We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ethan Del Hierro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ethan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

This business started because I bought it out from the previous owner post covid back in September 2021. I had just left James Madison university as a soccer student athlete due to covid and I decided I was not returning in the fall. I had already been cutting hair since freshman year of high school so i thought it would be a good back up plan to start working at a barbershop to obtain a professional license while i pursue online school at my local community college. I got my first job at a barbershop called the groomingstore and about 9 months into my apprenticeship I had the opportunity to purchase the business from the previous owner. At this time I had brought in one other barber friend of mine to work at the groom instore. once I officially took ownership, the previous owner decided to continue working for my shop part time two days a week as he still loved barbering. the month I transitioned into ownership, my only other hire would out of the country for a month. This very first month was a struggle for me and i felt embarrassed to have my clients show up in my newly obtained 1,000SF shop and have no one else in it but me. luckily I had the gift of time and patience on my hands, and our rent was not overly expensive. so our growth within the team and clientele was very natural and unrushed. I believe every 3-6 months I would find a young upcoming barber coming out of high school that was interested in working for us. usually I would reach out to them via instagram, because i heard people talking about them in the shop. It wasn’t an easy process and it can be a lot of pressure for the young barber to receiving recruiting messages but once I was able to meet them in person, explain the goals of The Cut Collective and how they can fit into the culture, its been smooth sailing. The interview process was a simple meeting, maybe two. I could tell where there mind was at when it comes to joining a young barbershop and if they are truly committed or not. As for training, usually the barbers I recruited have a good foundation from cutting throughout high school, and they just need more professional implications when it comes to working at a barbershop. We would help coach up the new barbers in areas that they lacked skill wise but those first 4-5 hires just needed more reps and experience and I was willing to take on the risk and give them that opportunity. Nowadays we are starting education and training for those that have very little to no experience and that is a whole different challenge. I believe the way we started this company and process was very organic and I wouldn’t change the way it started. Moving forward with the experience I now have, I would just choose to make some different leadership decisions when dealing with new and young barbers.

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.

I originally began cutting in 2016, which was my freshman year of highschool. This was the time I started to really care about what I was wearing to school, how my hair looked and how I wanted to present myself to others. I had some pretty specific hairstyles I was going for at the time and most visits to the local barbershops I would bring my reference photos and the barber would fail to replicate what I was looking for. My father had buzzed my hair a few times and we had some walmart clippers sitting around at the house so I knew you didnt have to be a professional to give a haircut. After doing some research I came across hundreds of videos on youtube teaching viewers how to cut hair. I decided to take the risk on myself and began giving myself haircuts. They honestly werent bad for beginner self cuts. Once my friends learned I was cutting my own hair, they all asked for cuts themselves. It started as free haircuts and quickly escalated to $15 dollar haircuts. What started as a hobby and self interest, turned into a small business that grew throughout my school and the schools around the county. I was making good money and highschool and didnt have to get anymore normal jobs.

I believe my discipline came from being a high level soccer athlete. Starting back when I was 5 years old and growing into the dreams of becoming a professional soccer player, soccer was always my number one goal. I was a top player in the state playing on a high level club, leading into Division one commitment to James Madison University. Training with the best and always striving to be the best on the field built the competitive that translated into business. I remember specifically when i got to JMU that the student athlete grind was no joke. Late nights, early mornings, always having to do something when I didn’t want to was frustrating, but I always had a goal I was striving for. The discipline I learned from being a student athlete directly correlated with my business venture. I had a reason for everything I chose to do. No matter the risk or reward, if i was making the decision to get something done it has to be to my best ability, always.

We do typical services as most barbershops, all types of hairtypes and styles. We emphasize our versatility so that no client has to go anywhere else for mens grooming services. we sell mainly styling aids, like clays, creams, sprays and all styling product for mens hair. We are looking into adding more services as we grow and expand but we focus on making sure we are going the simple things, great. Men are simple, they want a good haircut and conversation, which is what we provide with recruiting the right team. I believe our main goal is time make sure that our client and barber can communicate, relate and build a relationship that is loyal and trustworthy. The problem we solve has two main points. providing the right environments to grow and scale our barbers business as well as a professional service that maintains consistent results for our clients. Every barbershop nowadays promotes this upscale experience, Which we make sure to provide. with simple scheduling, greetings from front desk, tvs and lounge areas, complimentary drinks. but most barbershops try to sell you on the vibe and additional add ons to higher the ticket price to make it feel luxurious. we have a similar approach, except we make sure our clients are walking out with the haircut they want, how they want it, every time. and the other point being the barber experience. A barbershop owners biggest threat is their best barber, because he wants that same spotlight, ownership and money. But at The Cut Collective, we put an emphasis on the barber experience while working at the shop, the opportunity to learn and grow their skill, a path to professional licensure, a clientele that will always be there for them, and the opportunity to grow their business, scale their business and have a greater role that comes with greater pay rather than just being a barber behind the chair forever. We strive to build a team rather than a whole bunch of individuals paying for their chair. Which is where our business model differentiates itself.

whether you’re learning and want to become licensed, or you’re already a professional and you want more clients, and other avenues for income, The Cut Collective was created to fulfill those needs. But it takes the right person to capitalize on those opportunities, I am most proud of the culture we are building at the cut collective. Every community has a barbershop, but does everyone feel like they belong at that barbershop? we strive to make sure we are taking care of all of our clients meeting their needs and making them feel like one of us. At the same time we are building a work environment that you can be excited to come into, and be around frequently, and grow within. I want our clients to know that we are more than just a barbershop. That’s why we host events in the community, support our local schools and businesses, give back to charities, and share our experiences on social media so you can be apart of the growing journey. This is only the beginning, we will grow into more than just a place to get your haircut. We are a brand that can represent you, and the sports you play, the hobbies you have, the things you want tot talk about. We want to change this industry for the barber, continue to create job security for our employees and barbers, build a large company that has many roles beyond barbering. while continuing to provide for our customers needs as they evolve and change with the trends and time.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The biggest pivot I made was going from a division one athlete, to becoming a barbershop owner in just over a years time. This pivot occurred very naturally, as i had been pursuing a professional soccer career for most of my life since i started playing when I was about 5. I went through the whole journey of recreational soccer, to club soccer, and high level clubs and acadamies, to end up getting recruited by James Madison University my junior year of highschool. All of my soccer dreams were aligning, and at the time, my side hustle in highschool was cutting hair, but I never saw a big future for barbering because I didn’t see the status or the money in it. Which is where my young big head was at, at the time. I had always been the best guy on the team, and the cool kid in school, which was great because it led me to many amazing life long friendships. but when i went to college fall of 2019, I had no idea what I was in for. the student athlete life got me good that first semester. Tring to balance soccer, school work, and the social aspect of college was not easy for me at all. Once the spring season came and we left for spring break in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida the most unexpected lifechanging event occurred for my self and the whole world. As we are on the beach having fun, word gets our about this virus that is rapidly spreading around the world and now in the united states. I was ignoring it for the most part until all of us college students got the email notifying us that we are not going back to school after spring break, which we were ecstatic about! Little did we all know this would severely impact everyone around the world. As summer went on and were all locked inside the house, I had a decision to make. I was not enjoying school, tired of the student athlete life structure and my coach had the sense that I was feeling this way because i began missing team video meetings. He brought it up to me and I told him the truth that I was contemplating coming back in the fall due to many reasons including the even more intensified structure and control of life they were planning on implementing when we arrive for training camp due to covid. Id had no plans in place but I knew i didn’t want to go back to that life so I decided to leave the team and the school and stay home. I worked out with my parents that I would register for online community classes for the fall, and look to get a job once the opportunity opened up. In the mean time I was doing house calls and making good money as a barber during covid. Once the rules of social distancing cleared up I was able to land a job at a local barbershop that was in need of barbers. This opportunity came through a friend of mine whose mom actually helped the owner of the barbershop lease the location about ten years prior. I went to work as a young unlicensed but somewhat experienced barber, and after about six months of working there as an apprentice, I had the opportunity to purchase the business. This was because I over heard the owner, who cut hair next to me, talking to one of his clients about the uncertainty of their industry post covid. At the end of that day I brought up the idea to the owner that he could sell the shop to me! He grinned and said “well do you have the money? “Which I did not but I knew I could get it. This is where the major pivot in my life came into play. I had just given up a life long dream of mine which was to become a professional soccer player, and just a year later I had the opportunity to run my own business! I was overly excited to tap into the entrepreneurial side of me that I had always had as a kid, selling bracelets in middle school, creating a clothing brand in high school as well as cutting hair for money. For a moment I had lost that “swag” or that status around town as the division one soccer player. My identity was gone, I didn’t have much going for me and there was no secure plan. But opportunity pretended itself and I had no other thoughts in my mind other than I have to do it. There was little risk to reward planning, there were no “what if this doesn’t work out.” I was young, my risk tolerance was through the roof. I honestly didn’t see it as a risk, I saw it as a decision, that if I make, I have to do everything in my ability to make it successful. This is the decision that led me to where I am today.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I believe the most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been personability and word of mouth. Naturally as a barber shop, word of mouth will always be king when it comes to gathering groups of friends, people, co-workers, or any cohort to a specific place or barber to get their haircuts. As barbers we immediately break the personal space as they chose to sit in our chair and trust us to give them the results they are looking for. I always tell our barbers to make sure to ask questions. Figure out why theyre here, what led them to finding us and how they chose you as the specific barber. you learn a lot of information with those simple questions. Then it leads into the consultation questions, of what they’re looking to get, what their other barber did that they didn’t like, and a lot of times they will leave it up to our professional judgement, showing they they trust us before they get to know us. The next step in this strategy is finding one common interest. Try and get to know your client, what they do for work, what they enjoy other their free time, whatever it is. If you are able to find common ground and strike a relatable topic of interest, it then triggers and emotion tied to the conversation and service they are visiting for. Your client continues to let their guard down and now can trust your professional opinion as well as add value behind your personal opinion. At this point I believe the percentage of reason for them coming back is about 70% for the quality of service and 30% because they enjoy being in your chair. We continue to build on this strategy by working on the surrounding experience. Ease of booking, attentiveness of service, vibes of the shop, and the supporting cast of barbers and employees that build the culture. and the closing action would be getting your client to book their next next haircut before they leave. Now you are on their schedule and have personal real-estate on that clients time. you repeat this process over and over while continuing to grow in your craft and you would have life long clients and sometimes a life long friend.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thecutcollectivebarbershop.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecutcollectivebarbershop/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Cut-Collective-Barbershop-100090169216895/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-cut-collective-barbershop/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC31MKHqM3USHgzzRaLnAfqA