Philosophy of the Barber
One on one conversations with barbers about their journey to and in the profession. Bree covers present day topics affecting the industry with cohost Cassy , as well as personal struggles and growth made possible by being a barber.
Philosophy of the Barber
Picture Perfect vs. Practical Reality: Industry Marketing & Client Views
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Bree and Cassy discuss the various perspectives of the industry and what professionals put out to the public, and what customers might expect because of it.
Welcome back to Philosophy of the Barber. This week we are discussing perception versus reality. Now, we'll start with a little uh prompt in focusing on what we're gonna apply that to. Why don't we start with controlling as a shop owner, controlling as much as possible the perception that people have of your shop to determine whether or not they want to come to it? Because it's not just like building a space that you want to be in for your entire day. I mean, it is partly that, but it's also like what are you choosing to mindfully use to attract people? Like first impressions, because that's their perception.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. For me personally, with my shop, I not that it was my intention, it like not my it wasn't necessarily my direct intention, but I'm glad that what you when you look at my shop, you would think that the owner is fun.
SPEAKER_04Definitely. Like it's not too serious.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it's not too serious, but it's not it's not intimidating looking, yes. It's approachable, yes, and I I like that it looks it looks welcoming for just about any kind of person, and I like that. I like you not looking at my shop and thinking that I cater to just one kind of demographic or people or right, because a lot of times that can occur, like we'll use a chain as an instance, like sports clips, just the name automatically caters to a specific clientele looking for a specific vibe.
SPEAKER_04Yes, and is also turning people away before they even see like to step inside. I don't understand why people would limit their clientele like that, but I mean to each their own, like there's a place for everybody. Yeah, yeah. And if you're doing that to keep your clientele in mind, it's the these are the people I want. I totally get that. That is a valid strategy. I understand. And sometimes it is to deter people that are like, no, I really don't want those people to come in because it's not what I want to do all day.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I also feel like though, people could perceive my shop as a little odd. Because sometimes, more more so referring to like my saswatch, right? That's not everyone's cup of tea humor-wise, more so as it is others. Not saying it's it's a bad thing, not saying that no one ever doesn't like a sasquatch, but Yeah, but uh and maybe because I mean I'm not really a great judge of humor.
SPEAKER_04Mine is an interesting measuring stick to use. Uh, but I tend to look at things and take them at face value. I I don't necessarily look at them immediately through a lens of humor. So, like, if you send me a joke via text, I'm probably not gonna immediately realize it's a joke unless you use an emoji to like indicate it. So I I take things at face value. So putting myself in a position of a first-time customer looking at your front, I would be taking that sasquatch at face value.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Like I wouldn't be looking at it as like, oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, yeah. I would go, all right, that's a Sasquatch. It must have something to do with the business. Let's find out what. Fair enough, yeah. That's why I don't perceive your first impression of your shop as odd. I simply look at it as a choice, a style choice.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I guess the reason why I would interpret that possible perception is because of how many realities have been people telling me that I'm a weird one in reference to having that in my storefront window and that being a priority for my shop.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, that clicks though. Yeah, but are those people who are first-time customers or those people who have sat in your chair previous instances? Yes, fair. Okay, that that's a totally different situation because that's not a first impression. That's them taking who they know you to be and going, really? That that's that's your choice, that's your priority, huh? So I could understand that assessment from that perspective.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But like somebody who doesn't know you from anybody, I figured they just take it at face value. I go, nice Squatch. And like, it's kind of like, uh, I don't know. Um back when Walmart had a smiley face. Yeah. Right? If you've never been to a Walmart before, you you're just gonna take that smiley face as at face value. Yeah. Without ever having to see a commercial or whatever. You're just like, I I will accept it as it is without context, and if I acquire context and it allows it to make more sense, great. But I'm not gonna question it because why? It's not going to affect my experience. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00What do you feel like the perception of um your side is like um, unapproachable by design.
SPEAKER_04Agreed. My my storefront is unapproachable by design because, number one, I'm not necessarily trying to attract first-time customers. Somehow, they still find me. They still find you. Despite my best efforts, closed curtains, blacked-out glass door. We're talking, it's not just tint, it is blacked out. There is not a sign indicating that this is an operating business. Nope. There are no hours posted. Nope. Nothing. There's not a single word on the outside, is nothing. And yet, people will still have the confidence to randomly open that door. It's the stained glass. Yes, it's it's very friendly looking. Yeah. Which is fine. I mean, if if you got through that many hurdles of like warnings, yeah, yeah, you deserve a prize. Welcome to this secret Slabrosa experience. But I mean, the the perceptions you have, like, once you enter, though, like it's an immediate, like, whoa, what did I just walk into?
SPEAKER_02It's definitely not what you would anticipate being on the other side of that door.
SPEAKER_04No.
SPEAKER_02Not at all.
SPEAKER_04Which I love.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I love surprising.
SPEAKER_02It's like your own little Narnia.
SPEAKER_04But yeah, so now let's go to you as a person, because uh not everybody owns a shop and has control over the environment they work in, but they do have control over their own appearance. And we covered this in the last episode a little bit when it comes to like work attire, which was a little bit more on the practical end of like dealing with hair. But like your brand, your your person in conveying the first impression to somebody. Like, you get three first impressions. You get a visual first impression from afar, uh, you get a verbal first impression, so auditory, and then you get a physical first impression, typically with a handshake. How do you choose to control your visual first impression to people?
SPEAKER_02I, unlike um some of the other New Englanders in the area, like to I'm usually always smiling, is like my just my go-to. I'm I'm genuinely a pretty happy person, and so I'm I'm just always trying to convey my most friendly and welcoming side of myself to any clients, whether it's new, old, any in between. Um, and even on days where I'm like not feeling just not feeling it. You're not feeling bubbly, yeah, just not feeling myself or just not feeling like doing the day, I still try to at least put myself together the best I can and still try to put like my best face forward every day, even if I'm not. Doesn't mean I'm like doing top to bottom like makeup and all the sorts and doing my hair every single day, but I'm making sure that I'm put together well, I'm t I'm cleaned up, I'm hopefully my haircut is um recent and I'm not looking too overgrown.
SPEAKER_04Well, and your the attire you choose to wear is casual, yes, but professional.
SPEAKER_02I very much like to I've pay a lot of attention to what is exposed on the top of me. For the sake of being a woman in this industry, the first thing I feel like significant others or partners or whoever, just any kind of person on in the street, I feel like the first thing they look at is how a woman exposes their cleavage, especially in like a male-dominant profession like this. And so I always try to take those kinds of things into consideration because I'm not trying to, one, for practicality of like I don't want hair down my shirt, obviously, but two, like I'm not trying to give you any kind of misconstrued idea of what I'm trying to present to you. And I feel like if I'm exposing a lot of myself there in particular, then it could relay the long wrong message, especially since I am a friendlier person and I am more playful and um can be perceived as flirtatious a little bit sometimes in my friendly demeanor. But I so I don't need any more extra gray areas or jaded lines or anything like that. So I usually always try to present myself more as covered and professional as possible, but still comfortable.
SPEAKER_04Well, and I think that's a very important point to make where in order to keep from upstaging you as a professional hair person, yes, don't upstage your professionalism with your body.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and like as much as I'm like I want to look good at work, my intention is not to be hit on at work, my intention is to be taken seriously as a professional business owner, like and a professional person in this industry.
SPEAKER_04And to not wear clothes that are more revealing, which you would do on your off time, yeah, is not affecting your confidence. Correct. It's the you're you're just as comfortable covering up as you are exposing. And that's important. That like I feel like everybody should be as comfortable with themselves, whether it's wearing stuff to go have fun versus covering up to like have the focus be on your profession.
SPEAKER_02Yes. And I'd again it's the waters are just a little different with women in this industry. We're still luckily it's not it's way more common now to find women in this industry. Like I so I it's a little bit different, but I still I want to be make I want to make sure that I'm taken seriously. I don't want to like my biggest thing was like making sure I didn't date clients and stuff, and I I made sure to keep those lines very very direct. And even with like going to the barber expos and stuff and like mingling and socializing, like getting hit on even in those situations, it's just like I want I'm still new at this and I want to be taken seriously and not just be looked at as a piece, yeah. Like I'm also a barber, like I'm also a professional in this industry, and I'd like you to see me as such.
SPEAKER_04Like you and I are equals. We both hold this license.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, and like this is not what I'm here for. Like, I came here to network, socialize, learn about my trade. Like this, I didn't come here for this. I'm here to be a professional and have some fun with my profession.
SPEAKER_04Yep. But I feel like that that is uh a lens of perception that people might not think of consciously when they're entering those environments, but also you you yourself have to keep a mindset of professionalism when you go to those situations where it's like, what is your top priority really? Yeah, is it that you're like, oh, gonna get you know distracted and and you'd rather have the social and uh intimate aspects of like yeah intermingling.
SPEAKER_02Just being there for the energy, the vibe.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, or are you there as a professional and keeping that at the forefront of your mind in your behavior towards others? Like that's that's extremely important to answer for yourself because neither of those positions are wrong, but you just need to identify for yourself what your priority is.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and what what impression you're trying to put out there, and because of that, like I was there on a professional level. It the year that I went, it was my first year out of barber school, so I was trying to network. I had I got business cards made just specifically to pass out at this event. Like I was there to network and like get my name, build my following. Like that was all I was trying to do. So I made sure to try to put forth that and only and like go to booths to just co-mingle with people and just not get distracted with the hubbub.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, how many people tried to hit on you while you were trying to focus?
SPEAKER_02So many, so many, and it was the passing out of the cards thing was bittersweet because I did get a lot of followers on my Instagram that weekend, so like that was super helpful, but I also got a lot of DMs that weekend.
SPEAKER_04And not the kind you were looking for.
SPEAKER_01No, no, but it's alright.
SPEAKER_04Hey, they gotta shoot their shot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04Now, as far as how that affected your perception of them, less likely to deal with them on a professional level because of that?
SPEAKER_02Honestly, yeah. Um, I kind of as soon as you kind of come at me at that level, I feel like we can no longer meet equally on a professional level because you've already kind of viewed me in that way and wanted the relationship to go in that route. So I feel like it's definitely just a little I wouldn't call it like a red flag, but like a little deterrent.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, because I mean it is a safe and standard practice to keep those things separate.
SPEAKER_02Yes, absolutely. And and and no dig on the men that did huddle me. Like, I'm not saying that that that was like a bad move on their part or anything. Shoot your shot, absolutely, but like But like actions have consequences, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04And that's just And I I'm sure they're okay with that, but you know, it's one of those, like, hey, keep that in mind that if you're going to choose that as your priority, that means that you're choosing to not have the other.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because that's that's one thing that like I feel like should be very, very separate.
SPEAKER_04I think it's much safer in the long run. Like, there are exceptions. There are husbands and wives who can work together in the same space, and power to them. I applaud them. I don't know how you do it. Yes, but that is not the standard that that takes an exceptional level of maturity, communication, and navigating treacherous waters to get to that sort of stable point.
SPEAKER_02And honestly, especially in this profession, because if you're spe speaking like in a hypothetical of like you and your partner are like working in the same shop together, you're just having conversations all day long together around each other. Like it I'm pretty sure I would get tired of hearing somebody's voice at some point.
SPEAKER_04I I feel like I mean, my husband and I, we have a lot of comfortable silences.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04And it's just who we are, and that's part of our relationship, but it's it's comfortable silences, and we like the silence. Like we like being together, but we don't always need to talk. Yeah. And we don't like we don't have any sort of connection professionally to one another. Like we have plenty of time apart. Mm-hmm. Whether it's in the same house or we're both at work in separate buildings. Like, we have plenty of time apart, so we ne never have any shortage of things to necessarily talk about. But I'm also talking all day long. Yeah. And I can't always remember what I've already told him and what I haven't. Yeah. So it's like, I have been talking about this all day. The last thing I want to do is talk about it again when I go home.
SPEAKER_02I know there's some days where I like do get home and I just be like, my mom will call me, and I'm just like, I don't let can we just talk later, mom? I had a like especially going from busy schedule to like a little bit slower with the opening and like those days where I get a packed out day, those days are long for me mentally. Like those conversations back and forth all day, and like I have to like get myself re-used to that again.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's like getting back into shape.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yes.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Because like when you're straight out of barber school, like anything more than three haircuts a day is so tiring. You're like, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_02So much.
SPEAKER_04But then in like, you know, walk-in days gone by, uh, you know, busy shop, you're rocking, you know, 20, 25 haircuts a day, and that is that is a long day. There's little to no break. And you would be legitimately tired. Like, yeah, I don't want to get up right now, but I need to go home. Like, why did I sit down? But once I'm down, like I'm down. I've there's no getting me back up. Yes. But and now with the appointment thing where a full day is more like 10, 12, 15, depending on what you gauge for your time. Yeah. It's still like it's for me, given my schedule and the allotment of time that I give services, it's not that fatiguing feeling at the end of the day anymore.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So I don't feel totally drained. But it's also something I've been able to keep up with. Like, that's that's a steady pace, a sustainable pace that I can deal with and you know, still go to bed at a reasonable hour. Yeah. Uh, still be able to converse at the end of the day, and still get up and not dread going to work and having to do all over again. Still good, like getting out of uh a steady pace that you had and then getting back into those days, but it's like not consistent yet.
SPEAKER_02We'll get there. Soon it'll be consistent enough that it'll just be second nature.
SPEAKER_04Now, um, how about our control of our perception of ourselves as far as the internet goes? Because I I'm wary of putting myself as a person on the internet because I I just don't like being subject matter. I'm not content. But like from a professional standpoint, the the era of Instagram and everything is so much building of a professional uh a hair professional's portfolio. Yeah. It's like boom, check on my work. Here are all these haircuts. But with technology being what it is now, whether it be with Photoshop or filters or even like real life enhancements, um making things look a certain way, a certain level, and then having gaining customers because of that, and then them expecting you to be able to do that in real life without necessarily like with some people not being transparent about enhancements being used when they post things, I feel like that's a disservice. Like you're setting the bar too high for yourself to hit because the average person doesn't know about at least in our neck of the woods. Yeah. The average person doesn't know about enhancements. The average person doesn't realize that you've used Photoshop or that you are a master of lighting and photography. Yeah. Because that can make or break a haircut picture. Most people don't know that. They're just trying to find a picture on the internet to show their barber because they don't have the words to describe what they're looking for. I'm wary of people who post pictures of their work with all of those things used without context for the people. How do you manage your? I mean, obviously we don't we don't use professional cameras or anything like that. We're certainly not lighting masters. No, definitely not. But like, how do you choose to manage your portfolio and what you put uh for your business online?
SPEAKER_02Um, I make sure I like to keep a variety so it does show that I do more than one kind of haircut. But I like to promote the things that I like to do. And I'm certainly not gonna promote a haircut that was, I mean, realistically, difficult for me. I don't want to promote something that I if I'm gonna promote it, that means I want it in my chair regularly. Sure. And that's my hope and intention. So if I'm posting more of it, it's because I want more of it. And I hope to hope that's how that works out for me.
SPEAKER_04Well, and that makes sense. Though, I mean, and I don't fault anybody who's like proud of their work of something that was a challenge for them, and they're like, oh, check this out. Like I've totally tackled it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, believe me, like if I if and when please don't put this in the universe so that way it happens now that I'm saying this, but like if I ever had a flat top one day, knock on wood, that came out really good, I'd maybe post that to like boast about it, but like I would not want more of them ever again, ever. Disclaimer, props to those of y'all that can uh just confidently do flat tops. Good for y'all.
SPEAKER_04It's it's all about exposure.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_04But I have yet to see a flat top, I have yet to give somebody a flat top under the age of 50 in the last like eight years. Like I I had a young kid for a little bit that got one and then he changed hairstyles. But other than that.
SPEAKER_02I mean I'm not sure if I technically have one guy that kind of gets a flat top, but it's because the hair on the top of his head grows straight up. Even at two and a half inches, three inches long, it's still fine enough that it stands straight up. So I just have to even that out. Like it does, it does most of the work for me as far as like the shaping of the flat top goes.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you never have to stick it up.
SPEAKER_02No, yeah, it's already there. So but it doesn't count.
SPEAKER_04So how do you feel about the trends in the industry? Uh, that are definitely recommending that people go more towards like learning photography and like practicing the lightings to increase the uh lack of better words, the prettiness of their portfolio.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I feel like I feel like it's important to an extent. I feel like having I feel like my phone camera quality for haircut photos is plenty. I feel like outside of that, you are becoming a photographer and then almost like a marketing manager for yourself, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I personally don't want to that's not where I want to focus my energy. My energy isn't focused on the prettiness of a photo. It's working on the ability of my haircut and how I'm able to interact with people. And I don't I feel like when I'm putting that much time into how to edit and just make haircuts work in my favor with lighting, then I don't know, just it's just it's it to me, it just seems pointless for for me personally, like that because that's just not where I'd want my energy focused.
SPEAKER_04Right, and I feel like there's a part that's in the industry of people are doing that for the eyes of other professionals.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and I feel like if that's what you're doing because you are very like um you have this platform on social media and stuff like that, then absolutely. Like if you're making videos and reels and like sharing those kinds of things, and you have this like realm of followers that you do want it to be more professional looking and prettier looking, absolutely, but like I'm not that person, like I'm not sending out reels all the time and interacting with this huge following and any of that kind of stuff. I'm not this big presence on the internet, right?
SPEAKER_04And our focus is our everyday customers, like we are run-of-the-mill barbers, and considering the area that we live in, I feel like is is so important.
SPEAKER_02Up here, people like the day-to-day face-to-face, the interaction, like you picking up clients by being at the grocery store or just out and about and existing in the small town kind of vibe area versus like bigger cities where it is very hyped up, and I feel like social media is so much bigger, and like the influencers touch more populated areas like that.
SPEAKER_04Definitely. Though I don't I can't say as that exists in this state at all. No. No, you know what? I'm not in Manchester, I don't know what happens there. We don't know. Uh could be some things popping off down there, maybe closer to the border, who knows? So we could talk about like a customer's perception of a photo versus the reality of it on their head. Because I mean, I I did have a a regular come in not that long ago who wanted a change, and he sent me a picture of Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool, and not knocking that cut at all, or the person that's wearing it. Like, I get it, understandable. Uh, however, knowing this person's frequency of haircuts and how quickly they get uh irritated with the regrowth, the the haircut that was shown to me would definitely like grow back to irritating levels twice as fast as his normal haircut. Uh and I I explained this to him. He's like, I I'm I can totally give you this haircut, not a problem. Um, but also like he was wanting a change, and I I don't understand why somebody shows me a haircut and I give them that haircut, but they decide to not style it like that photo. They decide to style it the same way they always style their hair, which makes it look exactly the same as their old one. So I'm not sure what change I gave him because of the reality. Yeah, but even something as like you know, boom, perception, this is the haircut that I want, but like they're not understanding that this isn't your hair density, hair texture, color, skin tone, like head shape, lack of cowlick or cowlic. Um, fade space on the side of the head.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I don't know if y'all realize that there's a there's it's different on everybody.
SPEAKER_04It's like people having a four head and then a five head. It's just different.
SPEAKER_02Some people got a two-head. It's weird. Yeah. Um, I find it. I had a guy come in who luckily used a picture off of my Instagram, and so I was like, all right, great, that's literally the haircut that I did, so I know that I can achieve it. But the person in my chair now wanting this haircut, not the same curly hair at all, completely different curl pattern. And as we know, curl pattern makes a complete difference in everything about the hair and what it does and how it lays and where it wants to be cut. And so I I just had to straight I had to be honest with him. That's one thing you should just always do is if you if you feel any kind of qualm, qualm straight word, sure, um, about the picture or the haircut they're asking for, just be honest with them. Because I just told him, I was like, listen, I can give you your version of this haircut, like I can do this haircut to how it fits your hair. I was like, but it won't look the same as in this picture because your hair is just different. And he was fine with that and he accepted with his fate and moved forward, and it worked out just fine.
SPEAKER_04The way you said that didn't sound like the ending was gonna be just fine. It was great. He accepted his fate.
SPEAKER_01I don't think he loved his curls. Well, I think in that moment he wanted the other man's curls.
SPEAKER_04I will say that I feel like most people who have curls, you either love them at a certain point or you never will. Please start accepting yourself and loving you for who you are. Stop trying to change it within reason. Like, if you want to change, change. Okay, that's fine. But like, if you can't change it, just learn to be happy.
SPEAKER_02I will say, in the realm of perception versus reality with photos, that's actually kind of one of the reasons that geared me more in the barber profession than the cosmetology profession. Is learning color well, learning color, and I had such a hard time with it. The pictures on the internet of colored hair is just not realistic and achievable in day-to-day life.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean, and yes and no, but to an extent, there's there are tricks.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, like the clip-in extensions and the everything. Or and the curling iron.
SPEAKER_04Ah, I mean, don't get me wrong, it looks gorgeous. Like, I love a nice wave curl to really show dimension of the the color service that's been done. But that's not how they're gonna wear it all the time. Yeah. That is not an accurate depiction of the work you've done.
SPEAKER_02Mm-mm.
SPEAKER_04I've always hides so many things.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I've always, I've always just, it's always just been a thorn in my side about the color because I've seen, because there's a couple hair pages that I follow still from when I was in cosmetology school, like hair salon pages, and people will be asking for these recommendations on like how to achieve they're like this is the inspo pick, I need advice on how to achieve this. And I'm like looking at it, and I'm like, you can't do that in one day. Like, that's just not her hair's gonna fry off. Like, her hair's gonna fry off. I don't know how it's possible. There'll be like black with white highlights with blue pieces, and I'm like, that's not real. Half of that has to be fake hair.
SPEAKER_04And I think that really is a thing that like it'll go along with the enhancements and the and the filters and and uh those types of tools where they are fine. You just totally fine slap a disclaimer on it. Yes, just like list exactly what you've done, like show the process of like there's plenty of people who also get colored extensions with their super fun color, and that's fine. Like, it builds the look, but like show the process of you creating those extensions so that you have a color match.
SPEAKER_02Don't use the enhancements to create an illusion of a reality, yeah. Like just use it for what it is, it's still beautiful the way that it is, with it being an extension or not.
SPEAKER_04It's still a creative piece of art that is worthy of display, especially with all the different ways that they can put it in there. Oh my goodness. I know. Uh, I do think that that I feel like that should be more promoted in educational institutions. Because I think that's it's so important to educate your customer base or perspective customer base. Be like, this this is what it'll take legitimately to get that look. Yeah. Rather than kind of sneaking them into it like a salesperson. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or it's like, oh, this is what you want. Okay. And then you they you they do the whole thing, and then you ring them up, and it's like, what? It's five hundred dollars?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because like that gets expensive.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah. Well, time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Those things take time, and that's what you're paying for.
SPEAKER_02Time and product. Yeah, and those the products aren't getting any cheaper. That's for sure.
SPEAKER_04Oh we can also talk about perception versus reality as far as like priceless goes. Because there's especially salon side of the house, there's like, oh, men's haircut, women's haircut. It's not dependent on length of hair. It's dependent on your plumbing. I'm not a fan of that. No. Or and I understand the pricing situation of like these services start at this and can get you know this or higher. Because it does depend on like each individual's hair. But I feel like the hourly rate should be more upfront. And I don't necessarily think that's a s a industry standard. Like they'll give you a starting rate and just tell you that it goes up from there. But they don't necessarily tell you the rate of increase.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like how much it's going up by. Right. I'm trying to like, I'm thinking back to like my little bit of salon experience as a as a client. And I sometimes I feel like depending on how that establishment is run, I feel like sometimes the professional doesn't even know.
SPEAKER_04That that is concerning.
SPEAKER_02To an extent, I feel like some from my experience, thinking back, like I feel like it's definitely left up to the computer.
SPEAKER_04Which means it's left up to the owner of the establishment or whoever programs that stuff. Bother me because I would want my professional to know all the ins and outs and be able to explain those things to me because you're the professional.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because thinking back the the first time that I went and got my hair dyed down south, um, she was almost surprised when ringing me up and asked me if my price was okay and if it was too high. Because since she's a friend of mine, she was like, Right, is that okay?
SPEAKER_01And I was just like, Yeah, that's fine.
SPEAKER_02Like, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna like undercut you in and in my any way, shape, or form. But she she definitely did not know like what the final price was gonna be.
SPEAKER_04Well, and I'm to a certain point, like not knowing for sure how long the service is gonna take. Like I I can understand that, but for it to be like, whoa, that's that's how much it was. It's strange to me. Um, you know, this isn't to you know bash salons in the way they do things. I I have my criticisms of the industry as a whole. I think that transparency in all industries should be a standard practice. But yes.
SPEAKER_02And also that it's just my it's not like I'm frequenting salons since I'm I try to do my own.
SPEAKER_04Um in fact, I think our experience in salons probably is one of the factors that drove us to barbering.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yes, correct. So it's nothing against you, cosmetology professionals. I'm I'm one of you, I'm licensed, I'm dual licensed. It's just a world I did not want to be a part of. I could not hang with I could not hang with the science.
SPEAKER_04Ooh, how about perception versus reality as far as customers go? And I'm talking like trying to decide whether or not you're wanting to solicit a customer, like give them a business card, approach them. Like, it's it's really all about first impressions, like visually, you might think that they look like somebody you would love to have in your chair, and then you get them in there, and you're like, Man, we do not vibe at all.
SPEAKER_02I try to honestly, I there's been a couple circumstances where I've shied away from announcing that I'm a barber on purpose. Honestly, it's it's always because the first impression is it's usually not even the personality because I try to be very open-minded with that and that we don't have to always talk. Like, if you're a person that just likes to get your hair cut, that could be what our relationship is, and I'm totally cool with that. Honestly, it really comes down to the hygiene. Oh, yeah. If the person seems uncleanly, or like they just their hair, if they if I see them and their hair is automatically greasy, then I I probably will shy away. That's the biggest that that's probably the biggest like judgment that I could I could place on first impressions with some with a potential client.
SPEAKER_04Well, and uh that's definitely something we totally failed to touch on when we were talking about expectations.
SPEAKER_02I know.
SPEAKER_04It's a wild how we forgot that it was a late night. It was it was a long day. But I mean it's true, like hygiene, like is huge. Because I mean, especially going to a barber school, like if you get the clientele that is on a fixed income or can pay in time versus money, yeah. And that's usually people who are going to a learning institution to get services. It's like uh my barber school at the time charged eight bucks, they charge 12 bucks now, but like it's still significantly less than like your typical licensed professional. Yeah. Uh, but you know, it's a school, so it's gonna take a while. But it also attracts the people who's in that position may not for various reasons have the best hygiene. Yeah. So the plus side is that you learn to deal with those situations. You know, it's an imperfect situation, like it's not ideal, but you know, you can work within it. It's not something you seek out, but it is something that you learn to um work with and have compassion for. It's like hey, this guy is in his 80s. Like, yeah, his hygiene isn't the best anymore because maybe he doesn't have that mobility or the eyesight, or I mean, really, most senses are dulled at that point. So, you know, we can have compassion for them and still like give them their service, but certainly it's not something we go out and seek. Nope. It's the if you smoke a pack and a half a day, please do not rip one right before you come in for a shave.
SPEAKER_00You don't like the way the hot towel just like warms the smoke odor walks it around.
SPEAKER_04No, but I'm amazed at how often I can tell that somebody has uh partaken in Mary Jane right before coming to see me because of that hot towel. Any any final thoughts on perception versus reality and how we might be able to apply it to barbering or on the other end for customers?
SPEAKER_00Nope, I feel like just try to give off the best impression and interpretation that you want. So nothing gets misconstrued.
SPEAKER_04When in doubt, honesty and transparency. Yes. But always keep in mind professionalism. There is a time and a place for everything, and that is not necessarily your shop. Yes. Agreed. Alright. On that note, we will see you all next week. Have a good night.
