We were lucky to catch up with Krystin Noack recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Krystin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My hero is my Grandmother, Jennie. There are many life lessons she has taught me through out our time together. As most grandparents often do for their grandchildren. One I can pin point specifically, is the drive for what I believe is right or worthy of my time. My grandmother was born in the 1920’s. she lived through WW2 and the great depression. She came from a family of barbers and hair stylists, “beauticians” is how she would always refer to them. She grew up in a time of much misfortune for most of her adolescent life and had many things to over come as a young girl. Her mother passed when she was only middle school aged, leaving her to fill the roll as parent to her 7 younger siblings. Raising them up and caring for them, bringing them to school and making them 3 meals a day still a child herself. She lived her life extremely selflessly and always made sure to take care of the things that meant the most to her. When she grew older she followed in her fathers footsteps and jumped head first into the Beauty industry. As did most of her siblings and their children after them, which is truly incredible. Eventually she had a family her self and had worked very hard to open her own hair salon. Unfortunately the restaurant next to what would have been her salon, caught fire and she never got to fulfil her dream. Realizing how much she had lost she never tried to start another business. She just kept her head down and kept working. She had 4 young children her self now so she just had to keep it moving for her family. Neither my mother nor her 3 sisters do hair. Although my grandmother always said she didn’t mind I know she was extra proud when I decided to enroll my self into cosmetology school immediately after high school. Today I am 31 years old, I have been barbering for a decade licensed for a decade and a half and just recently opened my own barbershop on October 30th,2024.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi. I’m Krystin I am the owner and a Master Barber over at Old Steel Barbershop in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. I have been a licensed cosmetologist for almost 15 years and have been barbering for 10. I have been into doing hair for as long as I can remember, In high school I was the only one in my grade at the time who came to school with multicolored hair. I started out coloring my hair with a toothbrush and a jar of Purple Punky Colour Hairdye. I can still smell the amazing grape smell just thinking about the stuff. Once I graduated high school I knew I wanted to enroll into Cosmetology school. When I finally did everything clicked for me. It was almost like a muscle memory that I never knew existed, My grandmother and all of her siblings were hair stylists, it kind of just skipped a generation with my immediate family. Neither my mother or any of my 3 aunts wanted to get into the industry like the rest of their cousins and mother. Needless to say my Grandmother was tremendously proud of me when I decided to get into her families lifelong trade. I started my career fresh out of high school working in various different high-scale hair salons and health spas. I spent my time taking in and learning as much as i possibly could, from anyone who would teach me. I was the head assistant for most of these places, I learned the ins and outs of everything that made a hair salon run in a successful manner, From washing out clients, to doing backbar shampoo orders and eventually full hair color line orders, booking and confirming appointments over the phone at the front desk, and making bank deposits as well. The first probably 4 years of being licensed I had to fight to prove to the various salons I was working for at the time, that I was ready to be coached more to become a Stylist in training. I was very interested at first in being in the women’s hair world, but eventually realized it wasn’t for me. By that point I honestly almost threw in the towel on the whole thing. I was burnt out on the fact that all i kept hearing was i was” too good of an assistant to lose”. My father actually suggested I try my hand at barbering, and I’ll be honest I didn’t take him or it seriously at the time. It wasn’t until I applied to work at a chain hair salon. I realized in the short time I worked there that most of my returning clientele was either men’s scissor cuts or clipper based hair cuts. Like Skin fades and Buzz cuts. After 3 months of cutting regularly I felt it was time I start looking into a more permanent position behind my own chair in a barbershop, the first barbershop I walked into hired me on the spot. My boss took me under her wing as her protege and I again took in every single thing I could possibly learn from her, I spent 8 years working there and took great pride in the shop and its everyday workings. the ins and outs, ups and downs, various curve balls and Covid ravaging the world and literally rocking the industry as a whole. In those 8 years I made incredible friendships and amazing connections. Those in which I am very grateful for today. All those years have culminated to this point, where I can proudly say I have a team of truly amazing individuals who I am proud to work with and beside daily!

At Old Steel Barbershop we strive to offer a traditional Barbershop atmosphere with a rustic modern vibe! We offer traditional Hot towel Straight razor shaves along with the latest hair cutting, beard trimming trends and styles! Our Talented Barbering staff will have you feeling relaxed and refreshed with a hot towel after every service! We have toys for the kids to play with while they wait and TVs for them to relax and watch while they get their haircut! Check us out on social media or stop in for a visit wed love to see or hear from you!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

This is a really good question honestly. Being that Ive been in the barbering world for 10 years now I can safely say that consistency is key. Being consistent in my craft and striving for perfection with every haircut is how I funded my self to start my business. I worked hard and stayed many late hours behind my chair. I came in early and stayed late, came in on my days off sometimes too when I wanted it bad enough.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Truthfully I think barbering is as much of a relationship industry as it is a service industry. Building a rapport with clients is something I strive for. I treat my clients like family and truly care about the events going on in their lives. I believe that this has helped my reputation by allowing my clients not only to trust my work but to feel appreciated as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Oldsteelbarbershop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Old-Steel-Barbershop/61568197521619/?_rdr
• Other: https://oldsteelbarbershop.booksy.com/a