on Deltona Blvd. after trying her hand in other industries. She couldn’t get away from her passion.

“I just wasn’t happy,” she said.

After three years, she sold that shop and she and her husband moved to California, closer to their grandchildren. She opened another salon and the couple remained on that coast for four years.

And then Golding’s life changed. Her husband of more than 50 years became ill, was rushed to the hospital, and died of a ruptured ulcer. Devastated and broken-hearted, Golding decided to come back to Spring Hill where she knew she could make it on her own.

She got back into the industry, taking stylists positions, some with her old employees.

Getting back up was difficult, she said. Her husband was her rock, her high school sweetheart, her best friend. When she speaks of him, her perky demeanor becomes stoic, quiet, and reflective. Her eyes moisten a bit.

But Golding’s support systems were in place and one colleague, Dyhalma Rios, didn’t let her sink too low. With Rios’ encouragement, Golding decided to branch out on her own again. While she enjoyed working for others, she wasn’t internally happy.

“Where was I going?” she said.

Penny’s Cuts will help fill the void, Golding said. She is happiest running her own show, although she said the role of boss is not her forte.

“I don’t like being a boss,” she said. “I want everyone to be their own boss.”

And the relationship she and Rios have built is based on that kind of respect.

“I don’t work for her,” Rios said. “I work with her.”

The women complement each other. Golding is a peacemaker who really strives to create an atmosphere where everyone can be comfortable. The business shouldn’t be competitive or cutthroat, she said.

“I don’t want anyone to hate to come to work,” Golding said. “I want them to love coming to work. I want them to feel like it’s a part of them.”

Penny’s Cuts is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointments on Saturdays for chemical treatments.

Their niche, Golding said, is to keep haircuts affordable.

“Everyone should be able to come in and leave looking great without breaking the bank,” she said.

Email Hernando Today correspondent Kim Dame at [email protected].