Coiffures with confidence Canonsburg dad shows other dads how to style their daughters’ hair
Observer Reporter digital operations director Nick Kratsas tries to style his daughter Sophie’s hair into a braid while Joe Cafeo demonstrates with his daughter, Gigi. Joe Cafeo runs the Daddy Daughter Hair Factory in Canonsburg and teaches fathers how to do their daughters’ hair. The sessions are free of charge, but donations are accepted.
Joe Cafeo of Canonsburg began a branch of the Daddy Duaghter Hair Factory at 117 W. Pike St. in Canosnburg to help teach fathers how to style their daughters’ hair. A friend of Cafeo started the original Daddy Daughter Hair Factory in Florida.
Observer Reporter digital operations director Nick Kratsas and Joe Cafeo show off their hair-styling skills on their daughters, Sophie Kratsas and Gigi Cafeo. Joe Cafeo taught Nick Kratsas how to do a three strand braid.
Joe Cafeo watched YouTube videos to learn how to do his daughter’s hair. Gigi Cafeo said her favorite way to wear her hair is in a bun.
CANONSBURG – As a single dad with a 4-year-old daughter, Joe Cafeo is helping other fathers to untangle the knotty challenge of styling their daughters’ hair.
The situation is one that probably rings true for a lot of dads who find themselves to be clueless when charged with the task of fixing their daughters’ hair in a presentable way.
That’s where Cafeo found himself with his daughter Gigi, whom he has cared for full-time since she was 2.
“I’d try to cut my daughter’s bangs, but they’d be crooked,” said the in explaining his quest to become a dad with a sense of hairstyles.
The 34-year-old Canonsburg resident, who works as a drug and alcohol counselor, recently introduced “Daddy Daughter Hair Factory” at 117 W. Pike St. to pass along styles he’s learned to other fathers who want to give their daughters a coiffure that will make them proud.
In his search for a way to provide better hair care for Gigi, Cafeo talked with a friend in Florida who had started the original “Daddy Daughter Hair Factory,” then connected with several other dads of daughters he knows, each of whom eventually opened their own shops in different parts of the country, he said.
Cafeo’s journey to better hair care got a big upsweep from one of the Internet’s biggest teachers of how to do practically anything.
“I learned from YouTube,” Cafeo said of his increasing ability since October to give Gigi a variety of styles that appeal to her.
“I show her the YouTube videos and she’ll tell me which ones she wants,” he said.
Those styles include French and Dutch braids, but Cafeo continues to cut new styling paths – with Gigi’s approval.
“I’ve gone there and past it,” he said of the classic looks. “I’m a quick learner. I try to give my daughter the styles she wants.”
Cafeo said he advertises his service on his Facebook page, and people can make appointments by calling his cell phone or notifying him by e-mail.
“A lot of times, the mother will make the appointment, but the dad shows up with the daughter” and then finds out he enjoys learning how to style her hair, Cafeo said.
The sessions, which are free of charge but ask for a donation, take about an hour. But Cafeo said at least one dad’s session went 90 minutes.
“He wanted to keep going, so we did,” he said.
And dads aren’t left clueless when trying to figure out which treatments to use when dressing their daughters’ hair. SoCozy, a manufacturer of children’s hair care products, donates kits that include a detangler brush, detangler spray and styling cream, Cafeo said.
So far, he’s trained about a dozen dads.
“I normally get eight to 10 to commit to an appointment, and six of them will show up,” he said.
The classes begin with Cafeo showing customers “a couple of basic braids,” adding that he and Gigi are ready to scale new heights of hairstyling.
“We’re going to be starting an advanced class together,” he said.
To make an appointment at Daddy Daughter Hair Factory, 117 W. Pike St., Canonsburg, contact Joe Cafeo by calling 724-722-2659 or by e-mail at daddydaughterhairfactorypa@gmail.com