Mr. Golden Scissors

When I was in high school I bought my first pair of clippers because I was going to my local barber shop just to get a buzz cut. I figured I could save money and time by cutting my own hair.

When I went to college, friends of mine would notice that I had a new haircut at the beginning of every week. They began to ask me to come to their dorms to cut their hair for a big fee of five dollars! From my freshman year till my senior year I was cutting hair in dorms, building a small campus clientele. I never saw this a profession for me because I didn’t go to college for it.

Needless to say, I worked at various jobs for about two years and then made the decision to go to my mother’s school, Preston’s Beauty Academy.

I never knew I had a passion for hair but I always found myself hanging around my moms school after I was released from classes.

On the weekends, I would go into the office with my mother and help her with paperwork. I was able to see the ins and outs of the business, not knowing I was being prepared to have my own shop. There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t think about cutting hair or the methods of which it can be cut. I get a natural high from teaching the students at the school about techniques, body posture and ways to be a more efficient hairdresser.

Now that I’ve been in the cutting industry for almost five years, I’ve gotten a better understanding of making the experience more client centered than it being about me. Client focused services are not only about giving them a great haircut, but educating them about their hair and what’s best for them as well. Consulting with the client and their expectations is more than just telling them you are capable of giving them the haircut they show you. It’s sometimes about showing them what they want isn’t what they are really looking for. It’s about educating them on cowlicks, growth patterns in their hair, products to help in frustrated areas, and letting them know where they are succeeding in areas.

Full disclosure of a haircut leads to a very low failure rate in giving them a combination of what they asked for alongside what they want. God blessed my hands with a gift that not only blesses me but also allows me to give people more than just a cut, but an experience.