Episode 256
A Startup & Business Evolution Hair Story + Advice for Hairpreneurs, Barbers & Stylists | Jared Scott | Owner + Barber + Master Educator, His Grooming | Member, DC Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
In this episode, Jared Scott—barber, business owner, and board member—breaks down the real-life lessons from two decades in the industry, from building clientele and opening a shop to redefining what ownership can look like through micro-shop/salon suites.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
🔅Jared’s barbering journey began in college: While pursuing a business degree at West Chester University, Jared cut hair in dorm rooms—building both skill and clientele from day one.
🔅He moved to DC to pursue barbering full time: After college, he obtained his barber license through an apprenticeship, allowing him to gain hands-on experience while completing his hours under the supervision of a licensed professional before opening his own shop.
🔅Build structure before success hits: Jared emphasizes that systems and personal organization are essential before scaling a business—success can collapse a business if the foundation isn’t solid.
🔅Your personal life impacts your professional results: From punctuality to finances, Jared shares how personal discipline directly affects the consistency clients expect in a grooming business.
🔅Don’t mistake skill for readiness: Being good at cutting hair doesn’t mean you’re ready to run a barbershop—business ownership requires a whole different set of skills.
🔅Plan your path with intention: Whether you're opening a suite, launching a shop, or joining a team, having guidance and infrastructure in place will reduce burnout and churn.
🔅Consider the micro-shop/salon model: Jared shares how converting his barbershop into multiple suites helped him balance entrepreneurship and community, giving pros autonomy with support.
👉Follow Jared's shop, His Grooming, on Instagram
The Hairdresser Strong Show is all about Salon Owners, Rising Stylists, and Seasoned Stylists sharing their experiences, successes, failures, and advice to inform, educate, and empower their Fellow Hairdresser. We won’t stop until we are all: Hairdresser Strong.
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The views and opinions of our guests are theirs and important to hear. Each guest's views and opinions are their own and we aim to bring you diverse perspectives, career paths and thoughts about the craft and industry so you can become Hairdresser Strong! They do not necessarily reflect the positions of HairdresserStrong.com.
Transcript
Jared Scott is a 20 year industry veteran.
Speaker A:He sits on the board of Barbering Cosmetology, representing barbers.
Speaker A:He's a top artist for Wella, Educator, a barbershop owner, barber and father.
Speaker A:Today we're going to hear his story, how he got to where he is and what is coming next.
Speaker A:Welcome back to the Hairdresser Strong show.
Speaker A:My name is Robert Hughes and I am your host and today I'm with Jared Scott.
Speaker A:How are you doing today, Jared?
Speaker B:I'm doing pretty good.
Speaker B:I'm doing really good actually.
Speaker B:Thank you for having me.
Speaker B:I'm glad to be here.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Thanks for coming and shout out to Darius for making this connection.
Speaker A:Thank you very much.
Speaker A:Okay, 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 A:And so why don't we start off by talking about, like, how did you get into the industry?
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:I'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 B:Ish.
Speaker B:So that's, that's when I began, around that time and I just fell in love with it.
Speaker B:I was really stressed around 13 years old because I was like, what am I gonna do for a living?
Speaker B:And 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 B:And it stuck with me, that, that stuck with me.
Speaker B:It alleviated that stress.
Speaker B:And I began to inquire more about what it took to be a barbershop owner.
Speaker B:I always wanted to be an owner.
Speaker B:I never just wanted to be a barber individually, just like an operator.
Speaker B:So I always wanted to do that.
Speaker B:I 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 B:So I kind of continued with that all throughout college.
Speaker B:I was the dorm room barber.
Speaker B:I had my own barbershop in the frat house.
Speaker B:And after that I got a job in the barbershop and after graduating got a job.
Speaker B:And I remember distinctly a client saying to me, he said, man, congratulations for graduating school.
Speaker B:And he said, if you need any help, I can help you out with looking for a job.
Speaker B:Now I'm cutting his hair and I'm just thinking to myself, well, I have a job.
Speaker B:What do you, how's.
Speaker B:And it interested me to think it interested me because it was like, he doesn't see this as a job.
Speaker B:He doesn't even see that.
Speaker B:I'm like, that.
Speaker B:This is something serious to me.
Speaker B:And I knew I needed to make a switch.
Speaker B:Life happens to everyone.
Speaker B:My mom passed around that time.
Speaker B:I was about 22, but I also got an opportunity to move to Washington, D.C.
Speaker B:where I currently am.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:I'm from Philadelphia, so I'm currently in.
Speaker B:Now in D.C.
Speaker B:i moved here and got an opportunity to start cutting hair on Capitol Hill, and I just took that opportunity.
Speaker B: same corner that I was at in: Speaker B:That 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 B:So I've taken that advice, and I'm just on the opposite side of the street.
Speaker B:I was on one side of the street, and now I'm on the opposite side of the street.
Speaker B:And I got to tell you, people from, I don't know, 10 years ago can always pull up and.
Speaker B:And I'm there.
Speaker B:And I'm really proud to just kind of be there and let people know I'm not going anywhere.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Okay, a couple questions.
Speaker A:So what did you study in school?
Speaker B:You know, I started as a Spanish major.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But 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 B:So I switched to business management, and that is what my degree is in.
Speaker A:Gotcha.
Speaker A:So that's.
Speaker A:That's serving you well, I'm assuming for sure.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Okay, 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 B:Do I think you need to go to school and study business?
Speaker A:Like, if you were talking to a cosmetology school student and they were, you know, not.
Speaker A:They 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 A:And they said, do you think I need to go take business classes and take.
Speaker A:And study business or go to college before I open up a salon or shop?
Speaker B:I would answer the question this way.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:I wouldn't say what you need to do.
Speaker B:I would say the person who has those skills has more in their repertoire, they have more in their utility belt.
Speaker B:So 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 B:And that if that more is going to create more opportunities, experience all of the above.
Speaker B:So I would just see it like that.
Speaker B:And if you didn't have it, it's just going to be more work ethic, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:It's not that you can't do it, it's going to work a little harder.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker A:Okay, so let's get into.
Speaker A:All right, so you went to school for cosmetology or how did you.
Speaker A:Or barbering.
Speaker B:So interestingly enough, in Pennsylvania, where I'm from, where I was licensed, we actually do not need to go to school.
Speaker B:So I've never been to school.
Speaker B: iced the barbershop, I got my: Speaker B:You know, I took my test, passed my test, got my license, and then we reciprocity here to D.C.
Speaker B:gotcha.
Speaker A:Yeah, I actually did the same thing.
Speaker A:I apprenticed in Virginia and then I got my reciprocity into dc.
Speaker A:So what.
Speaker A:Okay, so you got, how you got there, a little bit of information, and then you went.
Speaker A:So when you came to D.C.
Speaker A:and you were working in the shop, how long did you.
Speaker A:Well, first of all, how long were you working behind the chair before you moved to DC?
Speaker B:Well, I got my first pair at 16.
Speaker B:I was in.
Speaker B:I was like my first year of college.
Speaker B:No, it was in my last year of high school.
Speaker B:And I did that all through college.
Speaker B:I had a chair all through college, so I would come home on the weekends and cut in the barbershop.
Speaker A:So when were you apprenticing?
Speaker A:Was that your apprenticeship?
Speaker B:Yeah, the whole time.
Speaker B:From the first year of college all the way through the last year of college.
Speaker B:That was apprenticent.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Because it was a part time and it took a while to get the hours.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay, so you, you got your hours.
Speaker A:So how, how long after that did you move to dc?
Speaker B:So that would be.
Speaker B: after I graduated college in: Speaker B:Excuse me.
Speaker B:I was in D.C.
Speaker B: by: Speaker A:And then when you, you came to dc, you're starting fresh.
Speaker A:Tell us about that process of like building, building your book, getting.
Speaker A:Getting a spot to do hair at.
Speaker A:And while you were working at someone else's place.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So I was working at a pretty cool place.
Speaker B:It was a high end barbershop.
Speaker B:I remember I was cutting hair for back in Philly for $14, a haircut.
Speaker B:And I moved to D.C.
Speaker B:and it was 55.
Speaker B:And I was like, that's not real.
Speaker B:So I remember calling back home and being like, it's $55.
Speaker B:And people would be like, well, what do you get a new car?
Speaker B:Like, it was just.
Speaker B:People would just like, that's not real.
Speaker B:That's not, nobody does that.
Speaker B:But it was real.
Speaker B:It was happening, you know, so it was like, this is clearly where I need to be working in a guy's barbershop.
Speaker B:I just worked hard.
Speaker B:I became the best there.
Speaker B:And by best I'm saying I was the most, I was the busiest and you know, the most sought after.
Speaker B:And 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 B:It.
Speaker B:The shop didn't continue, it failed or what have you.
Speaker B:And 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 B:She had a basement that was, that was unfinished and she was like, I'll finish it.
Speaker B:So she did the construction and I moved to the basement and had my first kind of my own.
Speaker B:Before, before suites were a thing, I had my own suite and I just kind of started my, my, my own thing there.
Speaker B:But 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 B:I just paid attention to who the clients were that were coming in.
Speaker B:And I recognized there were a lot of, we'll say, just like the sophisticated kind of guy.
Speaker B:So I was like, let me figure out what I can do to attract him to me.
Speaker B:And I remember I would read a lot in the barbershop and a lot of guys would ask me, what am I reading?
Speaker B:And it was a strike up conversation.
Speaker B:And I was honestly reading.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:But I was also, and I was read books, how to retain clients, how to be number one in business, stuff like that.
Speaker B:So it would strike up conversation with them and they would be interested in me and then give me a chance in the chair.
Speaker B:So I would do things like that.
Speaker B:Yeah, nice.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:I love that a lot.
Speaker A:I 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 A:Okay, so building the book and how long did it take until that spot failed and you moved across the street.
Speaker B:So I was there for three years.
Speaker B:It was really nice.
Speaker B:There was a lot of investment in the place.
Speaker B:I remember the, the silent investors would come a lot and really just be interested in the growth of the place.
Speaker B:I 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 B:And so unfortunately it did fail.
Speaker B:And I guess, yeah, it was about three years that I worked there and I would have never left.
Speaker B:This 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 B:Because it was everything I wanted to in a, in a place.
Speaker B:You know, I was the top dog there, if you will.
Speaker B:And yeah, I was almost going good except for it failed.
Speaker A:So I guess just as like a lesson in business.
Speaker A:What type, what type of things did you learn in as a business person from that experience?
Speaker A:Like what are some lessons you are takeaways.
Speaker B:Lifestyle, your personal life is, is, is the foundation of your business life.
Speaker B:If you have a messy personal life, it's going to get into your business and it's just gonna mess up your business.
Speaker B:You have to get, you have to get your personal life together.
Speaker B:And I think for barbers and hairstylists, we have to have simple lives.
Speaker B:I think if we try to get too extravagant, we're going out all the time doing a whole bunch of stuff.
Speaker B:It can, it can just bleed into the next day.
Speaker B:You got to be on, you got to be ready, you got to be prepared.
Speaker B:Prepared.
Speaker B:And you have to be consistent.
Speaker B:Like it's, it's kind of a boring job.
Speaker B:Like if you're really going to do it right, it's super monotonous.
Speaker B:The same thing over and over and over again.
Speaker B:So in order to really excel in that, your personal life needs to be really simple, if you will.
Speaker B:But it not necessarily simple, but it just needs to be organized.
Speaker B:It can't be disorganized or it's just going to throw off the consistency that people need from their hair.
Speaker B:Professional.
Speaker A:So no like coming in hung over or coming in with.
Speaker A:No, with hardly any sleep.
Speaker A:Just, just whatever.
Speaker A:Just because you were up late watching tv, you know, it doesn't even have to be going out, I guess.
Speaker A:Or I.
Speaker A:And it also sounds like you were talking about that, but it also sounds like you were talking about.
Speaker A:And correct me if I'm wrong and I'm.
Speaker A:I might be reaching here, but there's might be some financial implications of your personal life pouring into your business.
Speaker A:If 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 B:100%?
Speaker B:All the above.
Speaker B:I 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 B:I mean, I don't know what.
Speaker B:How a client could take you seriously, but I know I don't even.
Speaker B:I don't take them seriously.
Speaker B:And I don't want to cut hair around that person because it's going to get into my life.
Speaker B:So, like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then person, then from a financial perspective.
Speaker B:Yeah, you.
Speaker B:You gotta have.
Speaker B:I mean, you just gotta have all the things.
Speaker B:You're a business owner, period.
Speaker B:If 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 B:So you gotta have your accountant, you gotta have your bookkeeper, you gotta have a, you know, you need to have a lawyer.
Speaker B:You gotta have all of the things, you know what I mean, people?
Speaker B:So 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 B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:You got to hear it so that you can, like, do it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's so good.
Speaker A:That's so good.
Speaker A:So how, like, do you.
Speaker A:How many people, like, so what's the story with your shop?
Speaker A:So we're at the point where you take over the basement and, like, they finish it.
Speaker A:You create your own sweet and tell us from there, what's the next kind of leg up in your story?
Speaker B:So, yeah, it was.
Speaker B:It was great at first because it was another person's establishment, right.
Speaker B:And I came in is my cousin salon, and she's amazing.
Speaker B:She's been such a foundational person for my growth.
Speaker B:My development from For Vision, Cole Steven Salon.
Speaker B:Gotta plug them.
Speaker B:They are amazing at what they do.
Speaker B:And she's taught me so much and really got me involved in Wella and all these things.
Speaker B:I just needed.
Speaker B:I was a barber, they were a hair salon.
Speaker B:And I'm like your barber's barber type of guy.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:And so I needed my own stuff.
Speaker B:Like, I needed my own shampoo, I needed my own process, I needed my own products.
Speaker B:And it was great at first because I was able to pull from all the things that they had.
Speaker B:I was able to see professionalism, professional clientele, how to deal with that professional product, product placement, communication, behind the chair.
Speaker B:All of that stuff was great.
Speaker B:And it was just like a teaching kind of moment.
Speaker B:It was an instructional moment, almost like a lily pad that I was able to jump.
Speaker B:And that lasted for about a year.
Speaker B:And then after that year, the place that I moved here to cut hair in, the barbershop, it closed.
Speaker B:I moved across the street, I said.
Speaker B:And it was like a really.
Speaker B:When it closed, it was, like, really bad.
Speaker B:It was like a.
Speaker B:Just implosion.
Speaker B:And I was like, I'll never go over there.
Speaker B:I'll never go back to that building again, ever.
Speaker B:And there was this giant for rent sign on the building for, like, six months.
Speaker B:And I was like, don't even look at it.
Speaker B:I don't even care.
Speaker B:And then when it happened, when it just so happened, it was like, I need to.
Speaker B:I need to get my own space.
Speaker B:It was like, I'm going to.
Speaker B:I'm going to have to go back across the street.
Speaker B:So I went and I talked to the owner, and he gave me the space again.
Speaker B:So I wound up renting the space that I started in.
Speaker B:Now it was mine, and I love that.
Speaker A:And it's already built out and already really built out.
Speaker A:It probably looks kind of nice already.
Speaker B:Gorgeous.
Speaker B:And the crazy thing is, everyone in the neighborhood knew it as a barbershop.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it was just like, oh, that place is restarted.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Okay, so.
Speaker A:So, okay, so how.
Speaker A:When was this?
Speaker B: That was in: Speaker B:That's when we started.
Speaker B:June.
Speaker B:June.
Speaker A:So you just.
Speaker A:Yeah, you just passed.
Speaker A:10 years.
Speaker A:Congratulations.
Speaker B:Just did 10 years?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:All right, cool.
Speaker A:Okay, so.
Speaker A:So we get up to here.
Speaker B:Let's see.
Speaker A:So now that you're.
Speaker A:You're running, do you have.
Speaker A:How many people are you W.2 or you.
Speaker A:Or is it rental?
Speaker A:How many people you have working there?
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:I hired one other barber.
Speaker B:We went commission, and it was me, interestingly enough.
Speaker B:I started.
Speaker B:This is why it's so good to really plant.
Speaker B:Well, you gotta.
Speaker B:You gotta plan.
Speaker B:There's gotta be.
Speaker B:You gotta have a little bit of just guidance as well.
Speaker B:Guidance is so big.
Speaker B:The hair industry is an ocean.
Speaker B:Like, if you don't have a plan of action, you're just gonna drift.
Speaker B:So my cousin, the salon owner, she was that person to really help me to say, go this direction.
Speaker B:And I had a full book when I started the shop.
Speaker B:So, like, all the bills were paid.
Speaker B:We were making money from day one.
Speaker B:And that was.
Speaker B:That's nothing.
Speaker B:But, God, I mean, I didn't plan it.
Speaker B:That way.
Speaker B:I didn't organize it that way.
Speaker B:It was just like, and now we're in business, and now we're making money.
Speaker B:And within six months, we were busy and, you know, hitting, like, number one on Yelp.
Speaker B:It was crazy.
Speaker B:I really.
Speaker B:And 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 B:The shop started to implode because we didn't expect to get that busy that soon.
Speaker B:So they say success can kill you just as much as failure can.
Speaker B:And 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 B:And now we're growing.
Speaker B:And barbers need structure.
Speaker B:They want to talk about, you know, 401k.
Speaker B:They want to talk about, you know, health care.
Speaker B:And I don't know about.
Speaker B:I don't know about it.
Speaker B:I don't know anything.
Speaker B:Like, what are you.
Speaker B:You're busy.
Speaker B:Why are you mad?
Speaker B:Type thing.
Speaker B:And 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 B:Like, I focused on being a barber, but now I have to be a barber, business owner.
Speaker B:And that's a completely different set of skills.
Speaker B:Which goes back to what you were saying to your hairdressers that are asking, do I need to go to school and become d.
Speaker B:Like, if you're good at hair doesn't mean you should open a shop or salon.
Speaker B:Like, that's like saying a.
Speaker B:A great cook should open a restaurant.
Speaker B:No, a great cook should be a really, really great cook at someone else's restaurant.
Speaker B:Unless he's a.
Speaker B:Unless he takes the time to go to school to become a business owner, too.
Speaker B:Because that.
Speaker B:The same skill set that gets your shear over comb tight and your layers really, really clean.
Speaker B:That takes time.
Speaker B:But 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 B:So, 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 B:But after that, we moved across the street.
Speaker B:That's where we are currently now.
Speaker B:So I was on one side of the street.
Speaker B:I 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 A:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:When did that happen?
Speaker B: That was in: Speaker B:We found the building across the street that used to.
Speaker B:It used to be a.
Speaker B:A kitchen and bath showroom.
Speaker B:And the.
Speaker B:The business left, and the owner was like, hey, let's.
Speaker B:Let's rent this.
Speaker B:We saw it.
Speaker B:It was gorgeous inside, the $60,000 bathrooms, because it's a bathroom.
Speaker B:And, you know, we were like, we'll take it.
Speaker B:And so we rented it.
Speaker B: And that was: Speaker B:We are still there now.
Speaker B:And it is.
Speaker B:It has been a dream come true.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The building is like a person.
Speaker B:You got to care for it.
Speaker B:You got to ask it what it needs.
Speaker B:You gotta.
Speaker B:You gotta give it what it needs.
Speaker B:You gotta pay attention to it.
Speaker B:You know, that's.
Speaker B:That, you know, and that's why I think.
Speaker B:That's why I think suites are so popular right now, because people want to be on their own.
Speaker B:But in your own building is a whole thing.
Speaker B:It's a whole thing.
Speaker B:So that suite option gives them that.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That little bit of entrepreneurial.
Speaker B:I can do everything myself without, with the.
Speaker B:With the oversight from, like, running the actual facility.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B: Yeah, but that was in: Speaker B:And I'll say this too.
Speaker B:When 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 B:and 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 B:Right.
Speaker B:It took us so long to do that.
Speaker B:We had to pay rent in two buildings for like, three or four months and wound up decimating some of our funds.
Speaker B:But we.
Speaker B:We finally.
Speaker B:Clients are so amazing.
Speaker B:You know, one of the clients one day said, you know what?
Speaker B:I'll make a phone call to someone I know in the mayor's office.
Speaker B:And 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 A:I love that.
Speaker A:So, so did you have the same landlord?
Speaker A:I mean, did you not have a lease?
Speaker A:Like, what was that relation?
Speaker A:Well, how did that happen with your landlord?
Speaker B:Like, the switch with the new landlord?
Speaker B:Oh, the old.
Speaker B:He was just a slum lord, to be honest with you.
Speaker B:He just knew that he could penny pinch and he could try and keep us on the hook.
Speaker B:And, um, you know, we were done working there, but the new place wasn't ready yet.
Speaker B:So, you know, he just.
Speaker B:He wouldn't let us.
Speaker B:I mean, he just wouldn't let us.
Speaker B:He 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 B:These 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 B:This is why, this is why businesses close for any one of these reasons.
Speaker B:Any one of these reasons that, you know, the numbers are like, what?
Speaker B:Like 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 B:So like we're at 10 years and it's people, oh my God, 10 years.
Speaker B:It's like, no.
Speaker B:This has been such hard work and such growth as an individual and a person.
Speaker B:Like most people aren't ready for that kind of thing.
Speaker A:So 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 A:But 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 A:And that is like running a suite.
Speaker A:The data I just got recently is that there's a national churn rate of 40%.
Speaker A:Can I verify that?
Speaker A:I 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 A:And.
Speaker A:But then we also have a history of like booth rental being like a long term success.
Speaker A:And, 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 A:Like is, is there a difference?
Speaker A:And 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 A:And I know that there are stylists and students that want to go independent, that are listening and watching.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, if I could do it all over again and I can't and I.
Speaker B:So I'm happy with my life.
Speaker B:I'm very happy with my life.
Speaker B:But if I could do it all over again, I definitely would not open a business, so.
Speaker B:Definitely would not.
Speaker B:The 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 B:So I would say if you don't have like serious guidance, you need a partner.
Speaker B:Like a real someone that's done, that's opened businesses before, that has a track record in knowing what they're doing.
Speaker B:And that means a portion of what you make is going to get, is you're going to let that go.
Speaker B:You can't grow without giving up some kind of money.
Speaker B:If you make a hundred bucks behind the chair, how much of that are you ready to give up to have whatever you want?
Speaker B:Is it $10?
Speaker B:Well, you're not going to have that much.
Speaker B:Are you ready to give up $60?
Speaker B:Well, then you can have a lot.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:But you got to really weigh it like that.
Speaker B:You have to think about, you are a craftsman.
Speaker B:How are you going to be a full time business owner and a full time craftsman?
Speaker B:How, how can you do that and then have a family and then have friends and a personal life?
Speaker B:I mean, how does that work?
Speaker B:It doesn't, is the point I'm trying to make.
Speaker B:You have to.
Speaker B:And so therefore there's something you have to give up in order to get to that next level.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Does that answer?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:No, that was.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:I mean, this has been a great conversation.
Speaker A:I would, I'm curious to know one, your father, how, how many children?
Speaker A:How old are they?
Speaker B:Yeah, I have One son, he's 8, just took him to school.
Speaker A:Nice, nice.
Speaker A:And, 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 A:You know, on, on the topic of making like having a life, do you have any advice for that person?
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:I'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 B:What he said to me right when I was at that point, burnout, what do I do next?
Speaker B:He said, move toward the decision that creates peace for you and creates that sense of motivation.
Speaker B:Like 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 B:And 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 B:Whatever that decision is that's going to move you towards that motivated space.
Speaker B:Go towards that.
Speaker B:Because a lot of times we know what it is, but we're just like, this is what I want.
Speaker B:Discipline 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 B:And when he.
Speaker B:When he said that to me, I knew exactly what to do.
Speaker B:I did it.
Speaker B:And I'm.
Speaker B:I'm in the best time of my career that I've ever been in.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker A:That's so awesome.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Well, this has been a great conversation to.
Speaker A:We didn't even get a chance to get into getting on the board and what that's like.
Speaker A:But, you know, I say, I think and maybe we could have you on again if.
Speaker A:If you like.
Speaker A:Okay, well, then, in that case.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker A:So then let's.
Speaker A:Let's tie it up, wrap it up with, like, state of the industry, whatever that means to you.
Speaker A: ooking forward, let's call it: Speaker A:But, you know, what does that mean to you?
Speaker A:And what is it?
Speaker B:So I'm a bit of a rebel when it comes to this.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I'm a lot of a rebel.
Speaker B:I think the state of the industry is really interesting.
Speaker B:I think it's really good.
Speaker B:Great for barbershop owners.
Speaker B:It can be great for barbershop owners and salon owners, and I think it can be great for salon and barber operators as well.
Speaker B:I think everybody needs to realize you need each other equally, not one more than the other.
Speaker B:I think suites are amazing, and I think barbershop owners need to realize that.
Speaker B:Suites are amazing, and barbershop and salon owners need to realize this.
Speaker B:Yeah, 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 B:And 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 B:So I took my barbershop two years ago, and we sliced it up and created sweets in the barbershop.
Speaker B:And 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 B:And I think it's something that people should really think about is getting more bees with honey.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:And so I'm someone that's.
Speaker B:So 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 B:But we still have that sense of camaraderie, that sense of community, and that sense, like, you know, I love working with other professionals.
Speaker B:And what.
Speaker B:What worked with me even better than that was I get an opportunity to see them in as an owner, and I.
Speaker B:And they.
Speaker B:And, you know, I remember, like, the first week they had one of the groups had some.
Speaker B:Some issues with one of the staff, and they were like, oh, we're gonna have to fire someone.
Speaker B:And I remember just being like, good for you.
Speaker B:Doesn't bother me at all.
Speaker B:I don't care at all.
Speaker B:Hope you figure that out type of deal.
Speaker B:And it was great that it wasn't me.
Speaker B:Somebody had.
Speaker B:I had to figure this out.
Speaker B:And it was great to just be like, you get an opportunity to see what that's like.
Speaker B:And I'm here for your support.
Speaker B:I'm here to champion you on however I can help you.
Speaker B:Boom.
Speaker B:And 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 B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:So is there a communal area?
Speaker B:We're working on that.
Speaker B:There is a communal area, but it's a little off to the side, so it's a little difficult to get to.
Speaker B:So 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 A:What about clients?
Speaker A:Like, is there, like, a waiting area?
Speaker A:How do you check people in?
Speaker A:Do they walk in, like, regular suites and kind of find the door?
Speaker B:Or what is that, like, way that we created a hallway?
Speaker B:So 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 B:And there's.
Speaker B:Everyone has a door.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And they all have their own basins.
Speaker B:Everybody's got their own everything.
Speaker A:And how big are the suites?
Speaker B:One is.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Like, I don't know what that was.
Speaker B:700, 800 square feet.
Speaker B:The other one is probably about 500 square feet.
Speaker B:And the other one is probably about 500 square Feet.
Speaker A:Yeah, those are big suites.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, when I looked at, like, solas, like, they're like 100 square feet.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No, no, they're ours.
Speaker B:We have space.
Speaker B:We can.
Speaker B:You can have your own waiting room in there.
Speaker A:Oh, nice.
Speaker B:Have multiple chairs.
Speaker A:Oh, that's not.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:I would call that micro salons.
Speaker A:I would.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:That's actually better stated.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's not.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:You're right.
Speaker B:It's more of a micro salon.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because micro shop or whatever.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Each person has their own staff.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:No, so when I see.
Speaker A:When I.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:I know people use suites and they, like, tear down the wall and combine suites together to create these micro salons.
Speaker A:But when I hear suite, I think of, you know, one on one, and so that.
Speaker A:That's very interesting.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker A:I want to come and check you out.
Speaker A:I want to see this place.
Speaker B:Please.
Speaker B:Please do.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're right on 12 in Pennsylvania.
Speaker B:1242 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast.
Speaker B:Thank you for that.
Speaker B:Correction, I'm gonna actually steal that and use that now because I.
Speaker B:Yeah, please do.
Speaker B:Micro salons are much micro space, and micro salon, that's a much more accurate description, for sure.
Speaker A:Well, this has been such a pleasure, and I appreciate you taking the time, and I hope to.
Speaker A:I definitely going to come check you out, and I hope to have you on the show again soon.
Speaker B:Absolutely, man.
Speaker B:It's been a pleasure.
Speaker B:Thanks, Robert.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:All right, until next time.
Speaker A:I'll see you later.
Speaker B:All right, peace.
