KC, MO BBQ

I have never eaten a full slab of BBQ ribs in a moving vehicle and not gotten some sauce on my shirt. I am proud to state that I kept that streak alive this past week in KC, MO. I was crazy to try it… and would have been crazier NOT to! Wow, was that great!

Bronner bros. Aug. 2007

The August Bronner Bros. show was a hot event in more ways than one. Of course, the weather was hot and muggy. Of course, I got to Turner field for the first few innings of the Braves’ game before the rains came. Of course, Andis’ presence at the show was a big success. Highlights of the event included… a full sell out of spaces for competitors at the barbering competition… a standing-room-only crowd in my revolution cutting clipper class… a strong presence of business minded men’s haircutters at my Manpower class. Antonio McGill rocked the floor with his solid presentation at the Atlanta barber and beauty booth. Kenny Duncan was a standout in his presentation with Major League Barber. One of the most important things I noticed this time was the increase in general market vendors as well as an increase in general market attendees. If this show was to market itself to more general market vendors and continue to focus on diversity… they already own Atlanta… they could own the entire eastern half of the U.S. for dominance in a truly multi-ethnic beauty show. See you there again in Feb.

4 min. fade

Giovonni’s head was a sight to behold. He was the proud owner of a 4 min fade. I had just finished trying out, for the first time, the horizontal fading technique I referred to in an earlier blog post. It works great. This was the best and the fastest fade I have ever clippered. You need to try this! It just plain works great. I am working on some graphics and a tech sheet to explain this concept. Be on the lookout for it. Email me if you want a copy.

Apple Tree haircuts

For the second year in a row I donated a morning to the Apple Tree campaign in my neighborhood. Apple Tree is a program that provides brand spankin’ new backpacks and all the needed school supplies for under priveledged kids in the community. A great idea last year was to add to the pick-up day visits, FREE back-to-school haircuts for the kids. Professionals like me donate a half day to come in and provide the FREE haircuts. It was just like any day in the shop from the old days. I did 15 haircuts from 9 to noon. It was split just about evenly between boys and girls cuts. The photo shows the wall of names of the kids who participated in the program. It is a big wall with a lot of names. It is a great program and I am happy to be a part of it.

Back to school

It is that time of the year again. The clippers should be a’buzzing. We always said, “If you cannot get busy this time of year something is wrong”. Back to school time is prime time to be building clientele. Everything about your business should be in prime operating condition. This is a great time to make best, first impressions with all that new traffic. Earn their business. Win them back. Keep them coming.

Horizontal fading

The Barbers International convention was a great opportunity to share and learn from other professionals. I have always said that clipper cutting education is less about telling someone something new and more about reminding clipper cutters of great things that they forgot they knew. I got a great lesson in this from an attendee. A clipper cutter from TX reminded me of the idea of starting faded haircuts with a horizontal section cut around the head at the fade point parallel to the fade point as opposed to the classic approach of working perpendicular to the fade point. Many have heard me rail against putting in hard lines and then having to struggle to work these lines off. A 000 blade run around the head first, sideways, along the fade point will cut shorter below the fade point and longer above it due to the curve of the head. This sets you up for fast and easy fading. Try it some time. I think you will like it. But you already knew that. You just forgot you knew it… like I did!

Half way

How far am I willing to go for a customer? Aparently, pretty far. Have a look at the image here. This is a historical marker I found along the road to see a customer. The customer is located just NORTH of here by a few miles... so... I can truly say, "I drove more than half way to the north pole to see a customer". This spot is the geographical mid-point between the north pole and the equator. Hey guys, it was worth it. Thank you for seeing me and supporting me and the Andis brand!

Toughest flat top

I am the king of the flattop haircut, but you already knew that. What you might not have known is that even I can have a tough time cutting a flattop sometimes. Some heads cut easier than others. Some hair texture is easier to flattop than others. I have always believed the right tools are the key. I proved that to myself at this DVD shoot. The new clipper we were featuring for the shoot was more than up to the task. I hit the wall on the comb. Because it is a retail, Andis at Home, DVD I needed to use the comb that came with the clipper in the kit. The comb in the kit was a standard 7” cutting comb, not a clipper comb. The kid was a fine textured blonde, perfect for camera work on a flattop. Not so perfect to be cut with a 7” standard comb. You will really enjoy watching me force this flattop with a small comb. I guess it is a testament to my flattopping ability that I was able to nail the task with the wrong comb. What the world will not see is a ton of extra footage of me fighting to make the haircut happen. Bottom line… it is flat on the top…. And it was cut with the wrong kind of comb, but you knew that too.

Sore fingers

My fingers are bleeding. Not from an out of control clipper cut, but from hammering away at my laptop in order to get the DVD script in on time. We are up against a tighter deadline for this disc than we have been in the past. It will not be a problem to meet the deadline as the footage we captured is event better than the last. Experience pays off. We were able to stage the shots better, got them down faster and were edited in record time. The footage was great and the disc will be crisp, clear and easy to follow. Stay tuned.

Meet Maria

I stopped by the retail dog grooming DVD shoot today. We shot the B&B DVD last week. Today was poodle and schnauzer cut time. I got to meet Maria Tully in person for the first time. We email most weeks, but as busy clipperers our paths had not crossed until today. Never before has there been so much clipper cutting knowledge in one room at the same time. It was great to meet her and watch her handle a doggie. Seemed just like the DVD we shot last week. Not much different. Same result anyway.