All The Cool Kids Use Instagram...The Final 5!

    Ok so I was going through my Instagram like I always do and realized I follow some cool people and some really good barber and tattoo artist so I got to thinking why not share a few of my favorite people, shops and tattoo artist that I follow on Instagram with all you guys. So I am going to post my top 10...

5) Mikey Hood (mikeyhood1): Cat person, owner of True Blue Barber and Shave Parlor and cornerstone of the Sacramento hardcore scene. His shopped opened earlier this year and seems he is able to balance barber, shop owner and member of the HOODS.

4)Matt "Hambone"Hamblin (Hambone509): Owner of Boar's Head Tattoo in Spokane, Washington. He is not just a tattoo artist and shop owner but a very good friend of mine. Kiss you bro!

3)Justin Singh (justincommish): Justin is the lead singer of The Great Comission and just an all around nice guy! Daisy thinks he is the coolest dude in the world because he likes comic books!

2)Joe's Barbershop (joesbarbershopchicago1): Joe Caccavella Jr. is a third generation barber and works right along side his dad. So if you are in Chicago area get in and get a cut and shave at Joe's Barbershop.

1)Sailor Jerry (SailorJerry): It's Sailor Jerry...Nothing else to say!!! I love there rum and Sailor Jerry Tattoos!!

Reality Tv has Invaded The Barbershop!!

    What does Tommy Guns NY and Levels Barbershop have in common (and it is not that they are both from NY? Is it because they are both barbershop? Nope!

    The one thing that these two barbershops that are so different from each othe have in common is that they have both been featured on reality television in the last few weeks.

    If you watch Ink Masters on Spike then you will have seen Tommy Gun NY as they played host to the "Flash Challenge" a few weeks ago. The flash challenge was all about straigth lines. This week the tattoo artist had to put down the machines and pick up a different kind of machine....clippers. The tattoo artist had to do a design in the hair of their "human canvas"

   I will be honest, this was kind of painful to watch because you can tell that some of these people do not know there wat around a set of clippers. At least it was an entertaining episode. To watch the full episode go to Spike TV.
   
    Now on to Harlem which is home to Levels barbershop. Levels has made a name for itself as a top notch shop and a major player in the barber battle scene. Now enters Richard Hammond.

    Most people will know Richard Hammon from the hugely successful BBC show Top Gear. He now has his own show called "Crash Course" where he steps into a job and tries to learn as much as he can in one day. Richard gets to spend a day at Levels.

    He got to do a couple of haircuts starting with a "ceaser". he learned the differnce between a "light ceaser" and a "dark ceaser". The owner of Levels to him to a barber supply shop to get his own tools as well. When coming back to the shop they had him actually do a couple of Level regulars.

    Kamal Nuru and the staff at Levels were definitely good sports and so was Richard because boy was he awkward!!

    I get excited to see real barbershops on tv. Maybe time for me to pitch my barbershop idea to the Travel Channel. We will see!

All The Cool Kids Use Instagram...Part 1

   Ok so I was going through my Instagram like I always do and realized I follow some cool people and some really good barber and tattoo artist so I got to thinking why not share a few of my favorite people, shops and tattoo artist that I follow on Instagram with all you guys. So I am going to post my top 10...The first 5 today and part 2 next week....Enjoy and feel free to share your favorites as well. Also note the kids in a few of these pictures....We love our kids!!

10) Omar Rubio (JEDIXLESS): Omar is a young tattoo artist living up in San Jose, California. He is a young dad husband. He is one of those artist that you know is going to be successful because he is going to learn everything about what he does from making machines, ink and everything that goes along with being a great tattoo artist.

9) Luis Orosco (Master_Barber): Good friend, talented barber and owner of Fresno,Ca's COVENANT BARBERSHOP. Been in business for a few years now and works hard, loves his family and his job.

8) Franks Chop Shop (FranksChopShop): One of my regulars got to visit FCS during the summer and told me it was dope. I have been a fan of FCS and there caps for a while. I finally got my own FCS cap last time I visited the New Era store in LA. Check out there NYHC snapback collection now available

7) Jan Hella (therebelrouser): Jan Hella is barber student extraordinaire. He runs The Rebel Rouser blog and I think he is going to be a successful barber when he is done and in the shop. he is developing a niche of his own...So look for him!

6) Dylan Johnson (Kid_Ridiculous): Dylan Johnson is a barber at Long Beach, California's SYNDICATE BARBERSHOP and also a member of the band Sidepipe Motorbike. he is a dad and a hell of a barber. Make an appointment next time you are in LB!!






Final 5 next week!!!

Ho, Ho, Holy Crap....The Holidays are on us!!

    So my annoyance started last week when I went to the market to get some stuff for the wife to bake cupcakes and noticed that the aisle that holds all the holiday was already putting Christmas candy and they had not removed all the Halloween candy. At this moment I knew I was in trouble...I am never ready for the holidays, let alone Christmas!

   This weekend I will be getting the shop hours for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all figured out. Then I need to find some ways to get the regulars in but plus try to get some new heads in the door....Do not forget the gift cards, gotta hustle those gift cards!!!

   It is Christmas time so that means get those Christmas cards together for your clients. Seriously, customers love Christmas cards especially if you are sending them something that no one else is. They appreciate those things. If you need a dope Christmas card to send to your clients contact my good friend Jeff Allison Trust me he does great work.

   Does your shop offer gift cards/certificates if not you probably should  because as I saw last holiday season they do sell well if you hustle them enough. They are easy to buy for dads and sons for stockings. Also try to put together some gift packs that you can sell as well (shave kits, pomade stets...etc.).

    The truth is I hope everyone has a great and successful holiday season. Keep working hard, continue to give your customers your best.

Just One Of Those Days....How To Fix a Mistake

    We as barbers and stylist every now and then have one of those days where in the end you know you made a mistake. You get that phone call from a customer complaining about their haircut (you always hope they are polite about it, but more often then not they are usually on the rude side). Last night was one of those nights for me. My last haircut of the evening was a girl who came in asking for a faux hawk.

    The question is how do you handle a disappointed customer? Dealing with an upset customer sometimes takes kid gloves because some people take a bad haircut personally. Some people (mainly guys) take a bad haircut with a grain of salt but others want it dealt with and quickly and more importantly I think upset customers want to make sure we as prefessionals are paying attention and listening to what they are asking for.

    So here are my suggestions in dealing with a upset customer: 1) Listen to them! I get it, it is easy to just kind patronize them but make sure you know why they are upset. 2) Get Them Back in the chair. If you are the one who made the mistake do your best to get them back in YOUR chair so you are the one fixing your mistake and you can learn from your own mistake. If you can not get them back in your chair just make sure you get them back in your shop! 3) Do not forget to apologize. Sometime a sincere apology can go a long way. 4) This is my personal opinion so you do not have to agree with me on this one: Do not give them there money back! Offer them a discount to come back but the truth is we are trying to make a living, too! If you gave every person back there money who was not happy for one reason or another we would go broke! There are those out there that you just can not make happy.

    In the end all we can do is our best and accept the fact that even the most experienced barber/stylist has an occasional bad haircut and we just have to treat our customers professionally.

MOVEMBER Kick-Off

   So Thursday was one of my longest days ever. Started with having to be at the barbershop at 4 am to get ready for the local news channel who came by for the morning to cover the MOVEMBER.

   We worked until around 5 pm and then closed up the shop to get ready for the MOVEMBER Kick-Off party and then opened the doors around 7:30. I did 5 shaves straight, Evan from Bolings Barbershop (Visalia,Ca.)  also joined us for the festivities. He did 6 maybe 7 shaves. The owner did two haircut (for some reason) and shop apprentice did three shaves and three haircuts (again, for some reason). My buddy LJ Lara from Pizanos help me get a keg of New Belgium for the event and we had a ton of dope give-a-ways from Soapbox Gypsy and Pin-Ups Against Cancer and a few goodies from our own shop.

Movember & Sons-Frankie The barber with the Mclaughlin's

   So in the end apart from a few small issues the whole night went well. People seemed to enjoy themselves and the fact that so many people came together in support of a good cause, listened to some great music and had a good time.

   Someone asked me why I chose to do an event for MOVEMBER and the reason is that when there is a charity that not only effects so many men but that can be so closely tied to what we do as barbers you get involved. If you are interested in donating you still can by going to Team Barber Collective.

   Thank you everyone who came and thank you for your support. Until next year!!