Jared Scott is a 20 year industry veteran.
Speaker AHe sits on the board of Barbering Cosmetology, representing barbers.
Speaker AHe's a top artist for Wella, Educator, a barbershop owner, barber and father.
Speaker AToday we're going to hear his story, how he got to where he is and what is coming next.
Speaker AWelcome back to the Hairdresser Strong show.
Speaker AMy name is Robert Hughes and I am your host and today I'm with Jared Scott.
Speaker AHow are you doing today, Jared?
Speaker BI'm doing pretty good.
Speaker BI'm doing really good actually.
Speaker BThank you for having me.
Speaker BI'm glad to be here.
Speaker AAwesome.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker AThanks for coming and shout out to Darius for making this connection.
Speaker AThank you very much.
Speaker AOkay, so we in, in the, in the intro, I talked to, we said you're, you're sitting on the board, you, you work with Wella, you have your own shop.
Speaker AAnd so why don't we start off by talking about, like, how did you get into the industry?
Speaker BOh, man.
Speaker BI'm not dissimilar from most people who started doing their hair or their family's hair around, you know, I don't know, 13 years old.
Speaker BIsh.
Speaker BSo that's, that's when I began, around that time and I just fell in love with it.
Speaker BI was really stressed around 13 years old because I was like, what am I gonna do for a living?
Speaker BAnd at 13, I remember like being in the barbershop and being like, well, these guys are having a good time, they're laughing and I think I could do that.
Speaker BAnd it stuck with me, that, that stuck with me.
Speaker BIt alleviated that stress.
Speaker BAnd I began to inquire more about what it took to be a barbershop owner.
Speaker BI always wanted to be an owner.
Speaker BI never just wanted to be a barber individually, just like an operator.
Speaker BSo I always wanted to do that.
Speaker BI went to college and even through college, everyone knew me as a barber and they knew me as the guy that wanted to open his own shop.
Speaker BSo I kind of continued with that all throughout college.
Speaker BI was the dorm room barber.
Speaker BI had my own barbershop in the frat house.
Speaker BAnd after that I got a job in the barbershop and after graduating got a job.
Speaker BAnd I remember distinctly a client saying to me, he said, man, congratulations for graduating school.
Speaker BAnd he said, if you need any help, I can help you out with looking for a job.
Speaker BNow I'm cutting his hair and I'm just thinking to myself, well, I have a job.
Speaker BWhat do you, how's.
Speaker BAnd it interested me to think it interested me because it was like, he doesn't see this as a job.
Speaker BHe doesn't even see that.
Speaker BI'm like, that.
Speaker BThis is something serious to me.
Speaker BAnd I knew I needed to make a switch.
Speaker BLife happens to everyone.
Speaker BMy mom passed around that time.
Speaker BI was about 22, but I also got an opportunity to move to Washington, D.C.
Speaker Bwhere I currently am.
Speaker BThis is.
Speaker BI'm from Philadelphia, so I'm currently in.
Speaker BNow in D.C.
Speaker Bi moved here and got an opportunity to start cutting hair on Capitol Hill, and I just took that opportunity.
Speaker BAnd I'm still on the same corner that I was at in 2010 when I moved here, the same exact corner.
Speaker BThat was some advice that a barber gave to me, which was, if you're going to move around, don't move more than a street or two over so people can always find you.
Speaker BSo I've taken that advice, and I'm just on the opposite side of the street.
Speaker BI was on one side of the street, and now I'm on the opposite side of the street.
Speaker BAnd I got to tell you, people from, I don't know, 10 years ago can always pull up and.
Speaker BAnd I'm there.
Speaker BAnd I'm really proud to just kind of be there and let people know I'm not going anywhere.
Speaker BSo.
Speaker AYeah, I love that.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AOkay, a couple questions.
Speaker ASo what did you study in school?
Speaker BYou know, I started as a Spanish major.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BBut I later realized, like, probably on first day when everything was in Spanish, I was like, well, I want to speak Spanish, but I don't necessarily want to conjugate verbs.
Speaker BSo I switched to business management, and that is what my degree is in.
Speaker AGotcha.
Speaker ASo that's.
Speaker AThat's serving you well, I'm assuming for sure.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker ANice.
Speaker AOkay, so I guess, you know, before we get deeper into the conversation, I should ask a question that is asked to me when I go to speak at schools is do you think you need to go to school and study business to be a business owner?
Speaker BDo I think you need to go to school and study business?
Speaker ALike, if you were talking to a cosmetology school student and they were, you know, not.
Speaker AThey were, say, maybe a year or two out of high school, and they're in cosmetology school, but they know they want to run their own business.
Speaker AAnd they said, do you think I need to go take business classes and take.
Speaker AAnd study business or go to college before I open up a salon or shop?
Speaker BI would answer the question this way.
Speaker BI was.
Speaker BI wouldn't say what you need to do.
Speaker BI would say the person who has those skills has more in their repertoire, they have more in their utility belt.
Speaker BSo it's not that you can't do it, but it's that the other person, if they've got a college degree and business courses and a license, then they have a little bit more.
Speaker BAnd that if that more is going to create more opportunities, experience all of the above.
Speaker BSo I would just see it like that.
Speaker BAnd if you didn't have it, it's just going to be more work ethic, you know what I mean?
Speaker BIt's not that you can't do it, it's going to work a little harder.
Speaker ATotally.
Speaker AOkay, so let's get into.
Speaker AAll right, so you went to school for cosmetology or how did you.
Speaker AOr barbering.
Speaker BSo interestingly enough, in Pennsylvania, where I'm from, where I was licensed, we actually do not need to go to school.
Speaker BSo I've never been to school.
Speaker BI apprenticed the barbershop, I got my 2000 hours and then I transferred.
Speaker BYou know, I took my test, passed my test, got my license, and then we reciprocity here to D.C.
Speaker Bgotcha.
Speaker AYeah, I actually did the same thing.
Speaker AI apprenticed in Virginia and then I got my reciprocity into dc.
Speaker ASo what.
Speaker AOkay, so you got, how you got there, a little bit of information, and then you went.
Speaker ASo when you came to D.C.
Speaker Aand you were working in the shop, how long did you.
Speaker AWell, first of all, how long were you working behind the chair before you moved to DC?
Speaker BWell, I got my first pair at 16.
Speaker BI was in.
Speaker BI was like my first year of college.
Speaker BNo, it was in my last year of high school.
Speaker BAnd I did that all through college.
Speaker BI had a chair all through college, so I would come home on the weekends and cut in the barbershop.
Speaker ASo when were you apprenticing?
Speaker AWas that your apprenticeship?
Speaker BYeah, the whole time.
Speaker BFrom the first year of college all the way through the last year of college.
Speaker BThat was apprenticent.
Speaker AOh, wow.
Speaker ABecause it was a part time and it took a while to get the hours.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AOkay, so you, you got your hours.
Speaker ASo how, how long after that did you move to dc?
Speaker BSo that would be.
Speaker BI got my hours it after I graduated college in 2008, 2009.
Speaker BExcuse me.
Speaker BI was in D.C.
Speaker Bby 2010, so it was just a year or so.
Speaker AAnd then when you, you came to dc, you're starting fresh.
Speaker ATell us about that process of like building, building your book, getting.
Speaker AGetting a spot to do hair at.
Speaker AAnd while you were working at someone else's place.
Speaker BYeah, yeah.
Speaker BSo I was working at a pretty cool place.
Speaker BIt was a high end barbershop.
Speaker BI remember I was cutting hair for back in Philly for $14, a haircut.
Speaker BAnd I moved to D.C.
Speaker Band it was 55.
Speaker BAnd I was like, that's not real.
Speaker BSo I remember calling back home and being like, it's $55.
Speaker BAnd people would be like, well, what do you get a new car?
Speaker BLike, it was just.
Speaker BPeople would just like, that's not real.
Speaker BThat's not, nobody does that.
Speaker BBut it was real.
Speaker BIt was happening, you know, so it was like, this is clearly where I need to be working in a guy's barbershop.
Speaker BI just worked hard.
Speaker BI became the best there.
Speaker BAnd by best I'm saying I was the most, I was the busiest and you know, the most sought after.
Speaker BAnd he, he definitely looked to me as a, you know, as a foundational person, you know, to keep the shop going, to keep things going.
Speaker BIt.
Speaker BThe shop didn't continue, it failed or what have you.
Speaker BAnd it just so happened, man, God is so good that I was able to work, move right across the street to my cousin's hair salon.
Speaker BShe had a basement that was, that was unfinished and she was like, I'll finish it.
Speaker BSo she did the construction and I moved to the basement and had my first kind of my own.
Speaker BBefore, before suites were a thing, I had my own suite and I just kind of started my, my, my own thing there.
Speaker BBut back to just, you know, growing in a barbershop, what I did to get clientele, I did, I got clientele in a very interesting way.
Speaker BI just paid attention to who the clients were that were coming in.
Speaker BAnd I recognized there were a lot of, we'll say, just like the sophisticated kind of guy.
Speaker BSo I was like, let me figure out what I can do to attract him to me.
Speaker BAnd I remember I would read a lot in the barbershop and a lot of guys would ask me, what am I reading?
Speaker BAnd it was a strike up conversation.
Speaker BAnd I was honestly reading.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker BBut I was also, and I was read books, how to retain clients, how to be number one in business, stuff like that.
Speaker BSo it would strike up conversation with them and they would be interested in me and then give me a chance in the chair.
Speaker BSo I would do things like that.
Speaker BYeah, nice.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AI love that a lot.
Speaker AI love the idea of like letting, signaling to people what you're doing and letting them know and like in reading, I love that.
Speaker AOkay, so building the book and how long did it take until that spot failed and you moved across the street.
Speaker BSo I was there for three years.
Speaker BIt was really nice.
Speaker BThere was a lot of investment in the place.
Speaker BI remember the, the silent investors would come a lot and really just be interested in the growth of the place.
Speaker BI would talk to them, they would get my opinion on things, but it just wasn't being run the most effective or efficient way.
Speaker BAnd so unfortunately it did fail.
Speaker BAnd I guess, yeah, it was about three years that I worked there and I would have never left.
Speaker BThis is the thing, I always wanted to open my own place, but I probably never would have, at least not in the near future of that time.
Speaker BBecause it was everything I wanted to in a, in a place.
Speaker BYou know, I was the top dog there, if you will.
Speaker BAnd yeah, I was almost going good except for it failed.
Speaker ASo I guess just as like a lesson in business.
Speaker AWhat type, what type of things did you learn in as a business person from that experience?
Speaker ALike what are some lessons you are takeaways.
Speaker BLifestyle, your personal life is, is, is the foundation of your business life.
Speaker BIf you have a messy personal life, it's going to get into your business and it's just gonna mess up your business.
Speaker BYou have to get, you have to get your personal life together.
Speaker BAnd I think for barbers and hairstylists, we have to have simple lives.
Speaker BI think if we try to get too extravagant, we're going out all the time doing a whole bunch of stuff.
Speaker BIt can, it can just bleed into the next day.
Speaker BYou got to be on, you got to be ready, you got to be prepared.
Speaker BPrepared.
Speaker BAnd you have to be consistent.
Speaker BLike it's, it's kind of a boring job.
Speaker BLike if you're really going to do it right, it's super monotonous.
Speaker BThe same thing over and over and over again.
Speaker BSo in order to really excel in that, your personal life needs to be really simple, if you will.
Speaker BBut it not necessarily simple, but it just needs to be organized.
Speaker BIt can't be disorganized or it's just going to throw off the consistency that people need from their hair.
Speaker BProfessional.
Speaker ASo no like coming in hung over or coming in with.
Speaker ANo, with hardly any sleep.
Speaker AJust, just whatever.
Speaker AJust because you were up late watching tv, you know, it doesn't even have to be going out, I guess.
Speaker AOr I.
Speaker AAnd it also sounds like you were talking about that, but it also sounds like you were talking about.
Speaker AAnd correct me if I'm wrong and I'm.
Speaker AI might be reaching here, but there's might be some financial implications of your personal life pouring into your business.
Speaker AIf you're the business person and you know, you can't control your own finances, is that also, like, what we're talking about here?
Speaker B100%?
Speaker BAll the above.
Speaker BI mean, when I see people that are like, you know, barely making it in and they're hungover or I don't even take them seriously.
Speaker BI mean, I don't know what.
Speaker BHow a client could take you seriously, but I know I don't even.
Speaker BI don't take them seriously.
Speaker BAnd I don't want to cut hair around that person because it's going to get into my life.
Speaker BSo, like.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd then person, then from a financial perspective.
Speaker BYeah, you.
Speaker BYou gotta have.
Speaker BI mean, you just gotta have all the things.
Speaker BYou're a business owner, period.
Speaker BIf even if you don't have a barbershop, so to speak, you're still a business owner, you know, you're still an entrepreneur.
Speaker BSo you gotta have your accountant, you gotta have your bookkeeper, you gotta have a, you know, you need to have a lawyer.
Speaker BYou gotta have all of the things, you know what I mean, people?
Speaker BSo that you can have your infrastructure set up and have accountability so people can say, if you want to be successful, don't do that.
Speaker BYou know what I mean?
Speaker BYou got to hear it so that you can, like, do it.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AThat's so good.
Speaker AThat's so good.
Speaker ASo how, like, do you.
Speaker AHow many people, like, so what's the story with your shop?
Speaker ASo we're at the point where you take over the basement and, like, they finish it.
Speaker AYou create your own sweet and tell us from there, what's the next kind of leg up in your story?
Speaker BSo, yeah, it was.
Speaker BIt was great at first because it was another person's establishment, right.
Speaker BAnd I came in is my cousin salon, and she's amazing.
Speaker BShe's been such a foundational person for my growth.
Speaker BMy development from For Vision, Cole Steven Salon.
Speaker BGotta plug them.
Speaker BThey are amazing at what they do.
Speaker BAnd she's taught me so much and really got me involved in Wella and all these things.
Speaker BI just needed.
Speaker BI was a barber, they were a hair salon.
Speaker BAnd I'm like your barber's barber type of guy.
Speaker BLike.
Speaker BAnd so I needed my own stuff.
Speaker BLike, I needed my own shampoo, I needed my own process, I needed my own products.
Speaker BAnd it was great at first because I was able to pull from all the things that they had.
Speaker BI was able to see professionalism, professional clientele, how to deal with that professional product, product placement, communication, behind the chair.
Speaker BAll of that stuff was great.
Speaker BAnd it was just like a teaching kind of moment.
Speaker BIt was an instructional moment, almost like a lily pad that I was able to jump.
Speaker BAnd that lasted for about a year.
Speaker BAnd then after that year, the place that I moved here to cut hair in, the barbershop, it closed.
Speaker BI moved across the street, I said.
Speaker BAnd it was like a really.
Speaker BWhen it closed, it was, like, really bad.
Speaker BIt was like a.
Speaker BJust implosion.
Speaker BAnd I was like, I'll never go over there.
Speaker BI'll never go back to that building again, ever.
Speaker BAnd there was this giant for rent sign on the building for, like, six months.
Speaker BAnd I was like, don't even look at it.
Speaker BI don't even care.
Speaker BAnd then when it happened, when it just so happened, it was like, I need to.
Speaker BI need to get my own space.
Speaker BIt was like, I'm going to.
Speaker BI'm going to have to go back across the street.
Speaker BSo I went and I talked to the owner, and he gave me the space again.
Speaker BSo I wound up renting the space that I started in.
Speaker BNow it was mine, and I love that.
Speaker AAnd it's already built out and already really built out.
Speaker AIt probably looks kind of nice already.
Speaker BGorgeous.
Speaker BAnd the crazy thing is, everyone in the neighborhood knew it as a barbershop.
Speaker ATotally.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo it was just like, oh, that place is restarted.
Speaker BYou know what I mean?
Speaker ATotally.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AOkay, so.
Speaker ASo, okay, so how.
Speaker AWhen was this?
Speaker BThat was in 2014, on June.
Speaker BThat's when we started.
Speaker BJune.
Speaker BJune.
Speaker ASo you just.
Speaker AYeah, you just passed.
Speaker A10 years.
Speaker ACongratulations.
Speaker BJust did 10 years?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker AThat's awesome.
Speaker AAll right, cool.
Speaker AOkay, so.
Speaker ASo we get up to here.
Speaker BLet's see.
Speaker ASo now that you're.
Speaker AYou're running, do you have.
Speaker AHow many people are you W.2 or you.
Speaker AOr is it rental?
Speaker AHow many people you have working there?
Speaker BWe.
Speaker BI hired one other barber.
Speaker BWe went commission, and it was me, interestingly enough.
Speaker BI started.
Speaker BThis is why it's so good to really plant.
Speaker BWell, you gotta.
Speaker BYou gotta plan.
Speaker BThere's gotta be.
Speaker BYou gotta have a little bit of just guidance as well.
Speaker BGuidance is so big.
Speaker BThe hair industry is an ocean.
Speaker BLike, if you don't have a plan of action, you're just gonna drift.
Speaker BSo my cousin, the salon owner, she was that person to really help me to say, go this direction.
Speaker BAnd I had a full book when I started the shop.
Speaker BSo, like, all the bills were paid.
Speaker BWe were making money from day one.
Speaker BAnd that was.
Speaker BThat's nothing.
Speaker BBut, God, I mean, I didn't plan it.
Speaker BThat way.
Speaker BI didn't organize it that way.
Speaker BIt was just like, and now we're in business, and now we're making money.
Speaker BAnd within six months, we were busy and, you know, hitting, like, number one on Yelp.
Speaker BIt was crazy.
Speaker BI really.
Speaker BAnd the interesting thing, enough about two years in, about two or three years in, we had gotten so busy and so attractive that it actually started to work backwards.
Speaker BThe shop started to implode because we didn't expect to get that busy that soon.
Speaker BSo they say success can kill you just as much as failure can.
Speaker BAnd if you're not ready again, personal life, if you're not ready for that kind of success, it'll topple because our foundation was not strong.
Speaker BAnd now we're growing.
Speaker BAnd barbers need structure.
Speaker BThey want to talk about, you know, 401k.
Speaker BThey want to talk about, you know, health care.
Speaker BAnd I don't know about.
Speaker BI don't know about it.
Speaker BI don't know anything.
Speaker BLike, what are you.
Speaker BYou're busy.
Speaker BWhy are you mad?
Speaker BType thing.
Speaker BAnd I had to learn then, like, yeah, running a business and running a barber shop or a place that you cut hair, they're two different things, right?
Speaker BLike, I focused on being a barber, but now I have to be a barber, business owner.
Speaker BAnd that's a completely different set of skills.
Speaker BWhich goes back to what you were saying to your hairdressers that are asking, do I need to go to school and become d.
Speaker BLike, if you're good at hair doesn't mean you should open a shop or salon.
Speaker BLike, that's like saying a.
Speaker BA great cook should open a restaurant.
Speaker BNo, a great cook should be a really, really great cook at someone else's restaurant.
Speaker BUnless he's a.
Speaker BUnless he takes the time to go to school to become a business owner, too.
Speaker BBecause that.
Speaker BThe same skill set that gets your shear over comb tight and your layers really, really clean.
Speaker BThat takes time.
Speaker BBut it also takes time to learn how to organize people, how to manage schedules, how to preempt financial markets and stuff like that, or financial trends.
Speaker BSo, like, all that kind of stuff is stuff that I learned within that first three to four years where it was just like, what am I doing?
Speaker BBut after that, we moved across the street.
Speaker BThat's where we are currently now.
Speaker BSo I was on one side of the street.
Speaker BI moved to the other side of the street, moved back to the other side of the street, and now I'm back on the other side of the street.
Speaker AOh, okay.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker AWhen did that happen?
Speaker BThat was in 2017.
Speaker BWe found the building across the street that used to.
Speaker BIt used to be a.
Speaker BA kitchen and bath showroom.
Speaker BAnd the.
Speaker BThe business left, and the owner was like, hey, let's.
Speaker BLet's rent this.
Speaker BWe saw it.
Speaker BIt was gorgeous inside, the $60,000 bathrooms, because it's a bathroom.
Speaker BAnd, you know, we were like, we'll take it.
Speaker BAnd so we rented it.
Speaker BAnd that was 2017.
Speaker BWe are still there now.
Speaker BAnd it is.
Speaker BIt has been a dream come true.
Speaker BThe.
Speaker BThe building is like a person.
Speaker BYou got to care for it.
Speaker BYou got to ask it what it needs.
Speaker BYou gotta.
Speaker BYou gotta give it what it needs.
Speaker BYou gotta pay attention to it.
Speaker BYou know, that's.
Speaker BThat, you know, and that's why I think.
Speaker BThat's why I think suites are so popular right now, because people want to be on their own.
Speaker BBut in your own building is a whole thing.
Speaker BIt's a whole thing.
Speaker BSo that suite option gives them that.
Speaker BThat.
Speaker BThat little bit of entrepreneurial.
Speaker BI can do everything myself without, with the.
Speaker BWith the oversight from, like, running the actual facility.
Speaker BSo.
Speaker BYeah, but that was in 2017, when we moved over.
Speaker BAnd I'll say this too.
Speaker BWhen we moved over, we wound up losing so much money because we didn't realize what it took to open a business in Washington, D.C.
Speaker Band the red tape from going to DCRA, you know, the regulatory and getting all your, you know, certificates of occupancy, all of that stuff.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BIt took us so long to do that.
Speaker BWe had to pay rent in two buildings for like, three or four months and wound up decimating some of our funds.
Speaker BBut we.
Speaker BWe finally.
Speaker BClients are so amazing.
Speaker BYou know, one of the clients one day said, you know what?
Speaker BI'll make a phone call to someone I know in the mayor's office.
Speaker BAnd within a week, we were in our new building again, like, favor and just, you know, being good to people and being transparent with people, too, so totally.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker ASo, so did you have the same landlord?
Speaker AI mean, did you not have a lease?
Speaker ALike, what was that relation?
Speaker AWell, how did that happen with your landlord?
Speaker BLike, the switch with the new landlord?
Speaker BOh, the old.
Speaker BHe was just a slum lord, to be honest with you.
Speaker BHe just knew that he could penny pinch and he could try and keep us on the hook.
Speaker BAnd, um, you know, we were done working there, but the new place wasn't ready yet.
Speaker BSo, you know, he just.
Speaker BHe wouldn't let us.
Speaker BI mean, he just wouldn't let us.
Speaker BHe didn't give us any any leeway, and it was just a really Rotten situation, but it's what you just gotta deal with.
Speaker BThese are the things that I think happen in business that lets you know you're supposed to be in business if you can make it over these things.
Speaker BThis is why, this is why businesses close for any one of these reasons.
Speaker BAny one of these reasons that, you know, the numbers are like, what?
Speaker BLike 90% of businesses fail within the first year and then like of that 10%, like 80% of those businesses fail in the first five years.
Speaker BSo like we're at 10 years and it's people, oh my God, 10 years.
Speaker BIt's like, no.
Speaker BThis has been such hard work and such growth as an individual and a person.
Speaker BLike most people aren't ready for that kind of thing.
Speaker ASo what when in that context, this is a conversation and we don't go too far into it, but I'm curious to know if you have any thoughts.
Speaker ABut there's a conversation that's been brewing for a while and it's starting to come up more because there's more and more data as time goes on.
Speaker AAnd that is like running a suite.
Speaker AThe data I just got recently is that there's a national churn rate of 40%.
Speaker ACan I verify that?
Speaker AI can only give you my source, but assuming that that is an accurate piece of information and you have 40% of suites are being turned over, you know, every year.
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker ABut then we also have a history of like booth rental being like a long term success.
Speaker AAnd, and then, and then like when you're talking about running a business, you know, is it important to discern between running a business where you have employees and a team and a bigger space and more rent is between having your own space and your own paying for your own thing?
Speaker ALike is, is there a difference?
Speaker AAnd like, how would you discern between those if you were giving someone a career advice for as they're mapping their pathway out and within that, if you've had any experience of anybody leaving you to go out on their own, I think that'd be an interesting perspective because I'm sure there's salon owners listening that would be curious to know what that's like.
Speaker AAnd I know that there are stylists and students that want to go independent, that are listening and watching.
Speaker BYeah, you know, if I could do it all over again and I can't and I.
Speaker BSo I'm happy with my life.
Speaker BI'm very happy with my life.
Speaker BBut if I could do it all over again, I definitely would not open a business, so.
Speaker BDefinitely would not.
Speaker BThe amount of money that was lost, the amount of friendships and relationships that are broken, you're not, I wasn't ready for that.
Speaker BSo I would say if you don't have like serious guidance, you need a partner.
Speaker BLike a real someone that's done, that's opened businesses before, that has a track record in knowing what they're doing.
Speaker BAnd that means a portion of what you make is going to get, is you're going to let that go.
Speaker BYou can't grow without giving up some kind of money.
Speaker BIf you make a hundred bucks behind the chair, how much of that are you ready to give up to have whatever you want?
Speaker BIs it $10?
Speaker BWell, you're not going to have that much.
Speaker BAre you ready to give up $60?
Speaker BWell, then you can have a lot.
Speaker BYou know what I mean?
Speaker BBut you got to really weigh it like that.
Speaker BYou have to think about, you are a craftsman.
Speaker BHow are you going to be a full time business owner and a full time craftsman?
Speaker BHow, how can you do that and then have a family and then have friends and a personal life?
Speaker BI mean, how does that work?
Speaker BIt doesn't, is the point I'm trying to make.
Speaker BYou have to.
Speaker BAnd so therefore there's something you have to give up in order to get to that next level.
Speaker BI don't know.
Speaker BDoes that answer?
Speaker BYeah, yeah.
Speaker ANo, that was.
Speaker AThat's good.
Speaker AThat's good.
Speaker AAll right.
Speaker AI mean, this has been a great conversation.
Speaker AI would, I'm curious to know one, your father, how, how many children?
Speaker AHow old are they?
Speaker BYeah, I have One son, he's 8, just took him to school.
Speaker ANice, nice.
Speaker AAnd, and when you're thinking about, I don't know, I guess since you touched on it, what advice do you have for, for an entrepreneur that is running into some of these things that you're talking about, maybe they're on the brink of losing some relationships or they're, they're struggling with burnout or, or whatever.
Speaker AYou know, on, on the topic of making like having a life, do you have any advice for that person?
Speaker BI do.
Speaker BI'm going to give you the advice that my, one of my best friends in the industry, his name is Josh Wagner, He's a top artist with Wella as well.
Speaker BWhat he said to me right when I was at that point, burnout, what do I do next?
Speaker BHe said, move toward the decision that creates peace for you and creates that sense of motivation.
Speaker BLike when you wake up in the morning and you go, oh, I can't wait to whatever that decision is, move towards that decision.
Speaker BAnd it Might be the thing that's like, oh, but I don't want to give up my salon or I don't want to take on a partner, or I don't want to break up with my, you know, significant other or get married to my significant other.
Speaker BWhatever that decision is that's going to move you towards that motivated space.
Speaker BGo towards that.
Speaker BBecause a lot of times we know what it is, but we're just like, this is what I want.
Speaker BDiscipline your mind to say, I'm going to move towards the thing that creates that peaceful space, that creates that motivated space, that when I wake up, I get excited.
Speaker BAnd when he.
Speaker BWhen he said that to me, I knew exactly what to do.
Speaker BI did it.
Speaker BAnd I'm.
Speaker BI'm in the best time of my career that I've ever been in.
Speaker AThat's amazing.
Speaker AThat's so awesome.
Speaker AAwesome.
Speaker AWell, this has been a great conversation to.
Speaker AWe didn't even get a chance to get into getting on the board and what that's like.
Speaker ABut, you know, I say, I think and maybe we could have you on again if.
Speaker AIf you like.
Speaker AOkay, well, then, in that case.
Speaker ACool.
Speaker ASo then let's.
Speaker ALet's tie it up, wrap it up with, like, state of the industry, whatever that means to you.
Speaker AKind of looking forward, let's call it 2025 beyond, if you have some ideas there.
Speaker ABut, you know, what does that mean to you?
Speaker AAnd what is it?
Speaker BSo I'm a bit of a rebel when it comes to this.
Speaker BI'm.
Speaker BI'm a lot of a rebel.
Speaker BI think the state of the industry is really interesting.
Speaker BI think it's really good.
Speaker BGreat for barbershop owners.
Speaker BIt can be great for barbershop owners and salon owners, and I think it can be great for salon and barber operators as well.
Speaker BI think everybody needs to realize you need each other equally, not one more than the other.
Speaker BI think suites are amazing, and I think barbershop owners need to realize that.
Speaker BSuites are amazing, and barbershop and salon owners need to realize this.
Speaker BYeah, suites are amazing, and even though there's a turnover rate, there's something about having my own and being able to operate it the way I want to, which is what everybody wants to do, which is as a salon owner and barbershop owner, that's what you wanted to do.
Speaker BAnd I had to realize that, like, I wanted to open my own place and do my own thing the way I wanted to do it, so why wouldn't someone else want to do that?
Speaker BSo I took my barbershop two years ago, and we sliced it up and created sweets in the barbershop.
Speaker BAnd that's been the best possible decision because I still have that sense of community, but you still get to have your own thing.
Speaker BAnd I think it's something that people should really think about is getting more bees with honey.
Speaker BNot.
Speaker BAnd so I'm someone that's.
Speaker BSo I have my own suite in my shop, and then there's people that have their own suite in the shop, and they can come in and go whenever they want, play whatever kind of music they want, charge whatever they want, do whatever they want.
Speaker BBut we still have that sense of camaraderie, that sense of community, and that sense, like, you know, I love working with other professionals.
Speaker BAnd what.
Speaker BWhat worked with me even better than that was I get an opportunity to see them in as an owner, and I.
Speaker BAnd they.
Speaker BAnd, you know, I remember, like, the first week they had one of the groups had some.
Speaker BSome issues with one of the staff, and they were like, oh, we're gonna have to fire someone.
Speaker BAnd I remember just being like, good for you.
Speaker BDoesn't bother me at all.
Speaker BI don't care at all.
Speaker BHope you figure that out type of deal.
Speaker BAnd it was great that it wasn't me.
Speaker BSomebody had.
Speaker BI had to figure this out.
Speaker BAnd it was great to just be like, you get an opportunity to see what that's like.
Speaker BAnd I'm here for your support.
Speaker BI'm here to champion you on however I can help you.
Speaker BBoom.
Speaker BAnd so now my responsibility is to just care for the building, care for the space, and just be a great connection point for everybody.
Speaker BSo.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker ANice.
Speaker ASo is there a communal area?
Speaker BWe're working on that.
Speaker BThere is a communal area, but it's a little off to the side, so it's a little difficult to get to.
Speaker BSo we're working on how to create more of that community inside of the building where everybody can kind of just come together and be.
Speaker AWhat about clients?
Speaker ALike, is there, like, a waiting area?
Speaker AHow do you check people in?
Speaker ADo they walk in, like, regular suites and kind of find the door?
Speaker BOr what is that, like, way that we created a hallway?
Speaker BSo everyone walks in the hallway, and then you'll go upstairs to one suite, straight back to the other suite, or right to mine, which isn't right.
Speaker BAnd there's.
Speaker BEveryone has a door.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AAnd they all have their own basins.
Speaker BEverybody's got their own everything.
Speaker AAnd how big are the suites?
Speaker BOne is.
Speaker BI don't know.
Speaker BLike, I don't know what that was.
Speaker B700, 800 square feet.
Speaker BThe other one is probably about 500 square feet.
Speaker BAnd the other one is probably about 500 square Feet.
Speaker AYeah, those are big suites.
Speaker BYeah, they're.
Speaker BYeah, yeah.
Speaker AI mean, when I looked at, like, solas, like, they're like 100 square feet.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BNo, no, they're ours.
Speaker BWe have space.
Speaker BWe can.
Speaker BYou can have your own waiting room in there.
Speaker AOh, nice.
Speaker BHave multiple chairs.
Speaker AOh, that's not.
Speaker AThat's.
Speaker AI would call that micro salons.
Speaker AI would.
Speaker BWhat?
Speaker BThat's actually better stated.
Speaker BYeah, it's not.
Speaker BIt's not.
Speaker BYou're right.
Speaker BIt's more of a micro salon.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker ABecause micro shop or whatever.
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker BEach person has their own staff.
Speaker AOh, yeah.
Speaker ANo, so when I see.
Speaker AWhen I.
Speaker AI know.
Speaker AI know people use suites and they, like, tear down the wall and combine suites together to create these micro salons.
Speaker ABut when I hear suite, I think of, you know, one on one, and so that.
Speaker AThat's very interesting.
Speaker BCool.
Speaker AI want to come and check you out.
Speaker AI want to see this place.
Speaker BPlease.
Speaker BPlease do.
Speaker BYeah, we're right on 12 in Pennsylvania.
Speaker B1242 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast.
Speaker BThank you for that.
Speaker BCorrection, I'm gonna actually steal that and use that now because I.
Speaker BYeah, please do.
Speaker BMicro salons are much micro space, and micro salon, that's a much more accurate description, for sure.
Speaker AWell, this has been such a pleasure, and I appreciate you taking the time, and I hope to.
Speaker AI definitely going to come check you out, and I hope to have you on the show again soon.
Speaker BAbsolutely, man.
Speaker BIt's been a pleasure.
Speaker BThanks, Robert.
Speaker AAbsolutely.
Speaker AAll right, until next time.
Speaker AI'll see you later.
Speaker BAll right, peace.