We recently connected with Morgan Bock and have shared our conversation below.

Morgan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Ever since I was little, I always felt like an outsider, I never really felt like there was a place I belonged. I want to create a space where people felt like they could be themselves without feeling judged. We all need a space where we can be our creative, weird, beautiful selves.

Morgan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started cosmetology school at 18 and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to really do with my life. We had a class about clipper haircuts by a local barber and I fell in love! She took me under her wing and showed me everything she knew. I graduated cosmetology and passed my state test and went to the closes barber school to sign up. I started working at a local Sport Clips with my cosmetology license to get my feet wet and improve on my skills. About a year goes by and I graduate from barber school and I’m still at the same job. Then my mentor came to me saying she was ready to open her own shop! I was beyond excited to work alongside her again and become the best I could be!

For a little over a year, we worked side by side getting her dream off the ground. Now we all know life goes in all kinds of directions and it was time I did too, I came to the decision I should leave and start out on my own! So, I’ve been here at, The Sun Hut Hair and Tan, since April of 2021 with amazing coworkers and I couldn’t begin to explain how amazing it is. About January of this year the owners of The Sun Hut were looking to sell and get out of the stress of the industry. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so officially in August I bought the salon! Amazing how much can happen in just a year!

Our shop is kind of a one stop shop for all your beauty needs, our services range from normal salon services (haircuts, color, extensions, lash extensions) to barbering services (razor shaves, fades, beard work). I pride myself in the fact we don’t just preform a service, we are providing an experience. We see them at their highs for proposals and their lows for a funeral and I have the chance to touch their hearts and shake off their jitters. We touch lives and I like being able to give someone the ability to escape life for just a little or even just soak in it for a little longer. With this experience we provide we don’t just stop with our personal interactions; we only use the best quality products for our clients. For our woman we use mostly Amika and Kenra for our styling and shampooing needs and our color is strictly Redken (with the exception of our fun colors then we use Pulp Riot or Joyco). For our men clients we use 1821 and STMT for styling and shampoo needs but for our beard needs we have to use Warlord. All of our product recommendations are shaped for each client’s individual needs.

So, weather you’re in the market for color, cuts, beard, or anything else you can think of, we would love to have y’all! It’s defiantly the place to be. I cannot wait to see where we will be in the next 5 years, I have such big dream and goals to reach, and you definitely don’t wanna miss a thing.

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

I’m currently doing it now. I have been so focused on the barbering aspect of my education for years, and now owning a salon I am having to pull back into my old memories to help my girls grow. It hasn’t been the easiest of things to do but I am realizing how much I missed this. Having to go out of my comfort zone and help my newer girls improve on their skills has been my favorite part of my change of focus. I had forgotten all about how much I enjoyed doing women’s hair! It honestly has made me consider opening my books back up to all services, not just barbering. For now, I will just settle for helping them and seeing them grow from this experience.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

This is honestly my favorite story to tell. My parents have always been a main supporter in my life, no matter if they really understood why or not. They never push down my dreams, so when it came to purchasing the business, my dad jumped all over it to make sure it was done correctly. He did everything from helping me find a lawyer and talking to a CPA to sitting down and crunching numbers to figure out what we needed to get started. I was kind of shot down by the number and didn’t think I’d be able to come up with those funds in a timely manner. He didn’t bat an eye, there was no way he was going to let me take out a loan right now, so he invested. My dad believes in me so much that he invested his money to make my dream a reality. I was taken aback by it truly, I knew he’d support me how ever he could but this, this was more than I could imagine. I can’t thank my parents enough for their incredible support and love they have shown me, and I can’t wait to make them proud.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vagaro.com/thesunhut
• Instagram: @thesunhutsalon or @morgan.thebarbergal
• Facebook: @TheSunHutHairandTan or @morgan.thebarbergal

Image Credits
The Sun Hut team members and @Natalee Rae Photography