After being laid off from a graphic design job in the commercial real estate industry, Lesley Bryant pivoted into barbering and eventually built Lady Clipper Barber Shop in Washington, D.C. from the ground up.

In this conversation, she shares how community relationships, relentless work ethic, and authentic connection helped turn a hallway-sized startup into a thriving neighborhood shop.

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Key Takeaways:

🔅Career pivots can create unexpected opportunities - After being laid off from a graphic design job in the commercial real estate industry, Lesley decided to pursue barbering and eventually built Lady Clipper Barber Shop.

🔅Start before everything is perfect - With only about $5,000 saved, Lesley began buying equipment piece by piece and even set up a temporary chair in her home while preparing to open her shop.

🔅Community is the foundation of the business - Lesley explains that a barber shop isn’t just about services; it’s built on the people who trust you with their hair, their stories, and their milestones.

🔅Ask for opportunities instead of waiting for them - Instead of waiting for the right space to appear, Lesley drove around neighborhoods, called landlords, and asked about openings until someone gave her a chance.

🔅Work ethic can replace outside funding early on - Long days behind the chair and consistent saving allowed her to fund the business herself before opening the shop.

🔅Support the community and the community supports you - Featuring local artists in the shop created stronger neighborhood relationships while giving creatives a place to showcase their work.

🔅Prepare before someone gives you a chance - Having a clear plan, realistic numbers, and the ability to explain your vision helps when landlords, lenders, or partners consider taking a chance on you.

🔅Transparency helps retain a strong team - Clear expectations around clientele, commission structures, and culture help barbers understand the environment and stay long term.

🔅Authenticity builds loyalty - Clients often follow stylists into new ventures when they trust the relationship and believe in what the business is building.

RELATED LINKS

📸Follow Lesley on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lesleyladyclipper/

📸Follow Lady Clipper Barber Shop on Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/ladyclipper/

Check out Lady Clipper Barber Shop's Website - https://www.theladyclipper.com/

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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

Leslie Bryant is a 12 year industry veteran.

She's a barber and the founder and owner of Lady Clipper Barbershop.

Today we're going to talk about business and community.

What exactly does that even mean?

Does that mean bringing the community into your business?

Does that mean leveraging the community around you to help grow your business?

Does that mean being actively involved inside of the community, getting out of your shop, into the community, et cetera?

Or are there other things to talk about?

Welcome back to the Hairdresser Strong show.

My name is Robert Hughes and I am your host.

And today I'm with Leslie Bryant.

How are you doing today, Leslie?

I'm doing well, Robert.

Thanks for having me.

Absolutely.

Thank you for coming.

So I, everybody listening and watching.

I met Leslie at the Hair Preneur happy hour and we didn't really get a chance to talk that much, but we, my wife and I were talking about, you know, different people we had met and kind of just kind of debriefing on different things.

And we checked you out, Leslie, on social media and, and we saw that it looked like you are pretty engaged with your community.

It seems to be kind of like a theme of a lot of the stuff, you know, overall stuff that we see coming out of you, which we love because we're all about community, getting people together, making impact in our community.

And that's like so broad.

Like one of the words, community, I just feel like it's so used and for, for folks that are really actually getting out there and engaging with their local community nearby.

I think that that's a really special thing as compared to like somebody online who says we're building community and you know, people just follow them and like, and subscribe.

So I think I'm really excited for this conversation.

So let's just dive right in.

Like when I say business and community, what does that even mean to you?

What it really means is the community is our business.

You know, my business is, is built on people.

Not only stylists and barbers, but it's built on the people that come and trust us with their hair, their secrets, their, their milestones.

So really when I say the community is our business, without the community, we have nothing.

Totally.

So we really, we don't build the community.

We not only try to build community, we invite the community daily into our space and try to pamper them while they're here.

Nice.

Okay, so one, I think, I love that because it sounds so much better than selling somebody.

I think it's 70 or 80% of people get their Hair done where they work or where they live.

So, like, that's, you know, like, the way you put it is so much better.

And I think it kind of hits.

Hits a little harder and a little more and becomes a little more personal.

Totally is personal.

Hair is personal.

Yes, I agree.

Yeah.

Okay, so.

So give us one example of how community is an important function of your business and how, like, one specific example and like, what you want to share about that for all the other salon shop owners, even independents, or people just, like, I don't know, thinking about their business from, like, a business angle.

So business wise, I invite a lot of artists to hang their art on their walls.

And a lot of these artists have never hung in a gallery.

They have never made money from the art that they've done.

A lot of times it's just their hobby.

And how I find the artists are mainly in my care.

There'll be a client who's like, oh, I love drawing, painting, or I've been doing this on the side.

This brings me joy.

And my first thought is, okay, how can I bring that into my shop?

Right?

How can I support this?

Artists display their work, but also aid in them making some money.

So what we do is we allow mostly clients, but it could be anybody in the DMV area to display their work for two months.

And they set their own prices.

And I basically sell it for them and give them the money.

If I don't sell it, they don't make anything.

I don't make anything.

But where I gain is I get beautiful art rotating every couple of months and I haven't paid a dime.

But I also get to invest in that artist by giving them the exposure that they normally wouldn't have.

You know, I'm not a art curator.

I am not someone that's being super critical of what I'm putting on the walls, except making sure that there's nothing offensive or, you know, nothing with crazy nudity or anything in it.

Because we are, you know, a family shop.

But I.

That's one big example of something we do on a rotating basis.

Every two months, we switch it out to invite the community in, not only to view it, but also to hang their art.

That's awesome.

I love that on so many levels.

Like, one, it's creating a deeper connection with your customers.

It's showing shows how much you care about them.

Uh, it also, it also, like, creates opportunity for them to tell other people about it.

Do you host, like, gallery?

Like, I don't even know what they would call.

What do they call, like, a house.

What's it called?

Art shows.

Art show, yeah.

Do you, you host those?

Yes, we do.

We do.

Um, we don't do it for every artist, but about twice a year, we'll randomly pick two artists and have a reception with light refreshments.

And sometimes I'll get a DJ involved, and people can invite their family friends, the artist can invite family friends, and then I will also invite my clients to come and view the art and purchase.

Usually that's when we make the big, big sales, is when we have the art shows.

Nice.

I love that.

I love that.

Okay, all right, so thank you for that.

Let's.

Let's kind of shift gears a little bit because we're going to talk more and more about this, but I want to hear a little bit of background about you.

So, um, you've been in the industry for 12 years.

Uh, did you go to school?

Did you do an apprenticeship program?

How did you get licensed and where did that happen?

Give us a little, like, a bit bit of your, like, startup beginning starting story.

So I.

After being laid off from the commercial real estate industry, I enrolled in what, what it was called Roosevelt Stay, which is sort of like a night school program for adults that are looking for to change their career or a second chance at building a new career.

It's a program in D.C. free to D.C. residents.

And I heard about it from my barber.

At the time.

I was in limbo looking for.

I'm an artist, so I'm a graphic designer.

And I was talking to my barber about what other artistic things I could do to make money but not have to sit behind a desk for eight hours a day.

And he just quickly said, he was like, why don't you be a barber?

And I was like, what?

Like, can I really support myself on a barber salary?

And this is one thing that he said that I would never forget.

He said, the sky's the limit.

How you promote yourself, how hard you work, and how intentional you are about your goal will determine how much and how well you'll live in this industry.

And that really struck a chord with me.

And right away I called the school and got some information and enrolled about two months later.

Nice.

I.

Day one, I fell in love with the, the, the.

The environment.

The teacher was great.

I explained to him that, you know, I was unemployed and I quickly needed to get through this so I could support myself.

And he was like, just like my barber.

He said, well, if you do the work and you're as fast as you're as you study and do the things that I tell you to do is as fast as you can get out of here and get licensed.

And a couple years later, I was licensed and in a shop and, you know, building something that 12 years later I can't believe is now the Lady Clipper.

Okay, so what.

What did you do while you were in school?

Did you work at a barbershop or did you.

So how'd you get by?

So I. I worked for a print shop, a local print shop during the day, and then I went to barbering school at night.

Okay, all right, so you found a.

You found a gig to, like, help you?

Yeah.

Okay, and then.

And then you got out.

So where did you start at?

Where was your.

Where'd you start barbering at?

So I started in Shaw, which is located in Washington, D.C. that shop is no longer open, but it was called Ordinary People.

Okay.

And I worked there for three years before opening Lady Clipper Barbershop, which is on the U Street corridor.

Okay, so I have to ask this question because I know there's people listening or watching right now that are like, wait a minute, hold up.

You went from being unemployed and within five years you own your own shop?

Three.

Well, yes.

Yes.

From unemployed.

Yes.

Yeah.

You did the math.

Yes.

So first question always being asked that rarely gets answers is, where'd the money come from?

Like, how did you finance that startup from unemployment to shop owner in five years?

I mean, the amount of people who would love to know your secret is large.

So the secret is working 12 hour days, 15 hour days, cutting 15 to 20 people a day, working on the weekends, working on Mondays.

So really, I had to fund this myself.

To be honest, no bank was going to take me seriously.

I had good personal credit, but without any history of business credit, no one's going to give you the loan to start up.

So what I did was with $5,000 in my bank account, I was like, let me start pricing out what equipment would cost.

And I slowly started buying equipment.

Chair.

One chair.

I started off with just me, one chair.

This is after you got the spot.

This is before I got the spot.

I started.

You had your stuff in your house?

Yes.

Okay, got it.

All right.

So I put a chair in my house and I had just sort of a table.

It was a desk.

And I set up a mini barbershop in my house where after I would get off, I would maybe take two or three clients that were either in my neighborhood.

So I was always working.

Wow, nice.

And So I had $5,000 and I was like, all right, it's time to start buying equipment.

And then when I would spend a little bit, I would try to save another 5,000 and then start searching.

I was like, okay, how much would be one month's rent?

So I'd want to have at least five to six months in the pocket before.

So, of course, $5,000 is not a whole lot of money to start from scratch.

I had a mentor from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that I spoke to, and she was like, you know, some of the best businesses have started from people just going door to door and asking, what's happening?

You know, like, what.

What is available?

So one Sunday, Sunday, I started driving around in the possible neighborhoods that I wanted to open a shop.

And I went to Easton Market, I went to U Street, I went to Adams Morgan and just kind of started to dream and see what.

Where I wanted to, where they had places available for rent, and calling those stickers that were on the outside of the buildings to ask, you know, what is the monthly rent?

How much down payment?

How does this work?

Because I had no idea.

So I called, and I think the lowest amount I saw was 4,000amonth with, like, a couple months that you had to prepay with, you know, business credit.

They wanted tax returns.

It was a lot of things that were needed.

And I happened to be on the phone with a friend, and she mentioned that I was on U Street, and she mentioned that her hairdresser was across the street.

And I was like, what's the name of it?

I'm on 15th and U.

And she was like, epiphany Salon.

And I was like, oh, I'm looking at it across the street.

I'm looking at a building across the street.

She said, go over there.

Ring the doorbell and tell them, you know, that.

That you're a friend of mine and ask them if they have space available.

I did just that.

I went over and asked, and right away they were like, oh, well, what are you trying to do?

You can be an assistant.

And I was like, no, I'm trying to start my own brand.

I'm trying to start my own barbershop.

But I am open to renting a chair, if that's okay, and then we can go from there.

So she told me to come back in a couple weeks and we would discuss it more.

So I came back a couple weeks later.

Her husband was there, and again, he was like, you know, we don't have the space, but we are looking for an assistant again.

So I had to explain to him, no assistant but you know, thanks.

And if any space in the building opened up, it's a three level building, any space in the building opened up and they were, they could offer me some space to let me know before I walked out.

The husband said, well we have a storage room upstairs.

Would you like to look at it?

And I said, oh yes.

Went upstairs, it had a bunch of, you know, old salon equipment, a massage chair, old TVs.

And instantly I went upstairs, I said, I want this.

It was basically a long hallway with stuff in it.

And he was like, what, are you serious?

And I was like, yeah, think about it.

Let me know what you would charge monthly for rent.

I'm very serious if you are and I'll call you or come back in two weeks.

Can you have a number ready for me?

And he.

I came back in two weeks.

We had a little negotiation thing and we hit it off and I was like, okay, I just need a couple months, no rent to get the construction done and get the equipment up there and then, you know, and all the permits and then I'll be ready to go.

Still only having $5,000 in my account.

This is $5,000 rolling.

$5,000.

Right, right.

But for some reason that family, that couple saw my vision, felt my drive and took a chance on me.

And nine years later, where, you know what two level shot.

We came from a hallway and we're now we're a two level shop with six, six barbers fueling our business.

Nice.

So for all those looking for, you know, how do you start really?

Sometimes it's just asking, asking around and asking for help and being honest about what you can and can't do.

Don't bite off more than, than you can chew.

Totally.

So did you, did they like sublet it to you or did.

Was it, did they own the building?

They own the building.

Which, ah, which I didn't know at first.

Love that that makes things probably a little.

So did you have to go, did they do run credit trucks and stuff on you and all that?

Nothing.

Well, you're, that's amazing because they really,

they really, I mean she's still, she's still my landlord.

The couple is still my landlord today.

And they were just like, you know, I just felt I saw myself in you.

I love it.

She was a hairstylist that owned the building.

Yeah.

And she's like, I saw myself in you.

I saw your drive, I just believed in you and I wanted to give you a chance.

So I, I started off with just a two year lease because they were like, you know, although they didn't do a credit check, they did, you know, they did a lot of limits and trusted me and, and with time, we.

We built.

You built credit with them?

We built credit.

They were able to, you know, raise the rent because they saw I was honest and on time, and they.

They work with me.

So now, now they're reaping the benefits of having me there for so long.

That's all so awesome.

I love that.

That's, you know, it also, like, I mean, I wonder how much that has to do with your, like, community, like, your love for the community.

I mean, the community basically put you on and you're basically get, you know, able to, like, give back.

Exactly.

That's so awesome.

Oh, my gosh.

I love this story.

This is so good.

Okay, so I guess now is a good time to ask you.

I mean, you kind of already said it, going out and asking, but I feel like anybody who is listening, who is saying, oh, you know, I'll go around and talk.

Like any other piece of advice that you want to say as we move into more talking about, you know, business

and community, I would say, you know, yes, go out and ask, but also have a plan, right?

So have your business plan, have your numbers, realistic numbers.

Know what you can actually do.

Because once, if somebody does give you a chance, whether it's the bank or a person like the community, you have to keep that commitment.

You can't let that.

You can't burn your credit, if that makes any sense.

So bite off what you can chew, be honest about what you can do, and really be prepared to work night and day to fulfill your.

Your promise.

And did you.

Were you able to get to the point because you said in the beginning you wanted five months of bills.

Were you able to get there before the opportunity arose, or did the opportunity come before you were able to save up enough money?

The opportunity came before I had.

I was month to month, so I was working night and day to keep.

To be able to.

And by myself.

And how much can you talk about, like, the.

The.

The emotional strain and impact?

Like, like, were you, like, anxious ever or worried you weren't gonna make it?

Were there any moments that.

That things were like, you were worried?

I would say yes.

I would say every first of the month would roll around and I would just be like, oh, will I have enough?

And I always had enough.

And that can also play back to the community.

Like, the people in my life, the clientele that I had built from the shop that I came from, 80% of that clientele came nice and back me up.

And even though I raised my price maybe I think $15, you know, they were like, no, I see what you're doing.

We want to back you up.

So just really being open and honest about what I was doing and asking, you know, you know, I'm moving to another shop.

I'm opening up my own place.

It is going to cost a little bit more, but I promise you it's going to be worth it.

And people coming and saying, you know what this is worth 35, $40, you know, this is.

And with time we just kept going up in price and we got better with service and added after year two I was able to add one barber.

Year three, we added two more and we just kept slowly growing from there.

Are they a commission or booth rental work?

Commission.

Nice.

Okay, cool.

And that's the other piece.

I feel like after people ask about the money, they ask how did you find like people to work for you?

Like do you have any.

You want to share any of your thoughts about attracting, developing and or retaining talent?

So it goes back to the same idea, right?

Being honest about your ex.

To retain talent, I think you have to be honest about your expectations.

You have to be honest about the, the type of clientele that you invite in the space.

You have to be intentional about how to handle those clients and the in the community, what the expectations are.

Being honest about that.

Setting the commission percentages in a competitive and fair manner is important because if everybody is doing something and you can get an edge on that people, you know, barbers will stay.

You know how you treat your barbers also is.

And cater to their emotional stressors has also been a big win to me.

Like I don't ignore that when they say this, this client is.

Worries me.

Oh, I'm a little bit anxious about serving this person again.

Really getting involved and talking it out not only with them, but also with the client to help alleviate any stress.

So I do a lot of that as well.

Very involved in the day to day process.

But that's how I would.

That's how I feel like I retain.

And what about.

I have to ask because this is like the biggest conversation that we talk about the most is the independent versus commission, like the rental versus commission model.

Working for somebody else versus being your own boss.

Like what do you think your magical like power is there?

I mean you could have already said it, but I wanted to kind of frame it specifically.

That's a tough one because as barbers, even when they're In a commission shop, we tend to feel like we're individual artists.

Totally.

And for me, I framed my shop as yes.

Everybody has their own talent.

Everybody has their own spin on some of the same services.

However, you are a part of a group, and we're stronger together.

And also making the client feel that their choice is most important.

Right.

So let's say a client comes to me today and comes to my neighbor a week or two, not really making that client feel uncomfortable because they have made a different choice.

Right.

As long as somebody else in the shop is eating, we're all eating.

Right.

Chair hopping is allowed in my shop.

Really laying out the rules to those barbers that come through the door.

Look, if they stop coming to you, it might be because they want to try everybody before settling on one.

It could be because, you know, they saw somebody else's style and liked it better.

There'll be somebody else to come through the door that's just for you.

What is yours is what is for you is for you.

And don't make the.

Don't make the client pay for making a different choice.

We're not crabs in a barrel.

We're a team.

Totally.

You know, I. I worked at a salon where the owner said the same thing.

He was like.

He's like, always say hi to the clients.

If you.

When you see them, whether they're in your chair or not, you should say hi to everybody, but you should specifically say hi to people that you' interacted with, even if they're not in your chair.

And he said, because you know what, they might be in someone else's chair because you were busy.

And, like, when they booked, you didn't have anybody or you had somebody, or they could have a re.

Another reason.

But, like, you don't want to ruin the opportunity for them to end up back in your chair, you know, because even if they did transition to another person, you're most likely.

Unless they really didn't.

Unless you really had a bad thing there, you're most likely going to be their backup when that person's busy.

And so.

So, like, we'd rather them, the person, stay in the salon and feel confident in the talent at the salon than be looking at another salon or.

And ending up there, because once they go get service at another salon, they have other people to pick within that salon, and then we could potentially lose them forever.

And that's my whole point.

Right.

You make them feel comfortable.

I even go out of the way that sometimes people start off in my chair and end up in My staff shifts for whatever reason.

That's okay.

You know, we're celebrating any business that comes through the door and we're trying to support each other because maybe they need me to shampoo.

They made me.

You know, you don't want that bad energy going around in your shop.

Totally.

So I, okay, now I have a follow up question and this kind of segues and like the topic of the show is like business and community.

Have you, have you experienced a direct link between a hire and your community engagement?

Like how, where, how do people find out about you when they coming in and inquiring about work.

People?

I, I, the people who have come through my doors either heard of me through like schools that they have graduated from.

Maybe the, the person who is in the career center has sent them because I'm always in, I'm always sending flyers and emails letting them know we have positions and this is the type of person we're looking for.

So either the school linked them to me.

I've also had stylists just knock on my door the way I knocked on my landlord's door looking for work.

I've also had a barber who was with me recommend an old classmate to join the team.

That's usually how we found the talent in my opinion.

Or from Instagram or Facebook.

People following us and saying, hey, you're looking for a job, this is a cool shop.

Or, or I get my haircut here.

See if you will, you will fit in.

That's cool.

So.

Oh no.

What was my follow up question?

So I'm drawing a blank.

Oh, I know what it was.

So would you say that the people you hire you, they need a little more, some development.

Do you hire like, like how many seasoned versus new, newer hired?

Like what's the, the, the breakdown?

I would say it's about half and half.

Okay, all right.

I would say half and half.

And how long does it take a person that you hire that's a new talent that has little to no experience?

How long does it take you to spend them up to being able to like be taken people?

Do you get them in the chair taking customers right away?

Do you have like a tiered system?

How can you talk a little bit about that?

Because I, I don't know how big of a thing this is in the barbering world, but I know in the salon world this is like, you know, typically people come in as a junior and then they work their way up in price as they get busier and busier and that's like an indicator to the customer that this person's newer and, and it's an opportunity to get a lower price.

Is that even a thing in the barbering world?

I don't know if it's a thing in the barbering world, but it is in my world.

Okay, can you tell us more about that?

So for example, I had, I hired someone to be my operations person and she was in barbering school at the time.

And I told her, I was like, look, you can make extra money helping me keep organized, keeping the shop clean, folding towels, that sort of thing.

And then when you graduate school, you pass the test, I'll put you behind the chair next to me.

I have clients that we kind of use as testing clients.

So on a Saturday I'll let you cut three or four of them and we just tell them to tip the junior barber.

So I can see how the skills are developing.

So I can see where they are and what I need to work on.

So they, from day one of working with me, you do.

You will have the opportunity to do some cutting, but it won't be on a top playing client, you know, it'll be on someone I've asked, hey, so and so has graduated.

I just kind of want to see where their skills are, what they need to work on, that sort of, that sort of thing.

And then after I see the skills develop, sometimes they're fresh out of school and they're really good, then I'm not going to hold them back totally.

You know, so sometimes people get, get moved up quickly and sometimes it takes a year or two.

It just to.

For me, it's just sort of where the skill set and the customer service lies.

So in that year or two that they're building, are they charging a lower price?

Is that.

Okay, Got it.

Cool.

This is, I love this.

Okay, so now, now I feel like we should go.

Go all into what other.

When we talked a little bit about business and community in the beginning, we've, it's come up kind of a little bit in our conversation up so far.

Can you, can you tell us like so specifically you talked about the art.

Art side of things and how.

I just, I just love that idea because there's like all these knock on effects and these knock on these other opportunities to engage with people and these other reasons for people to want to engage.

And it's authentic.

Like you actually care about it.

You're not just doing it to be like a strategic person.

And I'm sure that comes out too.

What, what other types of things do you, when you're thinking about community and business come up to you in your mind and that you do or engaged in.

I have clients that are.

What I really do is I listen to what the client where their passions lie.

And I'm always cueing in to how can I bring that in?

So I have a client who does comedy on the side, works on the hill, but does comedy on the side and as a stress reliever just for fun.

And so I said, would you like to host a comedy show here?

You know, you find the comedians, you know, we'll charge an entry fee, I'll bring the refreshments and the snacks and we'll split the door, you know, whatever we charge to get in, we'll split the door.

Or if you have a featured comedian, I will pay that comedian, comedian out of the pocket, you know, a reasonable amount and we'll go from there.

So I love that we've had many, many concerts.

We've had back to school events to, you know, discounted or free haircuts.

We've had women's day events where we invited women's homeless shelter to the shop and gave them sort of a mini spa day.

So I hired a massage therapist that had a chair massage.

I cut the hair and cut and shampooed the hair, styled it, and then we had lots of refreshments, music and goodie bags.

And these women, you know, these women are in a shelter, but they have that one day to come in and relax and just feel pampered.

So that's another way of just kind of listening to what the need is and doing your best to bring it in.

It's always rewarding.

Even if it doesn't reward in dollars, it rewards down.

You know, it does come trickle down.

And with all the blessings I've got, just like you said in starting the business and been able to maintain the business, I know I can call on my community in the time of need.

Even though I haven't exercised that muscle, I know if I have to, and that's what helps me sleep at night when things get rough financially.

Totally.

The success of a salon or shop, I always say, relies heavily on customers enjoying their time with you and, and, and inside of your space.

And so like, you know, it's like you could be good at hair, but like, if you don't create like an experience and you don't create a connection, you don't build a relationship, I don't think your clientele is going to be as robust as if you did.

And so, I mean, I would argue that you're not going to be successful.

That's my, my opinion.

Like, you're not going to be successful if you can't kind of like hone in on the customer experience, the customer service, the relationship.

And because I don't think what we're.

I don't think we're in a craft business as much, as much as we are in a relationship business.

I think, like, people like myself who get all nerding out on like, the technicals of haircutting, like, that's kind of like my thing.

I love to do that and I love to get in like, nerd debates with other people about, you know, if I hold the hair like this versus like this, like, what's the outcome kind of be.

But like, at the end of the day, that's not why the customers come to me.

You know, sure, they come to me because they like my haircuts, but that's not why they stay.

You know, like, they might get through the door, but they don't even come in because of my work.

Like, you know, like, let's be real.

I mean, maybe if you post a lot of your work, people find you for your work.

I don't really do that.

Like, personally, people come based on, like, reviews and, and word of mouth, and they don't come because they found me on Instagram.

Now, do.

Can you.

Now that I've said that, I'm going to stop.

Can you respond to that?

Like, what is your experience?

Do you get a lot of us clients coming in from social media?

I know this is not really the conversation, but since I said it, I feel like I gotta ask.

I would say a quarter of my clients come in from social media.

Oh, that's so much higher than mine.

Yeah, I say about a quarter, but who stays are the ones that, you know, really how, how we engage with them matters.

Right.

And how we immerse ourselves in their, in their life.

Sometimes, you know, like, I make jokes on my old clients and I'm like, we've been together 10 years.

That's longer than you've been married or that's longer.

You know, I'm, you know, like, I've known you when you were a kid or, you know, you're going off to college and these type of things.

It's really like tapping into the heart of the client, really showing reverence and respect for the relationship as a, as a stylist, as a, as a barber that I feel like that is my strongest point.

Right?

That's what I have to give to the world.

Right?

A haircut, yes.

But in the barbering world, we spend so much less time than the hairstylist does.

You guys might be, your service might go from an hour to five hours if you're doing color and stuff like that.

The barbers 35, 40 minutes.

And so we have such small time.

It's like speed dating to really get to know you, let you feel comfortable and hope, invite you back into our space.

Right.

So that first time, that first connection, that first, you know, looking that person into their eyes and really listening to the problems, you know, I have people sit in my chair for the first time and just say, you know, I'm having so much hair issues, I hate my hair and just start, start crying.

I just met you.

You're right.

Right.

But I'm not going to be like, don't cry.

You know, my job is to be that support system first and say, okay, let's see, you know, you don't want to lose all your hair, but let's see what we can do to, to make you look and feel better.

So I agree with you that social media is important, but what really sustains it.

Because you can find someone on social media but not come back the second or third time.

Right, right, right.

And really what sustains the business is the Repeat customer.

Yes, 100%.

So this is, I'm so glad that we, we came a full circle to this because, because business and community for hairdresser Strong is the community of hairdressers and barbershop, you know, teachers and administrators at schools and people sit on the board and maybe even the licensing department, you know what I mean?

Like, those are our community members as professionals.

But as professionals, you know, like individual professionals in this industry, it's really about engaging with our customer in a way that.

Well, I don't know.

I don't want to use all this normal language in business, so let me try to say it a different way.

So going above and beyond is still something that people notice and appreciate and creates like a gravitational pull towards you, especially if you do it in the realm of experience and service.

And so I think, I think it's so important because so, like, I.

All the stuff you're saying resonates so much with me as a, as a hairdresser and because I learned that the best way to drive customer traffic into your business is to care about the surrounding community and, and have like, like causes that you care about.

And so like, you can't care because it's good for business, though.

It's like, it's hard to care because it's good for business.

You kind of got to care in here and be in that business and then bring those two things together and boom, magic happens.

You know, the amount of people that I know that, like, engage in their community, and I'm not talking about the hairdresser community, but, like, the amount of people that engage in their local community just because they care and they want to be involved is not large.

So, like, the competitive edge for those of us who care and are willing to sacrifice, because I don't even consider it sacrifice as much as a privilege to sit on a committee or a board or go to local community coffee gatherings that happen on a regular basis, hosted by local organizations that are making an impact on a cause that is important to me or in my local community.

Like, to me, it's an honor and a privilege, and I feel special that I'm there.

And so for me, it's like, this is.

I'm surprised that no one else does it.

But what I found out, it's kind of like I had a client who's in medical school.

Well, I guess he was out of medical school.

He was a doctor, but not a lot far out of medical school.

And we were talking about money, and I was like, oh, how much money are you going to.

Can make a lot of money, you know?

And he goes, yeah, I mean, I can.

But, like, I can say this any.

You can't really get through medical school because you're in it for the money.

Like, you won't get through all of medical school because it's so much work.

It's so, like, detailed.

And it's like.

And you have to, like, give up so much of what of your life to get through medical school.

So the amount of people that are doctors that are doing it for the money solely and it's not because they're passionate about it, is small to none.

And I kind of feel like that kind of story, not all the details of the story, but that kind of, like, thing of like, you can't get through this unless you actually love it and care.

And you can be a salon owner or a shop owner and probably have success without caring.

Like, I see it all the time.

A lot of the times they're corporate, corporate salon and shops that they're not out there boots on the ground getting into their community.

You know, they're relying heavily on their reach and their infrastructure that they built to get the word out.

Corporate spending for marketing and pr.

And they are the type of people that tend and I'm not saying they're all bad because people inside of these corporations are good, but you know, just in their.

Not monoliths.

You know, I know some people, like, get super offended when I say this, and it's like, well, I know this corporation, they got good hearts.

You know, I am talking kind of generally speaking, like, if there are ways to get engaged with the community for the sheer purpose of making money.

We see it all the time in big business and politics and I mean, D.C. you know, like, we know what that means for sure.

But that, but that is reserved for a small group of big players, in my opinion.

And then you have the superstars that they seem to like, be successful, and that's a small group of people too, who seem to see successful.

And then everybody else, I feel like, operates and performs not at their highest potential.

And so, like, I think that if you want to, if you're, if you're worried about business, if you, if you, if you wondering if this is for you, if you're, if you're like having any doubt about yourself, but you care about your community and you want to be involved, then, man, that is such a powerful ingredient for you to go and make that decision and go for it.

Because it's, I just, I don't know very.

People who said that they're heavily engaged with the community and they don't, they're not successful in the things that they, they try to do.

I don't know.

Anyway, that was my little monologue there.

Do you have any thought, do you have any thoughts about any of that?

I mean, I thought.

I totally agree with you.

You know, sometimes you get caught up in the day to day and trying to make money to, to pay your bills or to pay the end of the month's rent, and you, it becomes from time to time exhausting to think about reaching out or doing something for the community because you're so drained.

Right?

A lot of times I find myself in that position, to be honest.

But what always fuels me and keeps me reaching out and, you know, sometimes, you know, engaging your community is just calling a client that you haven't seen in a while to make sure that they're okay, not asking them to come back into your chair just like, hey, I haven't seen you.

Are you.

Well, are you.

You know, you crossed my mind.

That's not, you know, and you don't have to be clear.

You don't have to be like, oh, I'm not calling because I want you back in my chair.

You don't have to say all that.

You are asking how, how they're doing.

And a lot of times people appreciate that.

Absolutely.

You know, so you don't have to always go to the happy hour.

You don't have to, you know, stand in line at a, at a, at a food bank to hand out food or a soup kitchen.

There's so many ways, big and small, to serve your community that can take not much time or not a lot of energy that means so much.

So I, I think you're touching on a topic that I know I'm going to get comments about what I just said.

So I think you're touching on a really powerful piece of this all.

When.

What.

How do you keep engaging your community?

Like how, like you said, sometimes you find yourself like, little burnout or, or.

I don't.

Did you use the word burnout or overwhelmed?

Yeah, I don't know.

If I didn't use it, I.

That's what I meant to say.

So how do you deal with that?

Like, if someone's listening to this right now and they're like, oh, my gosh, another thing I gotta do, you know, it's.

I got to go out.

First of all, no one said that.

What we said was, if you love community, this is a huge, like, go for it, because that's a huge.

It's going to be a huge ingredient for success.

No one said, don't do it.

I mean, you have to do it.

But, but to the person who.

That's not what they're hearing.

They're hearing, I want to be successful, so I'm going to do what I got to do.

But f. One more thing to do, you know, so what do you have to say?

I mean, I know you just.

What you just said is reaching out to customers.

But what if people want to be, want to feel better about this conversation if they're already kind of overwhelmed?

I mean, I guess you kind of already responded to it, but do you have anything other else to say?

You can also pick out certain community events that are already happening and put them on your calendar.

You may not be able to hit all of them, but if you can schedule time for it as almost as if it's like going to the gym, you know, you're.

Most of us are too tired to go to the gym or our feet hurt, our back hurts.

Right.

But if it's important to you, you'll make time for it.

So really thinking, looking at your schedule and etching it out, like, oh, like, for example, Robert, when you had the last Happy hour.

I had seen you doing that before.

I have been invited before.

I just was exhausted.

And even that night that I showed up, it took everything in me to get down there.

But I was so happy that I went.

I met so many people, mostly hairstylists, but I got so much out of that, you know, hour and a half that I was there that, you know, I'm looking for the next one.

So you never know what you're gonna see when you go.

I always say I have the best time.

I make the most connections when I don't really feel like it.

Yeah, totally.

You know, you have the best.

It's unexpected and it's so rewarding.

So you.

It's.

Yeah, it is one more thing you have to do.

But think of the reward and it doesn't.

It's not always financial.

It's connections.

You know, I can refer a client of mine to somebody I met at that happy hour.

I can DM them and see what services or if, if, if they need something from me, we could maybe collaborate, build a glam squad.

There's so many opportunities.

It just takes a lot of creativity on our part to.

To figure out how to connect with community.

Absolutely.

So I, I feel like I could keep talking about this because this is like one of conversation.

We're also touching up on things that, you know, like there's cultural.

There's cultural stuff that we're experiencing when, you know, like, like if, basically if I'm watching this and I will not me and I'm like, but I'm the me that isn't obviously not on the show.

I'm.

What I'm hearing is 15 hour work days.

Walk around and talk to everybody in my local community and go to as many things as possible that I can.

And you know, for me, the me that is, that sounds to me like, that makes sense to me because like, I came up during a time where hustle culture was, you know, work hard, play hard, and like, we're at our time here.

So, like, kind of just to wrap it up, would you kind of comment on that?

Like, if someone's listening, be like, oh, what, 12, 15 hour days, you know, saving up all my money, you know, what about, like, what about that $20 donut I love to get, you know, every other week at my favorite fancy bakery and you know, like, I don't know, like, because what you're talking about, how you did it seems kind of out of place in today's world.

World.

I don't hear a lot of people talking about That I think people are doing it behind the scenes, because if you've ever created content before, you know that it's three times more time to get it out than it does to record it.

Like, we're going to spend.

We spend an hour on this.

We'll spend another two to three hours just getting it out.

And so, you know, so, like, it's.

I think it's not being.

Anyway, so I'm going to stop because we're at our time.

I want you to tell us, one, what do you have to say to that?

Two, what are you working on and what should we expect to see from the future?

And three, where can we find you?

Okay, you might have to help me with this one.

Okay, one.

One is the hustle culture, the hard work, the sacrifice that got you to where you are.

How do you respond?

How put that in context of today's.

Our today's culture and kind of like narratives and communication that we all are aware of.

So first of all, hustle culture is.

May not be the most healthy, but it gets it done right.

So really think about how badly do you really want it?

And if you can't skip the donut, you can't skip the coffee, you can't skip the nightclub or the fancy car, do you really want it that badly?

You might just have to work for somebody for the rest of your life.

And there's nothing wrong with that, but being realistic about what it is you really want, that's the first thing.

Second thing, Robert, what was that?

Second thing was, first of all, I love that.

Thank you so much.

Because that's so real.

It's like, you know, it's your choice.

And so.

So the second thing is, what are you.

Are you working on anything?

What are you looking forward to?

Or what should we look forward to from you and Lady Clipper?

So we're always expanding our services.

I have a curl specialist joining us for the first time.

We've never had somebody that specializes in curls and longer hair.

So she's a cosmetologist and a barber.

She'll be joining us in about three weeks.

So we're expanding services.

We also are hosting, continuously hosting events.

We have swap event coming up that we're planning.

We have some pride events that we're planning.

Comedy show that's coming in the spring.

Most of these are spring and summer events to invite the community.

And of course, I'll sprinkle an art show in there every once in a while.

So we're just always looking to expand, always looking to fill the needs of our clients and fill any gaps.

You know, I always like to say we're the barbershop that tries to bridge the gap between the barbershop and the salon.

You can come here and get your long hair, your straight hair, your, you know, your curly hair done.

Nice.

Love.

And to how to find me?

Yes.

And last but not least, where can we find you?

Yes.

Our Instagram is Lady Clipper.

We're also on Facebook, and I think it's Lady Clipper Barber.

And our website is theladyclipper.com Nice.

Awesome.

This has been a pleasure.

Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing this conversation.

I'm very excited about your story.

I feel like a lot of people are going to get a lot out of this, and I look forward to our new relationship and seeing you in the future.

And it's so cool to have a great story in the local community.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, Robert, for having me on.

Absolutely.

Until next time.

All righty.

Take care.