James Hartwell, a barber from Off the Hook Barbershop, started cutting hair at a young age. He didn’t know he wanted to do it as a career until he was 19, and now at 26 years old, he’s making a difference in his clients’ lives, helping them feel like their best selves with a haircut.
Hartwell spoke with rolling out about finance tips and what advice he would give to young barbers today.
How do you view barbershop culture in Atlanta?
It changes; everything has a season. It depends on what season it is, depends on what it’s going to look like for you throughout the day or throughout that month. Everything fluctuates, especially with whatever neighborhood you’re in, or whatever neighborhood your barbershop is in; it fluctuates on how you move throughout the year. That’s what I learned about being in the city and interacting with clientele.
How do you handle your finances as a barber?
Save everything. When you think about it, we get paid every day — either cash or card, but the majority of the time it’s cash. You’ve got to have self-discipline as far as making your money, saving and putting it away, money managing, what you spend and what goes towards bills and having fun. There are little tricks and stuff that we use such as apps that other barbers use to stay on track, but it’s more self-discipline. You have to learn not to spend money; you have to save the money to make money.
What are some tips that you would give to young barbers?
If you’re doing it, do it for the love of it; don’t do it for the money. If you do it for the money, you won’t make money. Do it because you want to do it, and it’s something that you enjoy doing. Not because you get a check or someone is paying you. Also, learn about your clientele and interact with them. It’s going to be a lot of footwork starting off with branding and doing all that stuff — but again, that’s falling back to self-discipline, locking in and doing want you want to. Lock in and take care of your business plan if it’s something you want to fall in love with. If you see that’s just a lot of money out there with it, you might want to go into the business side instead of actually cutting hair.
