The B Team Podcast
Talking all things Business, Bentonville, and Bourbon. Hosted by Josh Saffran, Matt Marrs, and Rob Nelson. New episodes every Thursday!
The B Team Podcast
Ep. 72 - Barbershop Brotherhood
From touring rapper to barbershop owner, Mike Shelton's journey exemplifies the unpredictable path of entrepreneurship and the power of following your calling. When life threw him a curveball at age 34, learning that new cars wouldn't even have CD players for his music, he found himself at a crossroads. A moment of clarity on Highway 485 in Charlotte pointed him toward barber school, despite having a wife, young son, and mortgage to support.
What unfolds is a remarkable story of faith and determination. Mike shares how he went from being the only white student at the all-Black owned No Grease Barber School to opening Uptown Barber Lounge in Bentonville. Starting in the back of a house and eventually growing to an 11-chair operation, his business philosophy challenges conventional thinking about competition.
"There's more people to cut than we can handle," Mike explains, rejecting the scarcity mindset that often pits similar businesses against each other. Instead, he embraces collaboration and community-building, recognizing that when an industry thrives, everyone within it benefits. This refreshing perspective resonates throughout the conversation as he describes the barbershop as much more than a place for haircuts. It's a sanctuary where authentic connections happen.
The emotional depth of Mike's experience shines through as he recounts praying with clients, crying with grown men, and building relationships across social divides. "A barbershop will give you the pulse of what a community is like," he observes, highlighting how these spaces create neutral ground where CEOs and hourly workers become equals for 40 minutes in the chair.
Whether you're contemplating a career change, running a small business, or simply appreciate authentic storytelling, Mike's journey offers wisdom about following your passion and serving others along the way. His story reminds us that sometimes the most fulfilling path emerges when you're willing to listen to that surprising inner voice telling you to try something completely new.
Visit Uptown Barber Lounge at 502 Southwest 12th Street in Bentonville or check out uptownbarberlounge.com to experience this unique community hub for yourself.
Welcome to the B-Team Podcast. I am your host, josh Safran, with my co-host, matt Morris and our permanent guest Rob Nelson. We're here every week to talk to you about all things Bentonville, bourbon and business the B-Team Podcast Be here. Welcome to the B-Team Podcast. I'm your host, josh Safran, with our co-host, matt Mars and our permanent guest.
Speaker 2:He's having some stomach issues today, so he's going to probably be in and out.
Speaker 1:A little kale pectate.
Speaker 3:He's not here to fix up his mouth.
Speaker 1:I think he had a trick fart during the last one.
Speaker 2:He had to Chipotle. He was in a hurry on the way over.
Speaker 1:We really have to have a conversation about season three, because the permanent guest ain't so permanent.
Speaker 3:That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Anyway, we're here every Thursday for all things business, bentonville and bourbon. And the guys gave me shit on one of the last podcasts and it was actually a quote from Matthew. We have everybody in here, but we'll never get another barber shop in as long as Josh is hosting the podcast. And I said you know what that's good feedback? And now I'm gonna bring in a good friend. Yes, sir, the founder, ceo, proprietor, all the things, a whole bunch of titles of uptown barber lounge.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I own it with my brother. Yep, yep, make sure I throw that out there so he sees you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm 50 let me throw it out there.
Speaker 1:That's a tight space, yeah you told me before I was 51, 49, now it's 50 50 on 80, 50 man.
Speaker 3:He bought, he bought back more. He bought some more into me.
Speaker 1:So jesse, he said 51, 49 off air, that's right.
Speaker 3:It's 50 50, that's right yeah, on air we're 50, 50, 149. He's got me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right but I gotta tell you a story about mike, because when I went into this industry, I don't cut hair and mike does, and we open at 18 and I got a facebook message about two months before opening welcome to the community, let me know if I can help you. I'm so excited to have you here in a presence and I'm like, oh, every barber shop is going to be so kind and nice and caring. And I'm like, no, no, it was one. We got one love note, one nice love note. It's real out here and we've been friends. We've been friends ever since, absolutely yep, but I was just like super classy, I mean, who does that? And um, yeah, I was just so pleased and we established a friendship and we chat pretty regularly. But give us the background on you. I know that you moved here from out of state. Yeah, so you'd open up a barbershop which was super cool.
Speaker 2:So you moved here to open the barbershop. Yes, sir, yep.
Speaker 3:So I'm originally from Fort Smith, arkansas, so I'm an Arkansan. Never been to Bentonville until I moved here. A been to benville till I moved here. Um, a good buddy of mine I moved here from charlotte, north carolina, ray maloof, who was at walmart at the time, who's now over hr at um not home depot, what's the other one? That's lowes, lowes. So he ended up moving to charlotte, which is crazy and I moved here. He, uh, he flew me here and was like hey, I think you should move here, open up a barber shop, check it out. So I came here, saw it, prayed about it.
Speaker 3:Um, this was 2015, so during growth, but not like we have now. Right, right, right, right, right, right. And so we, uh, I came here and, um, my wife, I told her, I said, hey, I just, I think it's a beautiful area, um, I think it's a great place to raise our son, who was in kindergarten at the time, who's now going into the ninth grade, which is nuts. Uh, I said everything's pointing towards I think we should move to benville, arkansas. She said, and I know, your wife.
Speaker 1:She had big personality, right. How many cuss words and how many yells did she get?
Speaker 3:man, I'll be, I'll be honest with you, man, we not to be, like, you know, christianese or anything like that on you, man, but we, we just have, we have faith in god man, and we just both prayed about it. And, to your point, she is wild, she is crazy, but she's super supportive man, super supportive though man, and she was just like, hey, you know, if you really feel that and you have peace about it, I have peace about it. Let's continue to pray about it. And, man, we just never had a sign that said no, if you were looking for a sign, you know, so we know, and it's just so.
Speaker 3:We just we came, we just came out here again, didn't know nobody but my buddy, and just just ran with it. Man, it's and it's been good, like it's a great area, like it's booming. It actually reminds me of a small charlotte, to be honest with you, other than we don't have five million people here, which everybody keeps talking about it. There's gonna be five million people here before I know, without no infrastructure for it, but it is changing quick.
Speaker 2:It's been, it's been awesome man cheers. That's crazy. So we, I moved, we moved from colorado here and the same thing, everyone was like you're, you're moving to arkansas, what part, what part? So we, I grew up southeast of denver, okay, uh, it's a little town called kiowa, but we're close to, like parker then is it by greeley, by chance?
Speaker 2:No, so Greeley's would be north, greeley's north, what northeast of Denver and south east of Denver, okay. So we're probably like an hour and a half or two hours south of Greeley, okay, but about the same distance away, okay. But you know, we came here, and I'm sure the same with you and like the, and the people are so nice here that you don't have to worry about crime. All of that will change? Hopefully not. It's a special place. It is I always like to hear stories of, because it seems like all of us are from somewhere else. It's rare to get.
Speaker 3:And it is man, I'm from Fort Smith. I'm from Fort Smith You're reading, pretty local, about an hour and some change south and it's crazy. I'd never been here until I moved out, because when I was young, the closest I got to Bentonville was Dixon Street. You know, that's kind of as a young person that's in college, don't share those stories out here. I won't. I won't my wife's going to watch. But yeah, we moved here, josh, in 2015-ish. We started in 2016.
Speaker 3:Actually, what's crazy, a lot of people don't know this a week and was like, hey, if you want to use this chair, just throw me a little something and I'll let you. I'll let you. You can start to build your clientele. So I actually started in the back of a house and then we went to the back, yeah, yeah, a lot of people don't even know that. Like, we started in the back of a house, yeah, and so you know everything that's big.
Speaker 3:Always talk about the story. I like to encourage people like when you have a vision, you know you're not going to start off as the, the taj mahal or this big beautiful thing. You got to start somewhere and don't despise a small beginning. And we started in the back of a house went to the back of a salon, then we moved over there on a street and that's about where me and you connected when I was over there on a street, and so everything didn't start off the way that. It is. Just like you know anything. You know I'm sure everything that you guys have ever built didn't start off where you're at now.
Speaker 2:You know it's like like the picture of apple always shows that old garage right and you know, I probably thought that guy was great same thing with the guy at amazon.
Speaker 3:He's in a garage as well.
Speaker 1:He just has a banner that said amazon you know, the secret to success is starting in a garage. Well, I think. Thanks, I mean dog.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's how I started. I think what do you do? I'm sorry. Well, we do build homes. Oh, nice, Awesome man, that's great. I've moved from the garage to just a corner in the house. I haven't gotten very far.
Speaker 1:He's also a TV star. That's awesome. I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:It that it's cool. He's on the fixture, the fabulous show man. That's crazy, okay, you look familiar. I've seen my brother. It's my brother the hgtv, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, that makes it. I kept looking at my man. He looks familiar, that's it. But you know, yeah, so me and josh linked up during a crazy time too, though that that's whenever me and josh really got close, because it was around with 2020 march 2020.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 2020 march 2020 yeah, that was my birthday, david yeah, yeah, the whole world just shut down and um josh was doing a lot of cool stuff at the gents place with um really just trying to um serve the community. Um, because it was. It was such a time that nobody knew what to do.
Speaker 3:Um, you didn't know what you could do what you could do and you know we were still trying to figure out ways to serve the community but still like, keep our business names out there because we couldn't even go to work. Like they shut the barbershop industry down because we wasn't essential. I think to work it was either essential or not essential, and if you wasn't essential which in our industry is the barber industry they just shut us down. We went to work one day, turned on the news that night and, uh, I never forget it, asa hutchinson was the governor at the time said hey, you're done, shut down until weeks, until we say you can go back you know it's like it's okay if you go to walmart but nothing else can do anything right, and so josh, you know him.
Speaker 3:And miss emily man, they're so like um, visionaries man, like they, they, they came up with summertime time. Visionary, visionary, I mean no, no, was that?
Speaker 1:I saw you guys out of my hallway when we did that handshake.
Speaker 3:There was something in there like, yeah, but but what's cool is like josh, josh and miss emily was thinking outside of the box on a lot of things. You know what I mean? They wasn't just thinking about the gents place only, they actually thought about the industry as a whole, and so he had hit me up and he was like, hey, this is what we're thinking about doing. We're going to team up with these such and such cats and I'll let you name drop all the cool people that you that you can.
Speaker 1:He's the one that connected us with cool like yeah, people doing nails, tattoos, barber shops, hair salons like they.
Speaker 1:They had no money coming out, like if you're not working to get paid yeah right, you're calling out sick to get money coming, like these jobs, the suppliers in walmart. And so I called mike. I said listen, man, we did a cool video which we went down and we worked with wall spearmint ronnie brewer like former razorbacks and we said the barbershop's closed, we're going to train for the olympics. Yeah, we, I mean the video is really funny of him and I running and playing basketball. I'm slow it was really funny.
Speaker 3:I saw that pop up the other day. Josh, it's so good and I'm like what was I thinking? Like I look so dumb.
Speaker 1:They were training us for the barbershop. You didn't care because you thought the world might get it Right.
Speaker 3:I was like we might not even be around to watch this.
Speaker 1:Once it's ended it's like but the thing was we were like the barbershop and she's closed. What are we going to train for the Olympics? Yeah, training with a professional basketball player and a world class sprinter Right, and it was good, it was fun, it was. We went on the steps of the courthouse.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you know everybody holds up the sign. You know, like, a sign like that says we and the next person, oh yeah, yeah is going to be sued. So we had all the 10 of us there saying, hey, we need help for these industries and we asked people for donations and stuff. I mean it was a good thing to do and it was not for the gents place or Uptown Barber, but it was for the whole industry. I got real close to you during that. I just felt good about trying to give back to the community.
Speaker 3:For sure, man, and it was a great time. It was a scary time, but the whole unity thing with that because, again, like in our industry, as far as, like the hair industry, um, a lot of people don't come together because they feel like, well, you're my enemy or you know we're against each other and it's like why? Yeah, you know, like, I think people that are looking at other people in their industry as competition and they're worried about what they're doing or what they're not doing. I think a lot of times that's a broke mentality. Yeah, you know, just like, at the end of the day, like god has so much for us, like, and what he has for you is for you, what he has for me is for me, and you can't take what god has for me and I can't take what god has for you. So why don't we just work together and and try to grow this industry? Because if the industry is thriving, then our, our companies inside the industry, is going to thrive.
Speaker 3:And so that was a thing that I really like loved about that time, even though it was scary, it was weird. I wasn't making no money. My wife would look at me every day like what's up and I'm like I don't know, do you got ace's number? Like I don't know what to do, what you want me, yeah, but you know, but it was just. It was just a crazy time, man, but it was just cool, like within that little dark period of time of the world, not just here in Bentonville or just in me and Josh's industry, but like the world you know what I mean, like just trying to figure it out so many sad things that we saw that over those years that we thought were going to be six weeks man it was a, it was a bad, yeah time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love, I love the name of your, your, uh, your barbershop Uptown Barber so yeah, so yeah, how did you get to that name?
Speaker 3:so? So I'm gonna tell you. So a lot of people don't know this, and even my brother didn't know this at first. Like I came up with the name uptown barber lounge, because in charlotte so enforcement when I was growing up me back up a little bit downtown is where everything is at, uh-huh, okay, well, in charlotte downtown is actually uptown, and, and uptown that's where all the everything's thriving. You got everybody in the nice suits, you got the bank of america stadium, you've got what was back then was called wachovia bank or something, maybe a thing like that. You got all these banks.
Speaker 3:Um, I think I think charlotte at the time was the number one banking capital. You know, I said I think it's new york now, but I know back then when I was there, it was charlotte. So you got all these just dapper dudes, that's just suits and ties, and just just nice bars, nice cigar shops, um, just a lot of cool restaurants. But this is just where it was happening in charlotte and it was called uptown charlotte. And so when I said, when we came here, I was like man, you know what, let's create an uptown, right, let's, let's, let's create a little something that's from a big city, that's in an area where most people to your point earlier, eight out of ten people ain't from benville. That lives here, probably. I think that could be a, I don't. I don't know that I bet it's it.
Speaker 3:I bet it's at least that right, you know what I mean and so I was like you know what.
Speaker 3:Let's try to create and and and and do something that's cool, that's from a big city here, but still keep it local to where they're, not like all these big city slickers trying to come in here and there's a little bitty country town and take over to where they still know. Hey, we are local, we are, um, you know, we love the industry that we're in, but we're also bringing a piece of charlotte here with us at fort smith, because that's again that's where me and my brother are from. But like trying to make it to where it's just something different, something cool, where dudes can come and hang out, be loud, that's that's what we are. We're super loud, like it's just we're crazy. Um, we're respectful, but it's definitely like an old school type of barbershop where, dude, it's like dudes, like dudes coming in. Sometimes I'm having to tell the dude hey, man, calm down, we got some kids in here. You know, we're still like, we still control it. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:But you talk louder than me and I talk loud I love. My grandmother called me the mouth of the South. Yeah, my wife gets on to me so much. She's like Matt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm like I can't I'm excited.
Speaker 1:That's what I like about with these guys. So I get asked often if you didn't own the Jen's place, where would you get your hair cut? And I would go to Uptown and the way he describes it it that guys guys place talking about sports loud, fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like not a lot yeah, all day yeah, and so I go like that, that you know like we have a very different environment yeah most cut hair like end of the day. But but the scene and the vibe is very different and it's a man's shop, it's a place where dudes hang out and have a good time and be free spirited and leave all their problems outside. Yeah, and I've been in there multiple times it's just a cool vibe.
Speaker 3:Well, josh, I say the same thing about your spot, though, like not just because I'm here on your podcast, but I tell people all the time, like if I was a barber and I didn't own a shop and I wanted to work somewhere cool that was nice, that attracted gentlemen and just a nice environment to where it's professionally ran, just place like all day because it's a beautiful shop. Man, like there's no shop and I own a shop that when you walk in you're just like whoa, like this place. Yeah, you know. I mean, you know jock's got about five million in his pocket right now. I mean it's going out the door quickly for the new way. Congratulations on the walmart uh location. On your second location, I want to, I want to be on record to tell you congratulations.
Speaker 1:I'll have to man. It's been a lot of work. It's exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you kind of got a little bit into his territory. We're going to talk about that in a little while. A little close to home over there.
Speaker 1:Well, he moved close to me, so now I'm moving close to him, but we don't compete.
Speaker 3:We do, but we don't compete but this, this is the thing, bro, this is the thing. This, this, there's enough zinger, but no, but real talk, man. I um, there was many years ago when I was on a street and I won't name the barber shop because I don't do that oh, I know it but we're not gonna name it.
Speaker 1:No, no, joshua, totally, joshua totally oh, I'll name it.
Speaker 3:So check this out. There was a shop that opened up like three blocks down the road right and I had some barbers that at the time they're no longer with us right now. We're like man, I can't believe this, and they're all upset about it and all this. And then I'm like man listen bro, like at the end of the day, like it's fine. There's more people to cut out here than we can handle. So I said if you're worried about that, you're in the wrong industry. Just take control. That you can control.
Speaker 2:You have a really an internal problem, like you said. Yeah, If you don't feel it's like, people are like I have friends that get into building and I want to help them. There's more houses than we can ever think about doing and it does nothing but helps the industry. I'm telling you the more that you have. But that's not the normal mentality. That's right. We just have to hold the bat and you know it's not you Right, that's right.
Speaker 3:And the thing about it again, I think if you worry about the stuff that you can't control, then you really can't live in the moment and and receive and do what you really be needing to do to stay focused on the things that you need to focus on anyway, and so I would say I hope josh opens up 10 of them in ville well, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Like I've been working with them, I would have I would have a heart attack. Yeah, we want him to be more open to other barbershops, but right now it's just you, but we're, we're trying to this, baby steps here but this was a no-er. This is, this is my friend, but but the but the industry, and he was so excited to tell us that he's having you.
Speaker 3:I've been waiting for the call Hello A year and a half. Finally, I finally made it. It was crazy. I want to say this on record because I know Ms Emily's going to watch this and I love shout out to Miss Emily, shout out to Miss Emily. Miss Emily told him and I have a group chat and I'm going to find this and I'm going to screenshot it when she said Josh, why don't you bring Mike on the show? And this has been like a year and a half ago. Finally, miss Emily, josh listened to you and I'm on this show. I know it was you, miss Emily. No, no, no, no, no. I'm going to she upset that she's not here.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't actually hope, but she was gonna eat her body soon. When we filmed two weeks ago, we had we went through and it was like a quiz show and it was fun and we had a good time. Yeah, shout out to jim corbett. And these guys broke my ceiling. Well, we'll have this business and this restaurant, but we'll never have another barbershop and I'm like it's a miss, like we should have other, like we should sure. And I called him me. I said yeah, you're on the show. Yeah, I didn't want to tell him because I didn't want to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fair, it was you it's like a little split.
Speaker 3:I'm putting his toe and it just started to be fair to josh man, like if you don't have a relationship built with somebody, it's really hard to to do that. Because what, like francis josh isigning me right now I'm cosigning Josh, and whenever you cosign somebody, you want to make sure that hey, if I put my name on somebody, that that person is not going to make me look crazy. And there's not a lot of people, unfortunately, in our area that you can do that. Now there is plenty out there.
Speaker 2:He does edit the show, so you've got to watch he may not make the cut. Oh man, I'm not going to change the rounds, or you know, just be a different person than what you are.
Speaker 1:No, but what's interesting in this industry is barbers and cosmetologists. They, they think the grass is always greener and so they'll bounce and jump. Never. And and I would, and in advance. Hey, mike so-and-so wants to chat with me. Yeah, fyi. What do you think? Is this the right thing? Should, why, would like?
Speaker 3:and we've had this conversation and that's what I was going to say in the in the. Again, I respect it so much. I've known him since 2020 and I and I know of a barber that I had that actually reached out to josh. True story. True story about wanting to leave my shop and come work with him and the respect and the love that he has for me. Like, again, this barber can go anywhere he wants to go. That's his right, you know, or her right. I'm gonna say her or him, yeah, and Josh called me immediately.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and he was like, hey, man, I'm just letting you know, because you're my friend, I respect you and this and I and that not that he needed to do anything else to make me love or respect him even more like that just made me even, like, feel more comfortable with my, my relationship that I have with him. It's like man, that's cool, because most people, they, they don't do that. They're just like, well, man, do what you got to do with mike and I'll see you in three days. You know what I mean. Like I got a spot for you and then they'll just be like, well, hey, man, he hit me up, he said he quit and then but they knew the whole time. What was going on, you know. And then I respected the mess out of him for that, you know. And again, if the guy would have went over there, I wouldn't have been mad at the guy, wouldn't have been mad at josh. It's just at the same time. Yeah, that's the world, but the fact that he and I think all like all of our business.
Speaker 2:All business is kind of the same, like we're, and I don't know why, but we're all wired to to always like have our guard up, man, it's another, but we shouldn't be, but it's the right thing to do, right, like no, no, but I mean like.
Speaker 2:I mean like a lot of times we have our guard up, we're like I can't like them because they're doing the same thing. I right, like right. You guys, if we all would talk to each other, we would probably help each other and man, I'm telling you better, but it's, it's, it's just wired in our that's our nature. Yeah, that's how humans are anybody?
Speaker 1:I get asked this often sports clips, super cuts great, anybody that cuts hair is a competitor. But everybody's got a place. Yeah, and with the growth in the community, I couldn't take your business and be successful. I couldn't do it, and vice versa. So you might have people tell me this is not the thing for me. I don't like your vibe here. Where would you recommend I go? There's only one place I would. If this is what you're looking for, a man's man shop, yeah, yeah, go see him. Yeah, and he's had people out of left and come to me and vice versa yeah and I'm never calling, and I this happens all the time too.
Speaker 1:I meet a buddy, a friend of mine. Hey, where do you get your haircut? He goes. I go see so-and-so, and I go I know so-and-so. Stay with so-and-so, but come in and hang out and have a burger. Come in and get a pedicure from us, come in other things but don't, and at some point they go. You know what? I think I want to break up with so-and-so and come see you.
Speaker 3:This is the thing, josh, and I tell people this all the time, and some people will agree with this and some people don't. Right, at the end of the day, the barber does not choose the customer, the customer chooses the barber. I can have you can be coming to me for 30 years and if Josh opens up a spot and that vibe fits where you're at right now in your life and you like the personal and you went over, he's like you know what, man? Man, this is kind of where I'm at right. I like this. This is yeah, man, I can't be mad at josh that you chose to go over there because, at the end of the day, like you want what you want, you like what you like, and the barber does not choose the customer, the customer chooses the barber. So I can't get in my feelings.
Speaker 3:That's why I don't feel like and it's gonna sound crazy, a lot of my barber people will probably disagree with me. That's going to probably listen to this is that you can't. You. There's nothing you can do to keep a customer other than what you control, your control. If they want to leave you, they're going to leave you. Yeah, I agree, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3:they're just like you you build houses yep, it's the same if they're interviewing you and, hey, this is my budget, you're saying, well, I can't do that, I can't do this, I can't do that budget. But they come to me and I'm like man, I can do that, I can do that, it's nothing.
Speaker 2:I don't like yeah, and I, and, and. At that point I'm the same way, I'm like I'm happy that you got it, because it wouldn't work for me. That's right.
Speaker 3:Someone got it, that's right and so, at the end of the day, with hair, right, you know, and, and my biggest thing is too, is, um, you know, one of the things that that, um, that, and I want to say this too on on this podcast, because, josh, I love you and and miss emily so much and I think that mostly emily probably 90, I think. I think I think there's a misconception with the gents place too, just in our industry, that well, uh, the owners I heard that they're just business people. They don't even cut hair. So how can they, it's true, how can they, uh, own barbers? They're not real barbers, they're not this and that, and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, at the end of the day, they are. There are two couples that live here. So they are local, right, yep, and they're investors. And I said, actually, they've elevated our industry with the type of services and the type of environment that they've done. You don't have to have a barber license to be a be in the barber industry. They actually live here. So, yes, they are local, they are a local business.
Speaker 3:And they'll say, say, well, they're not there, they're like they're a national chain.
Speaker 3:I'm like, well, they might be a chain, but but the people that own it live here, they're invested in this community and they're just as much a part of this industry as you and I are, you know, and so I really want to give you your flowers with that too. I think a lot of people think because, like you said, well, I'm not a barber, I don't cut hair. At the end of the day, I respect you enough because, at the end of the day, you're providing jobs for people that went to barber school, to cosmetology school, so that they can do the craft that they want, to do it in an environment, in a place that's safe. That's wonderful, and you're giving them a place to be able to take care of their families, whereas a lot of these guys that do live here, local that that started off joe schmoe's barbershop they can't even do that for their barbers. Yeah, well, you know well, and I respectfully like I don't mean that in addition to those guys, but it's just, it is what it is.
Speaker 2:But I think, to be fair, like you could have 10 people that have the same gents place and it's not the same. It's not the same like you're you're. The reason yours is is what it is is because of the, the energy and love that you guys pour into it and you fortunately have other jobs to where you can still keep off funding that when it's lean or when something else is going on. But this is the deal, though, and you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:But, bro, they're always there. That's what I'm trying to say. I don't think I've ever walked in there, maybe one time in five years, and I just missed them. Actually, I was being funny. I sent the video to both of you, remember that? Oh, I remember I popped in because Josh was busting my balls. He was like Mike, you ain't stopped in here in a while, bro, and I said I'm going to come see you sometime soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I popped in and the lady at the desk to be fair, but I mean, they're always there, they're active, there's boots on the ground and they're the reason why that shop is the way it is and why the environment, I think, was more or less a launch pad for you guys to create what you're. What you've created, yeah, like you have an amazing business, beautiful, thank you. That it's beautiful. It's a lot of work.
Speaker 1:He's there on sundays, tough pulling towels yeah, I love the love, thank you, but I but I want to push it back to Uptown. Yeah, we gotta talk about it. I mean, we talk genocide here a lot but Uptown. So you had a second location, yeah, moved back to one location, yeah, and you've stepped away a bit from being behind the chair, yeah, and you got very entrepreneurial. You got a lot of entrepreneurial people I know you to blow things right. So cutting hair twice a week once a week.
Speaker 3:I'm in the shop a day and a half. If I'm being honest with you, sometimes I pop in on a sunday, but I'm doing a lot of millwork and countertop work for mainland stoneworks and, uh, stainless innovation. Shout out, they're dirt. Shout out, they're all millwork for the new gents. Yeah, we're doing all the millwork for the gents place.
Speaker 3:Um, that's something new I'm getting into, because eventually, um, there's, there's something bigger at the end with that company that I might be able to step into one day, and so I'm not leaving the hair industry. But it's just. What's cool about this industry is the relationships that you get to build behind the chair, that people that you would never have ever got to meet in your life and got to hang out with, because the cool thing about a barbershop is that it's the greatest neutral spot. I can be Christian, you can be Muslim, we can still talk. You know what I mean. I can be white, you can be black, we can still talk. You can do this, whereas in some places you might not never talk to me because we may not be from the same place, we may not look like, you may feel like there's a wall there, which that's crazy to me.
Speaker 1:There's no walls in me. What's cool is like you're cutting hair and the guy in your chair is c c-suite executive, so-so that makes 8.5 a year, right, you gotta even play. Feel right in that chair, right? 40 minutes, that's right, right, yeah, that's right, are you?
Speaker 3:I love it. Yeah, I love it. And the cool thing about the relationships that I've made through the chair throughout these years have actually allowed me to be able to do some of the things that I'm doing now. And that's the beautiful thing about it too, because it's all about relationships, you know, and it's about how you treat people. It's about how you serve people. That's what I feel like with me as a barber. I'm a servant, like I'm serving you, like I'm taking care of you. I'm not only am I giving you a haircut or a beard trim man in that, or you might need some wisdom, you might need some words of affirmation, you might need just.
Speaker 3:I've said in the shop and I've prayed with people. I've said in the shop, I literally cried with grown men. You know what I mean. And it's just. It's such a sanctuary as weird as that sounds, you know when you're in there and it's just. It's beautiful just because, again, you get to meet people and you develop relationships with people whom you never would, people and you develop relationships with people whom you never would.
Speaker 3:I've gone to some of my clients kids games they came to my son's games and, bro, if it wasn't for this barbershop. We would never even know each other, you know, and so it's really cool. But I just love it, man, I couldn't see. I don't care if tomorrow, god bless me with 80 trillion dollars. You know, please do it. I'm gonna pay my tithe first and then I'm going to give a whole bunch of houses together it's a whole bunch of gents places. I'm going to business with you too, and uh, but no man, I, um, my bad, I uh, man, I just, I just love it. I still wouldn't quit.
Speaker 3:I said all that to say, that is that I still love what I. I don't work. I wake up every day and don't get me wrong, I still have my stress, I still have the things I deal with, like we always all do. But, man, there's nothing more beautiful than you waking up and knowing you get to go do something that you have a passion for and not something that you just have to do, you know. And so that's one of the things I just want to encourage some of y'all's listeners to manage just go after the things that's in your heart, you know, and start small. You know, like, if there's something in your heart, if you're not happy with your current situation. Educate yourself. I started barbering at 34, with a wife with a son with a mortgage.
Speaker 2:What made you get into that? Besides, you have the gift to gab, as my grandma would say, like you, and that's 90% of being a barber. Yeah, he's a good people person.
Speaker 3:Man. So believe it or not. Man, before I got into barbering I don't know how long this podcast you need to. We go as long, okay, cool, cool, I'm good. I used to. I actually did music, okay, and I didn't play an instrument, I was a rapper. Okay, I toured the united states for 15 years. You know this? Nope, I did. I toured with paul wall, mike jones, nappy roots, um man, soldier boy like man. You could just. I can name a lot of different. I toured with Paul Wall, mike Jones, nappy Roots, man, soulja Boy. I can name a lot of different groups that we toured with back in the day. We were like opening acts.
Speaker 2:We made good money being open and act and we sold CDs.
Speaker 3:You said, wait, was it you and your brother? No, no, no, my brother, jesse, would never do that. So me and my buddy, chris and my buddy we call him Suge. And so actually Suge. And so actually Suge is one of the guys that works at our shop now. He's a barber now. So he ended up going to bar. I ended up getting him to move here to go to barber school. Now he's working with us.
Speaker 3:But long story short, I realized that I was starting to get old. I couldn't be this old, bald-headed, white, white beard white rapper anymore. You know what I mean? It's not going to take care of the. I wasn't Eminem, I wasn't Jay-Z, I wasn't nowhere on that level.
Speaker 3:So I had a buddy of mine, eric. He was in car sales. I'll never forget it, man. I had this aha moment where he sold cars and I made 90% of my income off CDs. So every time I sold a CD at a show we might sell 400 CDs at $15 a piece, times the the money that they paid us to build us. We was making good money.
Speaker 3:But he said hey, man, we got these new trucks coming out, bro, they're crazy. He didn't even know what he said to me, but it blew my mind. He said these trucks don't even come with cd players. And I'm like whoa, like I can't sell music, bro. There was my business, right, no 100. And so I started thinking. I was like what am I going to do? Like I don't, I don't, I didn't college. You know what I mean? I have a high school diploma from Northside high school in Fort Smith. Shout out to the guys I've been to three colleges and got zero credits just because no, no, I just bro, it just wasn't for me and actually I didn't go to college.
Speaker 3:Okay, okay but no, I didn't encourage people to go, I just I went and tried it. It just wasn't for me right. And so, man, I just remembered, as I was driving down 485 in charlotte, I had this moment. I was like, man, god, I don't know what I'm going to do, I need you to speak to me. And I literally, like felt the holy spirit tell me, go to barber school, like. And I said whoa.
Speaker 3:I said I do like going, because when I was on tour, one of the things I had in my rider was take me to a barber shop and what I would do in a barbershop when I was on tour in these different cities. I reason why I asked you about Greeley, cause I got flown to Greeley twice. That's why, when you said, well, you're from Colorado, that's who you were at. And one of the things in my rider was you had to take me to a barbershop and what I would do, I would have them line me up or do my beard or just whatever, give me a haircut, whatever. And what I would do. I wouldn't tell them I was there doing music. I was on tour. I would pay attention to the, to everybody in the shop.
Speaker 3:And now, because a barber shop will give you a pulse of what a community is like. Okay, you know what I mean, and so I would always have them take me to a barber shop that was close to the venue, so that way I can kind of feel what the community was like, and I just always loved the barber shop. There was just something about a barber shop, and so I said, dang, that's cool, but I'm 34, my wife's never gonna go for this, for me stopping. Oh, I'd love to hear that going. Oh, bro table. This is what's crazy, though. So I saw I say, god, if heather goes with it, I'm down. She's gonna say, no, I know she is.
Speaker 3:Now his wife's got a huge big personality on here yeah, she's gonna set this thing off when she's a brother, y'all know y'all she's gonna need her own show with y'all that yeah, she's wild. But but I said okay. I said, god, if, if you'll speak it to my wife I know that's what you want me to do. And I was. I was getting on 485. I can tell you where I was at on 485. I called heather. I said hey, I feel like I'm supposed to go to barber school. I said I don't know why, I just felt like god spoke that to my spirit. I said what you think about that? She said, babe, I think you'd be a great barber she's. I think you should look into it. I said what? Like? I mean honestly, like I was like I'm hoping she's gonna say like no, pull over now.
Speaker 3:Now, keep in mind, keep in mind my wife. At the time she is on uh, uh, uh, not fox, but uh, nbc charlotte. She's the actual um, uh, traffic reporter. She goes to work at four, the number one show in in charlotte. Millions of people watch. She's on billboards, buses and but she, she. She said the only thing is this and I'm trying to make a long story short she said the only thing is mike, you have to go. The schedule has to be monday through friday and you have to be done by five because we had a son at the time. He's newborn. I have to go to bed early because she has to be up at three yeah so she's like you have to be here at night, I have to go to work.
Speaker 3:And I said, okay, well, there's this. So I googled barber colleges. There's literally one, two miles from my house on wilkinson boulevard, called no grease barber college in charlotte, north carolina. Shout out to no grease, shout out, shout out to no grease. And yeah, because they're gonna listen to this, they're my mentors this day. Shout out to mr charlie, mr dame, mr jermaine, oh, you know all of y'all. Yeah, anyway, mr, yeah, I'm excited right now, sorry, but listen, listen, I walk in there and the beautiful thing about this whole situation was no grease is an all black owned barber college. I walk in, I'm the only white dude and everybody just stopped and looked at you. Man, like the records, you're like I can wrap up, oh, yeah, so. So listen, I walk in there and I'll never forget the young lady at the desk. She's like are you here for a haircut? I was like no, no, I'm here, I want to go to Barber College. She literally looked me in my eye. No doubt she didn't work there, she was just a student. She said oh, you mean like to cut hair? Like you want to cut hair? I said yes, ma'am, I, you don't want to come to this school. And I said well, actually I need to come to this school. It's only two miles from my house. I just feel like this is where I'm supposed to go.
Speaker 3:And so Mr J Mr Jermaine is what we call him Mr J comes around the corner and he's from New York. You know about New York, he's from Buffalo. Shout out to Buffalo, new York, I love it, yeah. So he comes around the corner and Todd just dresses the best that you'll ever see in your life. He's like how can I help you, sir? I said, yeah, I'm looking. Listen again. I need it to be Monday through Friday. I need to be done by five. Da-da-da-boom-boom-boom. I said man, I'm looking to come to Barber College. And he said I got one spot left for you. Man. He's like and the only time.
Speaker 1:I did is Monday through Friday. Boom Bro bro.
Speaker 3:I'm just looking at the fans right now and we know it's not hot in this room. I mean, it's hot in this room, it's not cold, man, I'm telling you like I knew right then. And there and he said, listen, go do this this day. If you can do all this by the end of today, you can start Monday. This was on a Thursday.
Speaker 3:So, man, I went home and just got enrolled, I didn how to dress and nothing, because I got in there so fast and bro it just, everything aligned, yeah, everything aligned, and I just and I, when I graduated I had a 99.9999 percent attendance record loved it. They taught me business, they taught me how to cut hair, they taught me people skills. They taught me, um, how to continue to grow myself through books. And I still, to this day, they're like I tell people all the time jesus saved my soul, but, no grief, saved my life, because they really did, like they had probably your marriage because you're man, man, it was tough, bro, like I mean no, because at the end of the day, like I, I if leaving the music industry and not being able to provide for my family, I was actually like getting a job making 12 bucks an hour.
Speaker 3:Now, how's that? How am I? How am I going to do that? You know what I mean. Nothing against a job that pays you 12 an hour, but it's just where I was at in my life as a mid-30s almost man, with a wife, a kid, a mortgage. I can't tell, but I had to do what I had to do. But God opened the door and it's just man. I've been walking through this and then when God led me here to Arkansas, it's just everything. He just had his hand on everything that we've done. You know what I mean and that's why the reason why, for me, I don't like you because you own a shop or I'm not with you. I root for everybody. Yeah, you see why I like him. I mean, he's just so so so where?
Speaker 2:where is your?
Speaker 3:shop right now. It's right off walton, right here in bentonville. Um, good lord, 502 southwest 12th street, you know where the golf academy is, right next to right next door to back nine golf. Shout out the field yeah, back nine golf. Y'all need to get him in here. It was funny. Yeah, get him in here on the show. He's off the chain. The golf camera guy you know he used to be on the tour. He played golf for Arkansas. He's the truth. Get him in here on the show. My bad, I know you probably hit that part out. No, no, what's good, we're right next door to him too, though he's off the chain, that's a. And so he has guys in there teach golf lessons. So you got to think the traffic that we got goes in there and serves them, and then the traffic that he gets comes here, and so we're two local businesses. Again, if you work together, you go further. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:How many chairs do you have in there?
Speaker 3:One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten eleven. What a big barbershop it is. Man, man, it gets crazy. Like I said, it's a lot of energies in there and we're all like when you see each other too. So it's just like you said earlier, ball busting, laughing again, you might cry and you might pray for something, but it's all there. You know what I mean. But like it's just we, we understand when women and children come in, how to act. We don't play music, we're cursing in it. We don't have, uh, women twerking on the screens. You, we're very, very professional. We're not stopping coming though. Yeah, yeah, oh, my bad, matt, I was going to talk.
Speaker 2:I was ready to talk to you about it.
Speaker 3:No, well, see, that's their thing and I think that's honestly what they're doing. Honestly, man is really the future, because there's a lot of barbershops and a lot of industries excuse me and a lot of bigger cities that are going to that now. But shout out to Josh and Ms Emlyn at Gen Space They've been doing that since 2019? 2018. 2018. Yeah, so I mean again, they foresaw a lot of stuff, and so when you start seeing a lot of local barbershops doing that, they've been doing it and it makes sense.
Speaker 1:It's a different model. It's right for us. It may be right for others.
Speaker 3:But here's the thing, though and this is what people that's going to watch this, that may own shops. When you have that model, make sure that your customer service reflects that, because you can't just be, oh that's a good idea, I'm going to do it. No, you have to. It comes with a lot.
Speaker 1:There was somebody that left us to try to open up a similar model and just couldn't figure it out. It's very hard for POS. It's very hard to manage Absolutely. You're not paying for an appointment. You own 13 of them or 18 of them, how frequently you come in. It's hard to do, but it all comes back. Guys, come back from the experience, because there's a lot of great haircutting places in town. That's right, a lot of it. But it's a very different experience based on where you go.
Speaker 3:That's it. And again, like I tell people all the time, man, you just got to get in where you fit in. You know, like you said, there's a lot of great barbershops in northwest Arkansas. Shout out to everybody that owns a shop, that works in a shop. They're all great, almost everybody. Right. You know what I mean. They're all great. I'm going to say they're all great.
Speaker 2:He's nicer than me. I've never been to a bad one, but I don't have a hard leaning hair. You got a good beard, yeah.
Speaker 3:That's good. Yeah, you guys have good luck. Well, his beard is man. I need to get it cleaned up. Actually, I wanted to before I came in here, but I knew Josh wasn't going to have his done, so I just came in here.
Speaker 2:We should have brought a chair in here. We could have done a little.
Speaker 3:That would have been something, and my chairs are too heavy to do all that. Oh, we could have done in this chair, josh could have carried it.
Speaker 1:He'd with you. Yeah, I love it. I love coming up on time. Okay, I want to make sure we plug. Yeah, uptown one more time. Yeah, man website yeah, man hours.
Speaker 3:Yeah, facebook page. Yeah, man, uptownbarbellownscom. Um, we're right there at 502 southwest 12th street here in benville, arkansas. Um, if you can't get at the gents place, come holla at us, we'll definitely let me plug the gents place.
Speaker 2:All is it just. Is it all reserved? You have to have a reservation, or is it?
Speaker 3:walk-in. No. So we do walk-ins, we do suggest setting an appointment. They're busy that way. If you walk in, there's little to no way that you have an appointment, or you could walk in and we just don't have no time to be able to get you in and we hate to turn people away, but that's just. It's a blessing to be in that position. But at the same time we just we do accept walk-ins when we're able to, but we tell people hey, make sure if you can set an appointment, because here at northwest Arkansas people prefer appointments though, because they're all got, they're all on schedules, you know, they're all on zoom calls and meetings with all these fortune 500 companies here. Just, people want to move. You don't have time to sit and shop three hours before haircut, no more. You know that that model is pretty much done with, I think, especially in our area. Yep, so, but yeah also hey, man.
Speaker 3:Also, if anybody needs any millwork, oh yeah, hit me up, I do all millwork, all count. Any type of counterstones that you need, we do it all we. We can man, from whether it be multi-family, single family, uh, commercial we do it all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm gonna plug it because we we did an rfp for all the millwork at the new gents place and uh, but they're looking at places in houston. We're gonna play all the country fort smith and mike and travis and then their shout out I mean, that's who's building the first of its kind, gents place, that's who just decided to go with so and we appreciate that, yeah, let's bring travis.
Speaker 3:That's what I was about to say. We need to bring travis in because his story is incredible. Yeah, that that that podcast, that episode would be, would we could just have you and Travis, because Rob probably won't be? Let's do it. Bobby doesn't show up anymore. Let's do it. No, I'm serious.
Speaker 2:Travis, we should do that.
Speaker 3:Travis, because I've known him since I was sixth grade.
Speaker 1:And you put Travis and him together as well. Oh, together. Once it's going to be nuts, you and I will just sit here like this.
Speaker 3:I mean he, he's such a down-to-earth guy. He came from nothing, he has a lot. Now he's blessed, you know what I mean, but he's still here and he's not above anybody and he'll give you a shirt off his back and so he wants to help everybody Set it down. Let's do it. I can set it up. Y'all, just let me know. Cheers, my friend. Yes, sir.