NOV 3, 2021 — This is an update to a previous post.
I’ve read a second article which furthers the observations I outlined originally. It is all so obvious!! As I’ve discussed with a few clients, I believe “trickle down” has brutalized our country. Why aren’t more people screaming for change? Read it for yourself by clicking here, and perhaps we can discuss a solution during your haircut.
(Note: there are a few irritating grammatical errors & typos in the article & I can only hope they were not present in the original work.)

Sorry Ayn, no one has superhuman vision

APR 4, 2021
I read Atlas Shrugged decades ago & hated it. Viscerally hated it, but didn’t know why.

This morning I read an article, which outlines how a myth based on the writings of Ayn Rand has/will put democracy at risk so long as it’s the bedrock belief of large corporation founders.

I agree with the article through I come at it from a different angle & thought I’d ponder it while writing the following lengthy treatise:

I am the founder of a business designed strictly around my unique vision of how to cut hair well in the 21st century.

To be successful, said business is entirely dependent upon a large number of individuals (let’s say 500–I’ve never counted) with a vested interest in its survival. In other words, each one wants to have a similar experience every time they get a haircut.

Being human, as we are, many clients & myself have expressed ideas about how to improve the experience I provide them. I’ve had many conversations over the past 6 years on this topic. Sometimes following my own complaints, sometimes just upon the whim of a client (Ex: espresso machine, cold “adult beverages”, hiring someone else, raising prices, taking appointments, etc.).

However, each suggestion comes from their own experience and desires. While I find these informative, I recognize any change I make to the overall business will impact me & ALL my clients. I must consider all parties with a vested interest and not just the “votes” of a certain faction.

This is where I find similarities between my micro-business and a publicly traded corporation as discussed in the article I just read.

My business also has dual shares of interest. There’s what I’m interested in doing and what all of you are interested in experiencing. “The public” is a phrase as devoid of humanity as “Republicans”, “Blacks”, “Jews” or other [plural noun].

(And don’t get me started on “Caucasian”–my rant on that one requires a lengthy post of its own.)

Through my sole (no business partner or coworker) encounters with many many types of people I’ve learned we don’t all interpret the same words to mean the same thing.

For example: I try to communicate to all clients via signs in the shop things I would like them to be aware of–either prevent them from asking me (interrupting my time with someone else) or to manage how they “use” the shop together (when many were waiting at the same time).

I found the words I’d chosen to be interpreted in a surprising array of different ways. Not without the conversations I had with my numerous “share holders” could I have learned I was failing to effectively communicate.

I must consider the majority, but there will be a minority who lose out by any change I make. And this I finally learned to accept during the past year’s pandemic.

I cannot be what everyone who wants me to cut their hair wants, nor can my business be adapted to suit the whims of each client. Amanda’s must be anchored around me, yet I need to be flexible and fluid enough to adapt to the demands of the majority of my “voting” clients.

I’ve said it many times: where & upon what we spend our money counts far more by influencing our daily world than does the box we check on voting day.

As a client, as a returning regular client paying me for my services, I see you as voting member of my business. You have a vested interest in my continuing to do what I do for yourself & others.

A successful barber (or shop) cannot survive off the patronage of a few. It’s to the collective that I owe my success as a business owner.

Yes, I had a vision of how haircuts could be better given to Caucasian (for lack of a better term) males (happens to be may specialty) in the 21st century.

And after 6 years, thousands of people have experienced my vision (though sometimes half-baked) and hundreds have voted through their continued patronage for me to stick with it.

When I closed in Dec. 2020, against the “votes” of many current & potential clients who desired haircuts before Christmas, I used that time to re-structure how I operate my business so I can be more comfortable going forward & clearer in my vision.

I’m proud to say I did not allow either the clientele or the state of TN to dictate my safety practices throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I took in all information and chose my actions based on what was best for the majority of my “shareholders”.

Though many chose to “sell their shares”, I cannot focus on people who aren’t there (or so I remind my ego). The client in the chair is ALWAYS my primary concern. While those who have promised to be there (by scheduling an appointment) or whose previous actions have shown they will be are constantly in my thoughts.

The self-disolution of any group of people comes about by their unquestioningly following someone whom they believe to have/know what no other human can. No outside influence can bring about the same destruction.

My business as I created it is under no threat from any other haircutter, franchise chair, pair of store-bought clippers, or former/potential client. The continued patronage of my clientele will be built upon their faith in me to provide the same quality of service they previously experienced irregardless of any other individual interactions I’ve had with anyone else.

“Each guy in the chair” is a unique individual whom I refuse to think of as “just a client”. I will not have anyone in my chair dehumanized by myself or someone else.

And so we, you & I, are dual shareholders in my business. But instead of buying shares all at once, you may continue to benefit from my business so long as you contribute. Your conversation, your head (see blog post about new clients) & your money are all investments I use to improve my business for all.

I could not do what I do nor be who I am without having spent time with every single person who has asked me to cut their hair even if only once.

~ aL