100 Days of Haircuts…10 Things I’ve Learned

100 Days of Haircuts: 10 things I’ve learned

We’ve been open for just over 100 days. 100 days as a new business owner is equivalent to human infancy: we are brand new. As a former high school Language Arts teacher and stay at home mother, I had no idea what I would learn in 100 days as an Aveda Men’s salon owner (the first in the world, no less. Let me pinch myself?!) I did not know how I would feel in a space so unfamiliar to my former but still me self. 100 days of haircuts brings about 100 new perspectives; I have met hundreds of people and learned a plethora (hair and non hair related) things, including but not limited to the following top ten:

1. A good haircut really can bring the Brad Pitt out of a guy. Truly. I’ve seen it firsthand.
2. Stepping out of your comfort zone is not only uncomfortable for high school students giving speeches, or for new business owners starting fresh, but also for men getting haircuts. However, once the step is taken and trust is granted, some pretty amazing results manifest.
3. A haircut is a refuge for brand new dads, sleep deprived and looking for a place to unwind, regroup, and hit reset. It’s a refuge for students prepping for the dance, professionals seeking the new job, young kids who want to look like a soccer player and the elderly who’s schedules are busier than my own?! It’s a beautiful thing, truly, to pamper and rejuvenate and create an amazing haircut experience for all ages.
4. A haircut boosts confidence, whether you’re 4 or 100.
5. The English still drink black tea, with cream, and I love it.
6. Some men have been shaving their heads, or growing out their hair, or traveling to Atlanta, Boston, Denmark, or New York for YEARS in order to avoid getting a bad haircut. HAIR MATTERS. And it should.
7. I am no longer anonymous at Walmart (so when I scarf down a Cliff Bar after grabbing it off the shelves … yes I am going to pay for it … and wind around the aisles in a quick errand, I need to be mindful that I may run into a client at anytime. NOT. AWKWARD. AT. ALL).
8. Sometimes children burst into tears when they hear the word “blowout” thinking it means something bad.
9. Joy comes from people seeing a significant other relax and unwind in a purely quiet and pain free moment of eyes closed, hot towel on face, after years of pain and struggle due to a significant and debilitating injury.
10. Surrounding yourself with authentic and genuinely good, talented people brings happiness, and for that I am grateful. It doesn’t hurt that they cut and ombre my hair to boot…and wax my eyebrows…and curl my hair…but I digress.

I can only imagine what I’ll know in another 100 days, and I look forward to finding out. For now, the fact that I continue to learn and hopefully give back to others is all I need to be sure I’m still in the right space.