00;00;00;00 - 00;00;14;29UnknownWhere are your hosts, Aaron Backus and Jason Kindler? We like to sit down with our guests to hear their journey, their challenges, and how they impact the local community. So grab a seat. Tune in and let's get inspired by Jacksonville's everyday workforce. Welcome to Hometown Jacks.00;00;14;29 - 00;00;17;05Unknownman I'm really excited about this one.00;00;17;05 - 00;00;44;14UnknownI have a long time old friend here from high school, Mr. Chris Fry's. And, the owner of All Star Barbershop, 8803 Yeoman Road. Is that right? No. And drive, Yeoman Drive. Sorry. In Jacksonville, Florida, world famous, barber shop and graduate. Few holds high school 1991 together. Thanks for coming, man. Thank you. Absolutely, absolutely.00;00;44;20 - 00;01;06;22UnknownYou're looking good. I mean, do you age or how does that work? I do absolutely, yes. You want to get up? Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, you know, it's funny, Chris and I obviously graduated high school together a long, long time ago, and we connected on social media a while ago. And, you know, I said, hey, man, let me let me come over and get a haircut.00;01;06;22 - 00;01;26;17UnknownAnd I walked in the room. And what was your first thought? Like, this is the most complicated hairdo you will ever have to do or. No, absolutely not. I already knew what the deal was when I saw you. So it didn't scare you about how my hair looks? No. Okay. So bald is pretty easy to cut. Hey, I'm just saying.00;01;26;18 - 00;01;42;12UnknownSo what we want to do, for the audience out there, is we really want to get in to a little bit of your history, talk about you, and then talk about the barber shop. You've been running a long time. Got a lot of questions about it. People want to know what people do for a living.00;01;42;12 - 00;02;03;06UnknownAnd I think it's super interesting. And I'm going to get into it. So that's this role. So, tell me about your family. Tell me about kids, wife, all that stuff. Well, I have, two children. They're like. They're grown. We talked about earlier how old? Chris and Morgan and Chris is, 31. Okay. And, Morgan is, 29.00;02;03;07 - 00;02;21;09UnknownOkay. We are older. Yeah. So our kids are out and are they in Jacksonville? Yes. Okay, great. Awesome. They're in Jacksonville. So, mom is here now. My mom is here. My dad died, okay, some years ago. Okay. Mom lives right down the street. Oh, good. So, you know, family. Everybody's here. Except for my older brother, Don.00;02;21;09 - 00;02;42;28UnknownHe lives in Gainesville. Still. Okay. But, my brother, he works of the shop? Yes, exactly, exactly. Everything's going well. Any grandkids? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Kendall, her birthday today. Oh, wow. Well, I hope you got a present in the car. Ready to roll. Yeah, she's eight years old. Okay, so, my wife's, you know, we have, four guys.00;02;42;28 - 00;03;05;01UnknownYeah, we have cerebral twins and all that. Oh. Go on. Yeah, I'm a vet, man. I'm girl. You are, you are, man. That's that's awesome to hear. Well, that's great. Great family. And what are your kids do? Chris is, in Orlando working. He works with, demolition crew. They do different things around, the different stages, actually, like knocking things down, knocking things down, refurbishing those stuff.00;03;05;02 - 00;03;22;15UnknownOkay, okay. My daughter, has a, sweet. She does hair. Oh, wow. Okay. Well, coincide inside. She has her own business. Okay. For a while, she, like. Okay. And, she used to do, a pharmacy. She's living like a pharmacy. Yeah, she'd like to own, you know, business thing better, but, Yeah, she's doing well. Awesome.00;03;22;15 - 00;03;40;16UnknownWell, that's great to hear about your family. So other than than cutting hair, what? What do you like to do? I know you like Gator football. So like Gator football and basketball. Yes. Yes, I like to fish. And I do a lot of fishing. Freshwater. Freshwater. Okay. Yeah. From country. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I like to fool around the lakes and do the bass fishing.00;03;40;16 - 00;03;55;28UnknownYeah, it's like that. Yeah. That's what on my part, things that I like to do. So are you one of those guys that kind of searches out the the Lost Lake and and see what's it. And. All right, I, my wife's always getting, I always drive. There's a lake, maybe there's a lake. So, you know, that kind of guy that might have a ride in the car?00;03;55;28 - 00;04;14;25UnknownYeah. For sure. I grew up doing this. Yeah, yeah. No, I, I love to fish, man. I love to fish. So. Gainesville, Florida. You graduated high school. Where did you go after that? Did you come right over to Jacksonville? Okay. I went to, Tampa Technical Institute. Okay. It was one thing. Yes. Oh, so you were a great art.00;04;14;26 - 00;04;33;02UnknownWell, you are a great art. Thanks, man, I appreciate it. Thank you. I, commercial art, that's my degree. Yeah. And, computers are very, I'm not a very, you know, it's the computer stuff. Yeah, that was like a thing. That was kind of a challenge to me. Yeah, I'm a fine arts guy, but, I did that.00;04;33;02 - 00;04;48;14UnknownI got my degree. Yeah, and, you know, school was good, but, it just didn't pay the bills, right? It's hard. It was tough to find a, you know, a gig that supported my family. Right? Right. Yeah. Right. Right. But, you know, I enjoyed the college years, as you can say. You know, it was good. Well, what?00;04;48;14 - 00;05;08;03UnknownMe? Yeah, absolutely. So what made you make the jump from, you know, artist wasn't working out to barbershop? Like, where did that come from? Was that from your family history or what made you. Well, I got it. I started having hair here when I was like 12. And, you know, I feel like I remember that now when I started, young man, I, my dad, cut hair in the Navy.00;05;08;03 - 00;05;26;13UnknownOkay, so he had clippers at the house, so, so he was in the Navy. Cut guys on the ship. Well, just messing around. Yeah, right. Oh, so he had, you know, he had the little kid. Yeah. So, you know, you get into your pants stuff. Yeah. Of course, you know, we got into stuff. You know, he started first and, you know, of course I did too.00;05;26;18 - 00;05;44;18UnknownYeah. I was just like, man, if you could do it, I could do right? Right. So, got pretty good. Yeah. Here we are now, you know. So you were doing serious haircuts at age 12? Well, I started, like, not experimenting. Like, if you mess up, jump right out. That started on my hair. Okay? Okay. And, you know, just went from there.00;05;44;19 - 00;06;04;17UnknownSo I cut my neighbors and, you know, people would take notice. Well, who got your hair right? I did right. Oh, no. Show me. They didn't believe you because he was young. That's right. Right, right. Yeah. That's funny, that's hilarious. So you, figured out that the art thing wasn't your direction, and you fell back on cutting hair?00;06;04;18 - 00;06;23;24UnknownYeah. Did you go into immediately All Star, or did you start some other place? No, actually, I started out at a, a beauty salon. Okay. It wasn't even that I forget, anyway, but Vanessa Thompson, she was very integral to my start. Okay? She let me work in a show. Nice. On the weekends. Is this in Gainesville or was in Jacksonville?00;06;23;24 - 00;06;37;29UnknownOkay, okay. You're back in Jax. Yeah. So she gave me all of the, you know, her customers that. Oh, you know, he's good. He'll do it. So I built my clients. So from there, right. Right. Yeah. So that was that was pretty good. And then and then at some point you said, well, I can do this on my own.00;06;38;06 - 00;06;58;05UnknownYeah, yeah, I went to barber school. Actually, I was already in barber school and I got my license and, I continue to work with her. Excuse me? She opened up another, salon in the plaza. Yeah. And, has kind of blossomed from there, man, and I just never looked back. No. Well. That's interesting. I'm glad you brought a barber school because it's not on my list.00;06;58;09 - 00;07;00;05UnknownI'm super curious about that.00;07;00;05 - 00;07;17;04UnknownLike, how long is barber school? Well, then it was 1200 hours. I'm not sure. How long. 1200 hours. 112 hundred. Yeah, that is a lot. Well, they had it broke down for people with, you know, families that there was a difference. Yeah. I did it eight hours a day, so it was a little faster on the faster track.00;07;17;05 - 00;07;33;05UnknownRight? That space it out, you know, like, whatever you wanted to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was, was pretty cool, man. You know, it was, you know, practice for people that don't know how to cut. But I already knew. Right. And, Oh. Well, did it feel like, why do I have to do this? I already know what I'm doing kind of thing is to some degree.00;07;33;06 - 00;07;38;22UnknownYeah, but I get it. You know, you have to do, you know. You know, you're never above learning, so. Right? Right.00;07;38;22 - 00;07;49;09UnknownFor sure. So 1200 hours. That is just a lot. So, like, what are you what are you doing for free? Are you literally just cutting hair all day long? Different styles or what? Well, we got to school.00;07;49;09 - 00;08;08;17UnknownWe started with our theory, okay. Which is the book part of it. Okay. To learn about, infectious diseases, you know, Florida law, right? When it comes to barber stuff like this. Well, like what? What kind of law? It's funny that you're bringing all this up, like, I didn't realize. Is that integral? Yeah. There's all types of stuff you have to know about.00;08;08;19 - 00;08;26;11UnknownYou know, the diseases that, you know, I mean, it was strep, right? Right. That. Right. Just the different a whole lot of different stuff that was, we didn't really know about. Yeah. Yeah. Right, right. What we need to know is funny and, you know, it was is a very important to learn. Yeah, yeah.00;08;26;13 - 00;08;43;19UnknownAnd I did very well in that part of it. I was proud of that. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. So how long did that take you to do? 1200 hours. Nine months. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So much okay. Yeah. And do you take tests along the way? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Test. We took tests, and then we, when we get to the end of the night, once we do our, state board, okay.00;08;43;26 - 00;09;02;19UnknownWhich we had to go to Tallahassee. Then we had to do a, a live haircut. Okay, tapered haircut on a individual. Right. And I do a written test. Okay. Yeah, we had to get, I think was 70% or 87 things a while ago. So what do they do, man? And they just open the door like, anybody want a free haircut?00;09;02;19 - 00;09;17;15UnknownThat's what we. We got an experiment, man. We got to tell a hassey. And we we didn't take anybody. So we went to the homeless shelter. Oh, interesting. No, they told us that. Yeah. Well, guys, you want to volunteer to get a haircut, right? So we were like, you want a haircut for free? And what a great combination there.00;09;17;18 - 00;09;37;09UnknownWe did. Yeah, yeah, we worked out. So you pass the test. That's the test. Okay. Okay. So you're back here. And is that when all Star started pretty much or. No. No, I worked at a shop. That wasn't mine. Okay. For several years. Okay. And, the how I got my shop was the, the guy.00;09;37;09 - 00;09;58;04UnknownHe wasn't a barber. I think his mom wanted to set up a business for him. Yeah, but, he was a very business minded. Right? Right, right. You know, we kind of bumped. Has a little bit with this. With his strategy. Yeah. Yeah. Right. That's how the barber shop came along, you know? Okay, well, he wanted to raise the rent a lot and just be, you know, listen, in other barbers.00;09;58;04 - 00;10;13;05UnknownYeah. Their own shops. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I was like, I challenged him on it, and he was like, well, you could just get your own shop. And that's what I did. How that's the beginning of some of the entrepreneurial story right there. Yeah. He said you could try it on your own. Okay, man, I'll do it.00;10;13;05 - 00;10;29;22UnknownYeah. So that's what happened. I would imagine that's the natural progression with people that cut of hair. And it's like at some point you probably had the itch just to do it on your own. You're developing your clients well and all of that. Yeah. Okay. That I kind of fell in my lap. I really didn't aspire to do that, to have my own shop.00;10;29;22 - 00;10;48;20UnknownBut the way he did it, it made me like, wow, right? What? You're right. I need to do it. I need to do it. So you answer my question here. When your first haircut is 12 years old, do you remember who you gave the haircut to besides yourself? Michael Williams. My name all I remember. Big Mike Williams, Michael L Williams.00;10;48;22 - 00;11;09;10UnknownOh, Mike. Okay. Yes, I remember him. That is hilarious, man. First victim that is hilarious. That is hilarious. Can you like. So I got a lot of crazy questions. So you talked about how you got into cutting hair. Can you remember the first time you cut somebody's hair and they were really mad at the outcome? No, you've never had one.00;11;09;12 - 00;11;28;05UnknownI can't say that. He was like really mad at me. And I've I've had a lady that came in that I don't know what she was going through. Yeah, but she had flat hair and she was like, she wanted her hair. Yeah. And I was like, okay, well, I want, you know, I did that. She wanted it all off.00;11;28;05 - 00;11;44;23UnknownShe said she did okay. And I don't think that she really wanted that. It wasn't a bad haircut. Right, right. You know what I mean? She she didn't, you know storm I don't know. Yeah. That's about the only time. Yeah, but natural man, you are a natural. You've been cutting since. Well, I mean, maybe it's a dumb question.00;11;44;23 - 00;12;04;22UnknownI'm sorry. So male. Female. You interchange. It doesn't matter. You can go either way. Yeah. It's just depends on, what they want, right? Right, right. Yeah. I'm not Edward Scissorhands or anything. Right, right, right. You know. Yeah. Have you ever come across somebody that walks in the shop, you're like, oh, boy, what's going on up there?00;12;04;22 - 00;12;20;24UnknownI need to get my gloves or what? Well, that stand cutter. Yes, they got a guy the other day. He, had a Axl Rose, and when he had a lot of hair. Oh, really? And Sandy tied them up and faded them. Obvious type. Well, before I forget, what do you do with all the hair? So we should have.00;12;20;29 - 00;12;38;22UnknownAnd just put it in the trash? Yeah. That's it. That's what I do with it. Okay. I, I always wonder that, you know. Yeah, yeah. I mean, some people sell hair, you know, wigs are big, but, you know, I don't I don't get it. That's right. Right, right. That's funny. When you, when you made that flip, were you told, your landlord.00;12;38;22 - 00;12;57;23UnknownI'm just going to start on my own. What was do you remember the most challenging part of that first year of starting on your own, or was it just. Do you remember it being challenging or not? It was very challenging. Yes. The guy that all this, you know, he said, get your own shop. There's a vacant building in this plaza.00;12;57;25 - 00;13;14;03UnknownYeah. So, you know, I did what I needed to do to get the building right, but it took time to get it up and running, right. Oh. Scuse me. So there was a, a lady next door to me that had a beauty shop. Okay, so she let us work in there. Oh. Very nice. Rarely so. But he was very displeased with that.00;13;14;04 - 00;13;29;10UnknownRight. And, you know, that was probably the, you know, the most challenging thing, but, you know, we we made through, you know, we we made it through, but, yeah, he was he was a trip at the end. He threw us out. Call the cops on us, you know? Oh, boy. Yeah. What's he realize? I was going to get the building right?00;13;29;10 - 00;13;38;09UnknownRight. Well, after he said what he said, right, right. You can't do that. So, you know, that was a little, you know, crazy. But, you know, we made it. Yeah. Yeah, we made it. So00;13;38;09 - 00;13;49;03UnknownI would think that it's really hard for a business like that because you're doing the work of the business, but you don't have any time to really, like, go out and develop the business.00;13;49;03 - 00;14;04;05UnknownReally? Word of mouth. Right? Right. It is. It is. I mean, you know, we've, had a, a good day with the community. Yeah. You know, there were seven of us at one time, and, you know, everybody was like, that's why I got the name of the shop, right? All I mean, all of us are all stars, right?00;14;04;07 - 00;14;17;07UnknownSo there you go. So, we really had to do a lot of, Well, yeah, we did, like, online. We did commercials. You did? Oh, yeah. Okay. Commercials. And and that really helped out a lot. Really? Yeah. It it's a lot cheaper than what people think.00;14;17;07 - 00;14;21;08UnknownRight? Right. Interesting. And how long ago was that you did commercials?00;14;21;11 - 00;14;40;22UnknownAnd it's been a while. Wow. Because we're going on, what, 20 years all started around or what, maybe ten years ago. Okay. Eight years ago. And then one like, maybe 15 years ago. Right? Right, right. But now you're kind of on a point where you're sailing and people know you are and you got your regulars. That's right.00;14;40;22 - 00;15;00;11UnknownOh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't feel the need to, to do that anymore. Right. Yeah. Well that's awesome. I mean, I would imagine even though you had a good name and all that, when you step out on your own and in the real world, like, you're just kind of waiting for people to show up. Yeah, yeah, it's got to be a little scary.00;15;00;11 - 00;15;14;29UnknownVery scary. That's what I tell guys that, you know, I know that, it's tough, but I. I don't want to rain on the guys for real. But you. I mean, you need to have everything in order, right? You know, right from your rent. Who's going to be in there with you? Yeah, right. Kind of stuff.00;15;14;29 - 00;15;30;24UnknownSo. Right. Well, you got to like the people they're going to be. You're spending a lot of time with them, right? That's right. A lot of time. So tell me, tell me what your typical workday looks like. Like, are you pretty regimented? Like, you know, when you wake up, you have these ten appointments and how does it look?00;15;30;29 - 00;15;49;02UnknownPretty much. I do appointments, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Have been slow since Covid. Yeah. So, I may have 2 or 3 in there, but they may try to do the ten. They just have to show up, you know? So you get it. You know, you get a lot of walk ins from time to time. Yeah. Right.00;15;49;02 - 00;16;07;22UnknownYeah. Yeah. So that that kind of helps it out. Yeah. It, it it walk ins maybe just may just be my customers. They just call me right. Right. You know they don't necessarily have an appointment. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I've never been much on appointments either. I just kind of what works, but I never I've never tried that.00;16;07;25 - 00;16;29;03UnknownYeah. I mean, nothing like knowing, you know, who's coming and you know. Of course. Yeah. You'd like to plan it out. Yeah. I imagine it's really hard with the finances, especially in the beginning. Like, you don't really know what the consistency is. Well, actually towards the end of the week is always golden, right? Thursday, Friday and Saturday those are going to be your big days.00;16;29;03 - 00;16;44;00UnknownOkay. Traditionally that's how it's been. So you can almost bank on it. Really. It's that consistent. Oh yeah. Towards the end of the week people want to look good for their wives, right, right, right. It's you know, what have you got going on? Right, right, right. So what would you say out of those three days is the most busiest.00;16;44;00 - 00;17;06;12UnknownFridays are, Friday and Saturday. Yeah. Probably Friday. Yeah, yeah. What? Like, do you have a particular type or arrangement that you like the most? I mean, like, do you like when the little kids come in? Is that fun or is that annoying? No, I love kids. Kids in the future, I've got kids that. Yeah, well, they're not kids anymore.00;17;06;12 - 00;17;21;00UnknownThat I started, you know, when they were kids, and now they have the kids coming to me. Yeah. That's cool. So, that's really cool. I like kids a lot. Yeah. And, you know, I just. I don't care who goes. Yeah, I'm a tidy up. Well, have you, have you ever. I'm sure you've done many first haircuts for kids.00;17;21;00 - 00;17;36;18UnknownOh, yeah. That's a big deal. That's a big deal. I remember it with my boys taking them. They're very big. Yeah, that's a big deal. You know, they remember forever. They think they're about to die, and it's just a matter of cutting the hair. You know, they do. That is, that is in chalet. Do you usually stay open?00;17;36;20 - 00;17;58;14UnknownIt depends. Like I say, Tuesday winds are slow, so. Yeah. Skis, you know, around to a knock off. I have to get my granddaughter for school sometimes, but, yeah. Thursday and Friday, like 6:00. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Is it hard to take a vacation? Not with my wife. Right. What's that sign of the body? No. Well, do you ever like I mean, I would think you would be a little worried.00;17;58;16 - 00;18;23;21UnknownSomething like you miss. You miss. Just have to let people know. And that's a big thing with, other new customers. Yeah. Why don't you come over here now? You know Ryan Barber on me, you know? Yeah. Other let people know, right? Right. That's all right. Right. Wholesale sign. Right. Tell them, you know. Well, I know when I was in there, it's I think there was a few people that come in just for a quick, like, tight tighten up.00;18;23;21 - 00;18;39;07UnknownThat's it. Yeah. It's not a very extensive thing. No. Not everybody. If they come regularly, it's, it's not bad. Yeah. But, you know, we have our we don't do covers that we have to assess or they gather. Yeah. You know, kids, you know, everybody's different, right? Right. I'm just up for it, man. I just love what I.00;18;39;07 - 00;18;57;20UnknownYou know what I do? Yeah. And, you know, it's it's cool. Well, it allows you to watch football and and. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No. Absolutely. What would you, Well, I got down here, your brother works with. You have two brothers, right? Yeah. One's in Orlando, and one works with you. Gainesville. Actually, Gainesville. So when did he start working with you?00;18;57;20 - 00;19;16;12UnknownFrom the beginning. No, he came later. Okay. He was in Orlando as a barber. Okay. And, he decided to come to Jacksonville. Yeah, I just got my shop, so this fit right in there. So you establish that you're the boss, and he needs to. Oh, man. He's an older brother. Oh, he's your older brother? Yes. As old as eight years old.00;19;16;17 - 00;19;33;04UnknownOh, okay. Wow. Wow. So you guys have been working together? How long the okay there? Oh, wow. Yeah, that's pretty special, though. Oh, yeah. You guys must get along. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're right. Yeah. We know. You know, like he's a Gator fan too right I thought yeah okay. That's right. Oh yeah. That's right I remember parents.00;19;33;04 - 00;19;52;16UnknownWe kill them if we are. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Exactly what what are some of the most popular haircuts like? Is it like I come in and, like, there's, like, 2 or 3 styles, and you say it and I get, okay, yeah, I'll do it. Or people just kind of have to describe everyone individually. Well, now, you know, everybody wants to.00;19;52;22 - 00;20;07;04UnknownThey have their own I mean guys it's like it to you, you know, all these kids and all this stuff. Like, what do you mean like like they want, they want it more like a natural, you know, everybody wants their hair now. You know, they want the, you know, the long with the wigs and all that. Right, right, right.00;20;07;05 - 00;20;26;05UnknownIt's really, like, easy. You really. You're not asking for much, right. Well has that been has that changed over the years like before that. Yeah. Before you know it was like everybody wanted a fade or, you know, some real sculpted. Yeah. Right now was like, not that. Stop rolling it out. So just kind of tighten up the sides.00;20;26;09 - 00;20;43;29UnknownYeah. Just a little quick leader. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you has there ever been someone to come in and you're like, man that I don't, I don't know if I can do that. Like that's with the, the long hair. I mean does that make it or difficult. It can. Yes I hate it. Yeah I hate coming. All right.00;20;44;00 - 00;20;59;28UnknownI like short hair. Right. Well yeah. Yeah. With all that. Yeah. I ain't going like, do you do beards and stuff to do. Oh you do okay. Wow. Well then there you go. I notice that you have a beard on. And I'm working on one today, too, I see that. How do you. Well, I think you've kind of answered this, so.00;20;59;29 - 00;21;19;02UnknownBut, like, how do you keep your clients loyal? I mean, I imagine it's just doing a great job every time. That's it. Yeah. And, you know, punctual. Yeah. Price point. Yes. You know, just being somebody that they could talk to this get along with. Yes. You know, people don't really like people that don't like that guy.00;21;19;04 - 00;21;35;00UnknownRight, right, right. That goes a long way. Yeah. For sure. They consider his family. Yeah. You know, well, I would imagine there you have to kind of sense out the person to like do they want to talk. They not want to talk. Oh yeah I've, I, I work you know, some people don't really want to talk, but that's not me.00;21;35;00 - 00;21;50;09UnknownYeah. You're not going to sit on my channel and say nothing to it, right? Right. You know, do you, cut Florida State fans or do you? Absolutely. Okay. All right. It's just that you may slip a little bit or know they say stuff like, oh, it is a gator shop. I, I go, but you know, I'm, I think I'll make sure.00;21;50;09 - 00;22;02;24UnknownYeah, yeah. So what's really cool is what I hear you saying is that most of you or your clients are really your friends. Like, even that even step further. Probably like family like that. Yeah. Do you have what? What are you00;22;02;24 - 00;22;10;15Unknownoff the top of your head? What's your longest running client like? How many years? Oh, man. See, I was in high school.00;22;10;17 - 00;22;32;08UnknownYeah, like 28 years. 20 years ago. Yeah. Yeah, I met him in hair school. Wow. I was like, you're my barber. So you cut his hair in high school? Yeah. Wow. That is okay. Is it his children? Wow, it is great, kids. That's pretty special, man. Do you ever look back, you're like, wow, I kind of created a good life for myself.00;22;32;09 - 00;22;50;28UnknownYeah. Yeah, actually, yeah. And I really appreciate everybody this go through. Yeah. And everybody's not. Continue to come through. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes they'll come back. Yeah. You know but yeah it's cool. How many is it just you and your brother in there. Because that's all that was there when it was over. Yeah. We had a couple of barbers, last year they left.00;22;50;28 - 00;23;01;15UnknownThey decided to leave. But. Yeah, this is us right now. Okay. Yeah, we've had as many as seven. Yeah. Wow. You know, people come and go. Yes. You know, but, Hey, we're doing it.00;23;01;15 - 00;23;08;29UnknownI imagine whenever you get started in the business like this, we kind of talked about your evolution. I mean, you need a place to start.00;23;09;01 - 00;23;28;09UnknownYou know what I mean? You're not opening up your own shop right off the bat, right? Yeah. A lot of guys have, you know, these aspirations of, oh, we all want my shop, you know? But, you just have to be careful about a lot of stuff, you know, because, well, 1200 hours, man, that is just. It's not that I noticed that I heard is not that that much anymore.00;23;28;09 - 00;23;47;06UnknownYeah, there's like 600 now. Wow. I mean, that just seems like a lot. Have you ever cut anybody's hair as famous? Yeah, I cut Lawrence Taylor's hair before. Lawrence Taylor. Yeah. In Jacksonville. What's he did? What? Before what? Yes. Many years ago, he, one of my customers, he said, let's go with the room. I was like, oh, okay, I'll do like who?00;23;47;06 - 00;24;04;00UnknownYeah. Right. Right. His dad was his, a friend of his agent. Okay. So I was like, all right, cool. So Lawrence Taylor comes in and I was like, oh, let oh, wow. Right. That Lawrence Taylor wow. So he got his haircut and, well, if I remember, he was high and tight, like very short hair. Yeah, yeah, yeah.00;24;04;00 - 00;24;22;23UnknownHe had it a little flat. So, you know, earrings hanging off. Right. But for all you young people out there that don't know who Lawrence Taylor is, probably the greatest linebacker ever, played for the Giants. And it was just a beast. Yeah. What was he doing in Jacksonville? I don't know, I don't know what it was, but, you know, it was a total surprise.00;24;22;29 - 00;24;41;08UnknownThe shop was surprised. Yeah. Yeah. You know, because it didn't say Lawrence was a football players L.T.. Right, right. Anybody else come to mind? Any Gator players maybe? Yeah, a couple of guys over the years, I can't they didn't really. Yeah. Yeah, several guys. Yeah. Yeah yeah. Some guys up and Keaton Towers. Yeah. Those were Baylor.00;24;41;08 - 00;25;04;02UnknownOkay, great. Awesome. It was a kid. Awesome. Doing well. Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. You mentioned you mentioned pricing. Like, pricing is a sensitive thing. Obviously it is like, so do you have your hand on that? Pretty obviously you do. But like, it's that sensitive. Like, if you were to raise at $5 a cut that that really would make a big impact one way or the other.00;25;04;02 - 00;25;23;28UnknownAnd what. Okay. Yeah. My, take on that, Aaron, is that, you know, people charge or they want. Yes. I've been through this a while, and I, you know, I know how the economy is and stuff like that, right? Excuse me, I see them. Excuse me for. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. You're good, you're good. People, you know, I know it's tough.00;25;24;04 - 00;25;44;17UnknownYes. So I just want everybody to be able to come regularly. Right? And, get a haircut and, be, you know, chairman, about the price. Right? Right. Right, right. Volume is best for me, right? That's true. And, that's true. A lot of guys that are super expensive, let me say they're doing well, but I really don't believe that.00;25;44;18 - 00;26;04;10UnknownRight. You know. Right. So, I just try to do it, you know, where people where families can come together, right? You know. Well, that's really good point, because you're your volume is the key. I mean, it's the repeat business that you're not looking for. The the big score one time. I mean, it is it is consistency of what's been working.00;26;04;10 - 00;26;22;22UnknownYou know, I can say I lost a couple of hours because of that. Yeah. They said that I was a charging enough and I was like, well, you know, just charges you actually. Right? You, you know, just pay my rent, right? Right. It's been working out. Yeah. I don't feel like I'm cheating myself or, you know, I just like to stay busy for sure.00;26;22;22 - 00;26;51;03UnknownAnd I know that a lot of, other barbers, they have caught some flack over the years. So they manage to cheat right cheek to cheek. But I'm like, I'm booked it. Right. There you go. But yeah, that's that's funny. Is, does does your cost of business really go up that much, though? I mean, like, well, if you get into the newest trends, like the, enhancements, you know, they got, like, spray on stuff or you get like a make it look you're going to have for there.00;26;51;04 - 00;27;10;11UnknownOh, wow. Just with the fibers and all that, you know, you look like. So you can do all that too. No. Okay. I choose that too. Right, right, right. But it is there for people that want to do it. Okay. You know, and that raises the price point though. Yeah. Yeah for sure. You know, I know a couple of guys, they charge, for the base price.00;27;10;13 - 00;27;31;03UnknownBut if you go to like 100 with the enhancement. Yeah, for sure. You know, they say they do. Well, yeah, it's great, but is there, is there much technology advancement and cutting hair or is it pretty much the same websites. You know, people use a lot of stuff like that. Yeah. Instagram. You know, that kind of stuff. Clippers.00;27;31;03 - 00;27;55;01UnknownNow they've kind of went to the, cordless stuff. Yeah. Everybody's cordless. Yeah. Yeah I like some of it. But just don't get the power I like. You're like, man, I understand I'm the same as you. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, I like to, I like to plug in. So I'm. I'm right there with you. Well, the funny the the the cool thing about your line, I don't think there's going to be any computer that's going to take you away.00;27;55;05 - 00;28;13;20UnknownI don't think so. I don't think there's robots cutting hair yet. That's still a long time. Yeah. I don't feel like people would trust that. Do you? Do you have a lot of competition or not? Really. Because you're so. Oh, yeah. Everybody's a barber. They have the reels on, you know, everybody's a barber, right? It's, Covid.00;28;13;25 - 00;28;31;02UnknownYeah, I can do that. Yeah. There's no way I'm paying that. Why? Why do you say during Covid did a lot of people start cutting hair during Covid? I think a lot of people this felt like I don't need a haircut. I'm not going anywhere. Right. Well, we're going home. Interesting. I didn't think about that. I can do that.00;28;31;02 - 00;28;53;13UnknownSo. Yeah. Yeah, everybody's a barber. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't people understand that a good haircut makes you feel good inside? I've always felt that way. They do this, I got this. Yeah, yeah. I didn't even think about that. Oh, yeah. During Covid. Yeah, man. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Can you think of, like I know we talked about memorable people.00;28;53;15 - 00;29;18;28UnknownIs there any memorable stories is of some of a something that came into your shop and or whatever good, bad or funny or what? Yeah. There's a ton of good and bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. We had a, a book book for kids, you know, like, okay, go sit at a Tony Hill. Yeah, yeah. At that time, he, he suggested that we do like a book reading for kids.00;29;18;28 - 00;29;36;03UnknownThat was nice, right? You know, this, cover the rebels? Yeah, okay. Stuff like that. But, yeah, we had a ton of stuff, and, like, good and bad is is, I don't know, some of. I don't think it's should share, but, Yeah, for sure, but. Yeah, man, it's it's, it's a journey. Yeah. For sure. No, a treatment is is it's great.00;29;36;03 - 00;29;53;01UnknownIt's a great community. You know, people come in from all walks of life, who's going to walk through the door? Right? Right. And, you know, it is. You just have it. Do you feel like, do you ever get, like, carpal tunnel, kind of with your hand? Some years ago, I did. I had, repetitive, motion syndrome.00;29;53;05 - 00;30;09;05UnknownYeah. You know, I had hand was like. I was like, wow, what's going on? Right, right, right. Well, they gave us some little stuff to do to, you know, help me with that. Yeah, but, they had to bother me in a while, but, yeah, you know. Well, and again, this is a, this is something that you can do until you fall over.00;30;09;05 - 00;30;25;27UnknownRight. That's what I feel like I was able to cut into this. Yeah. That's that's right. He was it not like this. So. Well I mean it's obvious you enjoy it to enjoy him. Yeah. It d it does, it does. Some of it kind of come down to the the masterpiece. Like it? Wow, that hair looks really good.00;30;25;27 - 00;30;45;00UnknownAnd I just made it look good. I. Yeah, get some satisfaction for that I do, I yeah I do say that I like wow. That's good. Yeah. Well the customers reaction is that's golden. Yeah. Even the little kid that has the same as, you know, the teenager on the phone all the time. Right, right, right. They'll look at me, they'll get a oh yeah, I know you like it, you know.00;30;45;00 - 00;31;04;19UnknownSo yeah, I'm headed out on the town, man. Thank you for setting me up. Yeah, I that's funny. Yeah. Do you have any clients that. Can you think of any off the top of your head that are very, very particular? Yeah, man, I got a new guy now who is watching, but, he told me that he was like, yeah, I'm very, picky.00;31;04;21 - 00;31;29;17UnknownLike, how how how is it possible? He just wants it a certain way. Right? You have to realize that sometimes you just don't really have what you want, right? Right. You may have a picture of your phone, like, I want to like this, but you don't have that. And, you know, I think he's that guy. Yeah. And, you know, just very particular about allowing stuff, even like, his appointment.00;31;29;19 - 00;31;45;21UnknownHe was like, the same time. All the time. Yeah. I was like, well, this is what he said. It's like, young man, what time did I say my appointment was? I was like, bro, chill, man. I got you two minutes off, right? Yeah, I gotcha. Yeah. I don't know who you used to, but I got you right, right, right.00;31;45;21 - 00;31;59;28UnknownWell, I would imagine there's definitely instances of people being very particular about it. Oh, sure. Oh yeah. And the majority of people you cut are man I would say yes. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah okay okay. Yeah. Is00;31;59;28 - 00;32;06;27Unknownhas the we talked about the Clippers a little bit. Has, has tools changed much over the years. Or are you pretty much using the same stuff.00;32;07;00 - 00;32;27;07UnknownSame stuff. Did you keep your first. No. Both the scissors and everything. Now they're dead. I don't know what that stuff is. Yeah, yeah. What they do here in is they, and it's, for instance. Yeah, they'll have it and his master, but they'll change the color to black. Kind of new improved. Okay. No, it's not right.00;32;27;07 - 00;32;43;17UnknownRight. It's just black. Right. You know what I mean. The same one. Yeah. Just a little higher. Yeah, yeah. Do stuff to make it seem like, you know, stuff changes, but yeah, it's not really. Yeah. The, the the, quarter stuff. Right, right, right. But, Yeah, this, this stuff, this very expensive now. Yeah. Clip is a high.00;32;43;18 - 00;32;44;08UnknownYeah.00;32;44;08 - 00;33;02;29UnknownWell, I mean, like, everything else has gone up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No. That's funny. Yeah. Does your brother have pretty much the same consistent clientele to. He does. Yeah. Yeah, yeah he does. Is he a little more entertaining or why would why would they choose the brother over. Yeah. Well, you know, what stand is, actually very good with kids.00;33;02;29 - 00;33;23;04UnknownYes. You know, we have. Yeah. Okay. You know, not that I'm not right. Right. But, if you are rating, we have a great rating with stand does very well with autistic kids. Interesting. Yeah. People have, posted that. Wow. So that's really neat. And and that's because people don't want to cut autistic kids. Well, yeah. Because you're worried about them moving or something like that.00;33;23;04 - 00;33;37;03UnknownSo, yeah, he does a very good job. But does he cut several of them? Yeah. Wow. What a what a cool thing. Yeah. Yeah. People have chimed in to be like oh said is great. He's great. You know with the kids. Oh wow. That's we were like I don't I don't say that because he won't be still.00;33;37;10 - 00;33;55;02UnknownYeah or whatever, but. Well I would be more worried about like injuring the kid like with the Clippers or something like that if they move. But yeah, I just have to reassure him that everything is okay. Right. You know, because I think they can sense that you don't really want to be bothered with them, you know, interesting. So, you know, he he does a good job with that.00;33;55;08 - 00;34;13;19UnknownAnd the, the noise I would think it does if you start. Yeah. Yeah it bothers the ear. So yeah he's good with that. Wow. That's really neat man. I'm really glad you brought that up. What what do you think? People look for an a good barber? I think they look for somebody that could deliver what they want, right?00;34;13;21 - 00;34;30;05UnknownThey could be honest with them. As far as, like, what won't work. Yeah. It is being consistent with, their time. You don't need it. You know, they doing a good job, right? Right. You know, I take pride in doing a good job quickly. Yes, because everybody's in a rush, right? Right. Nobody has time. Yes. Yeah.00;34;30;05 - 00;34;49;14UnknownThree people will take it next week. So, Yeah, it is that. It is, you know, nice. The people that disrespectful. Yeah. And, price point. Yeah. Yeah. No I, I appreciate that that. Oh it works. Do you, have a degree in psychology too? I do, I would think you would. Are you solving the world problems on your chair?00;34;49;16 - 00;35;05;13UnknownA lot of that chair and I do that. Do people unload on you. They do. Yeah they do. Some people, they you know, everybody essentially. We all go through the same stuff. Yes. Right. And you'll be surprised, like, wow, I didn't know that. But yes, I just listen. But I share as well. Yes. And that makes people open up.00;35;05;13 - 00;35;23;29UnknownRelate. People don't like to just talk to people listening that, you know, you might just tell them you say anything about what's going on in. So I try to, you know, just be, you know, a human. Yes. Yes. So so you're bound by confidentiality. Man on the ship. Yeah. What's that? What goes on in the chair? Stays in the chair.00;35;23;29 - 00;35;42;27UnknownYeah, yeah. And if I tell you something, if I tell you something, I don't care. Give you tell somebody. Yeah, that's me right. So I tell people. Right. But if you say Chris between me you. That's it. Yeah. Right. Yeah I would, I would think you're, you would be a very strong confidant, you know. Yeah.00;35;42;29 - 00;36;10;28UnknownWe talked about technology. What what would you what would you say that, to some young kid just graduated high school or college? Man, I want to be a barber. I want to start my own shop. Step one step would be to. Find a place you can be. Start your own shop. Yeah. We'll start. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay, so maybe you're a couple years in the business and you guys, you know.00;36;11;01 - 00;36;29;19UnknownYeah. Find a place that's, the weather rent's reasonable. Yes. You know, they possibly go to walk up clientele. So the location match location matters. Yes. You know, make sure you talk, you know, with the owner, make sure that you understand all the people you know, because people will, you know, they'll raise around on you. Right?00;36;29;21 - 00;36;46;29UnknownSo, let's find out if you could afford that. Yes. Are you do you have barbers in there with you? Right. That's a big thing, too, right? It's a lot of stuff to consider, right? You know, it's going to be tough in the beginning. Yes. You know everybody's the best of the best. But even when you're there there's nobody open to the door.00;36;46;29 - 00;37;05;10UnknownRight, right. You know it's tough. So I would suggest that they start out in somebody else's shop first. Okay. Number one, get the clientele, get the clientele first and not have the pressure of of all the bills on top of them. Yeah, because even if you got money, you know, like, oh, I got $10,000. That'll be eight up, right?00;37;05;12 - 00;37;29;03UnknownIf you don't have, you know, clientele or mismanaging. Yeah. Right. So, you know, just because you get some cash, it's not always wise to jump out. Yeah. They're all like that, you know. Well, that's kind of the cool thing about that business is that you literally can build up your clientele on it. Somebody else's. Oh yeah, floor or whatever you want to, you know, their chair, you know, and there's nothing you can do about that as an owner.00;37;29;03 - 00;37;51;22UnknownI mean, you know, that's the way it goes. That's it. Yeah, absolutely. Well, finishing up, and this has been super entertaining. I love kind of the insights into this, some of the things you're sharing. What, what what's one of the most proudest things that, that you can think by having your business and cutting hair as long as you have.00;37;51;25 - 00;38;13;01UnknownWell. Just be consistent. It is. You know, me going through stuff, life stuff. You know, I've been through a lot of stuff. I've been divorced. Yeah. You know, that's tough. Yeah. It takes a hit. Yeah. For sure. Started my business. My ex-wife. Okay, you know, just that and just, you know, you said Covid earlier.00;38;13;02 - 00;38;31;24UnknownYeah. You've mentioned Covid a few times. Yeah, I know it was a big deal. Yeah, it's almost because nobody's going to your shop during Covid, I stayed open. Yeah. You know, the barbers, you know, they decided to stay home. So this is it just feels good to be, you know, my own guy. Yeah. And, you know, well, I would think, you know, your kids and your grandkids.00;38;31;26 - 00;38;53;14UnknownI mean, that's got to be pretty special. That is. Yeah, it's very special. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know, and my sister, she has, has her own business as well. So. Yeah. This is this good. What do they refer to you as pop or what do my grandkids. Yeah. Granddaddy. Granddad. Granddad. Okay. Well, what about the school? That's. I mean, when you, when you get to be a grandparent, you get to choose.00;38;53;14 - 00;39;14;29UnknownThat's that's your right man. Yeah. I've always said I'm going to be a much better grandparent than a parent, so I can't wait. That's what they say. Yeah yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Well, you know, Chris, this was amazing. Chris, president, owner of All Star Barbershop, go see his. Go see. Yeah. I mean, you get a haircut and and a full education on life.00;39;15;01 - 00;39;27;14UnknownAmazing. You know, I'm so glad that we reconnected. It was so cool to see you on Facebook. And, really appreciate you coming in. We've really enjoyed it. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks for the opportunity. Absolutely. I appreciate it.00;39;27;14 - 00;39;41;20UnknownThe Hometown Jack's podcast is recorded and produced by First Coast Mortgage Funding. Located in the heart of Jacksonville. Do you want to be our next guest? Visit our website at Hometown Jack's podcast.com. We can't wait to hear your story.
