Growth and a new chapter begins!
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to share about my first two days as an apprentice barber.
I am 2 days into my Barber apprenticeship day one was awesome I got to meet some of the Barbers in my crew and shadowed my mentor as he did some hair cuts and I got my own Apprentice Barber chair it felt so official and I was stoked!
Day two a great day but in a different way. I had my first haircut at the shop and lets just say I was a little nervous. The gentleman asked for a high fade I commenced the haircut shaving in my guide line. The gentleman then pointed out that one side was slightly higher than the other and I thanked him and made sure to correct it. At the 10 minute mark he stopped me and asked “are you new?” I replied “yes I am an apprentice” to which he replied “not to be rude but I'm going to stop you before you F**K up my lines, I would like someone else to do this haircut I'm paying for a quality haircut.” I replied of course that is no problem and one of the Barbers stepped in to do the rest of the haircut.
As it was my official first day cutting hair at the studio I coached myself and ask myself the question what can I do better next time?
- Let the customer know I am an apprentice
- Explain the rates of a junior Barber cut
- Work on calming the nerves
Later I talked to the shop manager (my mentor) and he encouraged me saying that the next drop-in customer that is asking for a basic haircut (not a fade) will be a good place to start off. And clients who are my friends I can do the more complex cuts on since I've cut their hair in the past they know and trust me to cut their hair with some support and guidance from my mentor when it's needed.
This helped me understand that this situation was not personal though the customers reaction was negative I used it as a lesson to know what my next steps will be in learning and honing in on my craft. Additionally the other Barbers encouraged me saying that this is not a common occurance at the Barbed shop and to just stay positive and keep doing what I'm doing and that I handled the situation very well and professionally and it took courage to handle that.
Lastly at the end of the gentleman haircut he approached me and said “Hey I feel really bad I acted like an A**hole. I remember when I was once an electrician apprentice and we all start somewhere. I appologize.” I responded “It’s okay man I know it's not personal and we all start somewhere. I'm glad you are walking out of the shop satisfied with your haircut I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”
This is just the beginning of a wild new chapter as an apprentice Barber. I am proud of how I handled a situation that could have been discouraging and a cut to the ego but instead I chose to learn from it and at the end of the day the customer did some self-reflection and some good came from an uncomfortable situation.
Sometimes things don't go your way but we can always celebrate the small wins and lessons we learn.
My question to you is what was a win for you recently?
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Growth and a new chapter begins!
