We recently connected with Chad Goodson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chad , thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

From what I’ve seen with Barbering, it’s really in the details. That includes everything from the moment your greet them to when they leave their chair. My thought has always been, “Why are they choosing The Gentry to cut their hair?” There are a number of Barbers out there, all who can cut just as well, if not better than I can. So I make it a priority to make sure they feel seen, known, and taken care of. Little things like remembering aspects of their life, remembering their name, asking about their job, and paying even more attention to their haircut. Both my male and female clients have complicated lives as it is. So If i can give them 45 minutes to an hour of peace and enjoyment then I think that makes also getting an amazing cut worth paying for. When giving a service that directly impacts their personal brand, and how people will view them I always hold myself to a high standard to make them feel as confident as I can. Or as we say in the shop, “Gotta keep ’em crispy”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Chad Goodson, but to my clients I go by, “The Gentry”. I provide luxury level haircutting services, style coaching, and specialize in making my clients crispy.
Before I got into cutting hair I was a music artist, Youtuber, and songwriter. I did that professionally for 6 years and after some minor success I hit a place in my life where for me, that lifestyle just wasn’t sustainable anymore. I wanted to go into a career that I could still be creative, have a direct impact on people, and build a creative brand. I always had clippers in my hand and cut hair on the side starting at 19….it just came natural really. After living in Dallas for 6 years I decided to be closer to family and relocate to Jonesboro, Arkansas where I could afford to go back to barber school, and bartend at night to get my license.

My brand concept was inspired by a tattoo artist, and business owner from New York named, “Bang Bang’. He goes by Bang Bang but also owns a few different tattoo shops throughout Manhattan also named, “Bang Bang Tattoo”. I wanted to adapt that concept into the Barber industry. After going over different names with my Uncle Shawn, he suggested, “The Gentry”. Gentries had really unique places in historic Europe. They were classes of men who had access to both classes of people back then. They did business with royalty, while also providing jobs for the every day regular class back then as well. I love that concept of being able to provide services to any class of person, and kind of being the bridge between the different classes. So my brand, “The Gentry” was born. The idea is to grow the brand to barbershops, and even men’s hair products. My next big project is establishing my educator platform. I want to travel around the country visiting different barber colleges and cosmetologist schools teaching the art of cutting hair. Doing all of this while also maintaining a strong online presence.

One of the aspects of my service I am the most proud is the amount of detail I put into each client. My job doesn’t end when the haircut does. There is a three-fold part to my job with each client. “Before, During, and After”

1.Consultaion – First we will talk about your hair, which style I think will suit you the best and also take into account what style you are wanting. Everything will be considered. Hair texture, head shape, the way your hair grows, and mostly the practicality of your lifestyle. How much time do you spend styling your hair, what do you do for a career, and most importantly how conservative or edgy of a cut would you like.

2.Haircut – Here you will experience a luxurious haircut applied with the upmost detail. Whether you want to talk or not is up to you. Some of my clients love to visit and catch up on life, some just enjoy the peace and quiet and try not to fall asleep in the chair.

3.Aftercare – Once you have been made crispy, we go over the most important part. Because my clients are walking billboards of my work I want to always make sure they are equipped with tailored knowledge on how to keep their haircut looking the best. So I will always style your cut after the service and answer any questions you might have. Sometimes that is telling them it’s ok for a man to own a blowdryer, and others it’s simply recommending products for styling their hair and keeping it healthy.

At the end of the day I know a great haircut will make anyone feel confident, and successful. I want my clients to be successful in their professional, love, and social life. That’s what being The Gentry is all about. Being a bridge for people to reach goals in their life and making them look crispy while doing it.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Transitioning from doing music to cutting hair. This story is more like, “Where do I start?”

In 2018 I hit rock bottom. I loved doing music for a living but what I wasn’t prepared for what the lifestyle that can come attached with that. Being originally from a small town in southwest Arkansas I was ignorant to some of the things a big city can offer. Some were great, and changed my life. Other things were not so pretty.
My biggest struggle was acceptance of people, and the image I wanted to portray on social media to my followers. There was this “image” I thought I needed to give them, and by any means I would do it. I developed some habits that in the end costed me a few good friendships, and hurt some of those close to me. So I needed to regroup, start over, whatever you would like to call it.
I called my family and said I needed to come home for a while and they came and got me the next day. I left my home and life of six years. I left all of my friendships (most who I considered to be my family) so that I could start liking who I saw in the mirror. Starting over was a lot harder than what I thought it would be. You see in movies and tv someone moves to new town and their life magically gets better. Well, in real life that isn’t really the case. You still have to deal with those demons you don’t want to, because they follow you. The journey leading up to barberschool was a difficult one, but so worth it. With new found friends, family, and a barber instructor who never game up on me I made it through.
That story gave birth to one of the biggest things I want to do as The Gentry. Give people a place to feel safe, and like someone is in their corner. Especially for men in this society there isn’t always a safe place for them to talk about life, their marriage, or even their emotions. Not every client opens up, and not every person will. But even if it is just one person that I can go, “Hey I’ve been there, you got this” too, then it will always make it worth it.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

This has been two things really. I book through an app called, “The Cut”. This app works based of geographical location for the client. It shows you barbers in your area based on distance. The Cut allows me to showcase pictures of my work, keep track of my finances, and show my reviews. This has been one of the main ways gaining new clientele because of how the app works.

Social Media is a HUGE factor in this for me. Staying consistent and producing high quality content is something I learned from doing my own branding for music. Learning about algorithms, geo-targeting, and times to post. Instagram and Facebook have brought me close to 30% of my existing clientele to date.

Lastly, and I think the most forgotten is good old-fashioned networking. I try to go to different events, restaurants, and even while bartending at night let someone know I’m a barber. Not as quick and vast as posting on social media, but I would say a higher turnover rate. Simply for the fact that they have already experienced you face-to-face. My barber instructor always said, “40% of the reason someone is coming to you is for the cut. The other 60% is because of who is giving them the cut”. So I’ve always enjoyed the networking side of business for that reason. I don’t have to win them over in the chair, I already have. The only thing left to do is make them crispy.

Contact Info:

• Website: book.thecut.co/thegentry
• Instagram: @thegentrycuts
• Facebook: The Gentry

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