We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Coleman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joshua, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
It started when I went to my first barber convention with an invite from a close friend. It was Pacino the barber and he was the first person I ever saw to have what he had from barbering. Accomplished what he accomplished from barbering. I couldn’t believe that and it lit the fire. Nothing is easy in building your own business. As an employee your taught your job and that’s it. As the owner and creator, you’re responsible for everything! That in its self , if your heart isn’t in it, will destroy you. The hardest thing to do is start. What I learned is not only do you have to take action but you have to have patience. What you want right now you may not be ready for. I know that if I would’ve had this a few years back I wouldn’t of been ready. It’s all in good time as long as you’re moving forward. My story is your story. There’s so many people in this world who have came from pain and darkness who deserve to be heard. That’s what my chair provides. A safe place for any race, background, gender, religion, to have a place to talk and leave looking great in the process. People deserve that. Since I’ve started 3-4 years ago each year my business doubles and 2023 will be just as great!
Joshua, 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?
I was born in Dallas, but raised in a small town east called Athens. I came from nothing really. Down south things move a little slower than the rest of the country, so it was difficult growing up and seeing a bright future for myself. I was born and raised in a white family and we were poor, poor. One box of Mac and cheese and a cut up sausage poor. There wasn’t a lot of black people or any people of color in the school I attended. That played a big part in me not feeling like I belonged to anybody. Then my mom committed suicide when I was 7. Being so young I don’t think I processed it fully, or even correctly, but it hurt nonetheless. A few months after I was adopted by a loving couple who had just lost their son to cancer. I guess to the both of us it felt like a second chance. They were also white so you can say I never saw color as a problem but I noticed my color being a problem to others. I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere, to anyone, I couldn’t fit in. Laughter, jokes, and playing the comedian built a hard outer wall that people saw but could never peak over to see how I truly felt. I had a little weight, acne, buck teeth and braces but I always got compliments on my hair ever since I can remember. My parents didn’t know how to get my hair cut so they took me to great clips, sports clips, places like that and I was ok with it at first until high school. I started to notice people that looked like me have these dope haircuts! Tapers, fades, drop fades, hard parts, eye brow slashes, it was a new way of seeing what part of a culture I was missing and had no idea about. I’ve always been an artist so I figured hair wasn’t to far off from drawing. I took my dads clippers the following week and started cutting myself. It wasn’t until friends noticed and asked to get cut themselves that I started to fall in love with the craft. Before it I drew something I’d have to hang it up, put it in a show, or something for it to be seen. With hair, the world is your exhibit and the client, everyone , is your masterpiece. After high school I joined the Navy trying to get out of a small town. This is when the culture hit me. I was cutting people of all races, backgrounds, and countries. I was learning from real world people about religion, ideas, life experiences, heartache, triumphs. Having conversations that people need to have. That changed me forever. I do this because It helped give me apart of my culture that I never knew. This craft helped me understand people and that everyone needs to be listened to and cared about by somebody.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
It’s very easy to lose yourself and the reasons you do what you do. Building clientele in the beginning with no name in the industry, new area, and less experience than the pros surrounding you, was the hardest thing I’ve done. It’s such a slow building process. You wake up early and wait, sending shout outs through your phone hoping somebody will trust you. Makes you feel like you’re getting nowhere and that can kill the fire. I just kept my head up and kept cutting. The stories and things you hear motivate you to keep going. Makes you feel apart of something bigger and that drives me.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
You can’t please everybody. It’sa hard lesson learned especially in the art department. We create, sculpt, cut, shape, all with the hope that the client will love the outcome and sometimes that just not the case. Art is subjective and sometimes the person will just not vibe with the style. It happens. We’re not perfect creatures but continuing to strive to give the people what they want and continuing to learn creates less room for mistakes.
Contact Info:
- Website: book.thecut.co/Jcutzthebarber
- Instagram: @jcutzthebarber
Image Credits
Myself