Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alan Genter. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

There’s one thing I believe people need to become successful. And that’s failure. You need to know failure, you need to experience failure, and you kind of need to fear failure. My path to the success I’ve found was not linear. Growing up in a lower/middle-class area where everyone ended up stuck there, you definitely didn’t have any advantage or head start to success. Well putting myself through barber school and being there eight hours a day. The bills still need to get paid somehow. So I worked 12 hour graveyard, shifts painting airplanes for a company called leading edge. Three nights were long and so were the Days. Monday through Friday, 9am- 5pm I was in barber school and 7pm-7am I was working. After doing that for nine months I finally got my barbers license, but the hustle didn’t stop there. I had no clients, I quit my graveyard job, and was working at a barbershop that I found out later was a drug house with a barbershop as a front. I had -6 dollars in my bank account and my truck was constantly on E not to mention I was about four months behind on my payments. Every day I would cross my fingers and hope that I would make it to the barbershop without running out of gas. Then I would sit at the barbershop from 8am – 8pm hoping to get just one client to come in and pay me $10 so I can put it in my gas tank and do it all over again the next day. This was a failure. I got to the point where I had just about quit barbering when I got a phone call from another barbershop asking if I could come work for them. So I took it. The shop was called 2% and it was in Rancho Cucamonga California. For the next six years, I would work at the shop grinding and hustling every single day. Half because I loved the industry but the other half because I was so afraid of going back to where I came from. I was going to make sure that life would never be like that again. After working there for six years I’ve been open my first shop called studio, one in Rancho Cucamonga. Years have gone by at this point, but that feeling never went away. For the next three years, I worked my ass off and made that one of the best shops in the area. There was no other option. Again I refused to go back to that failure. I would later move to Nashville Tennessee, work for a shop for seven months, and open up my current barbershop, Culture Nashville. I moved across the country with no clientele and managed to start my own business after just 7 months all because I never forgot that feeling of failure.

“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the
lessons of failure”
– Bill Gates

Alan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Alan Genter. I was born in a small town called Victorville in California. I currently live in Nashville, TN with my wife Desiree and 1 year old son, Zion. Growing up, I always gravitated more towards creativity and creative things. I loved drawing, painting, sculpting, etc. This draw pulled me into the barber industry simply because I liked how creative you can be with each client that sat in the chair. I received my barbers license in 2011, I’ve worked in shops for people and I currently own my own barber shop, called Culture Nashville in Nashville TN. We specialize in not just men’s cuts but all shorter hair styles.. our mission statement is to change the current barber culture by creating a space for everyone to hang out, giving immaculate customer service, while listening to what the client really needs, and having a full staff of talented professionals to meet your needs.

How did you build your audience on social media?

The way I built my audience on social media was done by two ways. Treating the platforms like a business itself. And by making sure the content I create is stuff I personally would like, share, comment, or save. I use Instagram to post head shots or action shots in the barbershop. Almost like a tattooer would have a “look book” of their work. That’s what I imagine for my Instagram page. TikTok is where I post content to help others in the industry.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The biggest source of new clients are from other clients and from Instagram. Word of mouth is always going to be king. But Instagram is huge. I would say about 60-70% of new clients find us on Instagram. I utilize hashtags a lot so one big one that people find me from is #NashvilleBarber. You have to realize that people use Instagram to search things in their area just as much as they use Google. Once you figure out which hashtag to use you’ll see what I mean.

Contact Info:

• Website: CultureNashville.com
• Instagram: Culture.Nashville