in the workshop

settling in

Aug 10, 2015

six weeks ago i was on the verge of becoming unglued. for the record, it has been a long time since i've opened a salon and the memory isn't what it used to be. actually, nothing is what it used to be. having spent an enormous amount of energy on building the bath/skin care brand, somehow the world of hair has passed me by.

as a barber/stylist i can cope. most of the work i've been doing for the past twenty or so years is about educating stylists in the art of cutting men's hair. my contemporaries create the fashion. i interpret the look, breakdown the process and distill it into a great, wearable cut for guys. it's not all that fancy. it's just what i do. everyone has a talent. this was the one handed to me. though i may be clever, have a nose for creating scent, the ability to work ingredients into skin care that i love (and hope you will love too), the thing i understand the best is how to cut a man's head of hair. that being said, the talent bus left the station without me where current women's styles are concerned. thank god for my staff of talented stylist.

i recently asked one of my stylist to partner with me in the salon. this idea comes naturally to me. identifying breakout people who will be able to manage the relationship we share is how duross & langel (the store/brand) has become successful. we have a handful of employees who are now full invested partners. they work side by side for the common good. it was never my intention to build on my own. i find the odious task of being el hefe a drudge. i love my people. i love their commitment. i love that if we succeed, together we will all share in the outcome. i expect nothing less from the salon. at the outset, i spoke to a few talented stylists about doing this with me. i am too far out of the creative side of the salon business to completely comprehend what is happening. it changes in an instant, and if you are not on top of the pyramid, you are screwed. anyway, one said no (i so love her) and one parted company soon after we got to know one another. i am certainly not everyone's cup of tea. and then as my three stylists began settling in, it occurred.

natasha pickett is the kind of person who naturally charms and succeeds. sweet, strong, opinionated and fierce about her convictions, her talents are many. i did everything but get down on one knee when i asked her to be my salon work wife. natasha has the rare qualities to lead our growing team and yet be deep in the trenches working harder than anyone else. she makes everything easier for us all. this also gives everyone an opportunity to take their positions on the field. rene is teaching advanced haircutting. kenzie is honing her skills in a vast arena of craft. soon we will have new stylist who she can mentor and teach.

it took me a good four full months to calm down and settle in. now i have a lightness inside i have not felt since i was working in the store kitchen. i have a great staff and they are doing amazing work. i hope you will come see for yourself

tell me who your friends are

Jul 13, 2015

and i'll tell you who you are. pretty simple really. the idea that the people around us are a litmus test for how we show up in the world. choosing staff is quite similar. upon interviewing, it either clicks or it does not. if an agreement is struck, a bargain made, then we commence a working relationship. a bit of time passes, we learn about one another, and then we either prove, or not, that we are the people we claim to be. on that score, i am either lucky or wise. i like to think both.

although the salon is still in it's infancy, i am pleased by the people who share my day. though it is just us four, i cannot help but approach this venture with the idea that this is a special group. a team. the kind of team who lifts one another and creates work of which we can all be proud. everything throughout the building is beginning to hum nicely. the store is busy, the yoga studio gathering steam while the production team produces. the salon is taking a wee bit longer. building from scratch creates challenge so we try to be patient as well as ambitious. the difference between make or break is going to be our attitude. so for the moment i will not be listening to reason, responding to common sense, or climbing down from my lofty peak. whatever we have planned to do, i am going to cling to it through thick or thin, and i won't let a trivial thing like a seemingly inarguable momentary evidence of reality stop me from battling valiantly onwards. being forewarned hasn't made a blind bit of difference either. it is a grand adventure and we know that nothing is going to stop us. once we have defied gravity, re-written history and surprised all the experts, we can discuss what comes next. for now, i know who i am. defined best by the people i choose to share my daily life.

you just can't beat a broken drum

May 28, 2015

when i am hungry - and i walk down the street, i only notice the shops that are selling food. when i am choosing a color scheme and my eye is drawn to a certain shade of paint, i start to spot that shade on other peoples walls and fabrics. at this point in my life, i notice most what inwardly interests me. in this moment, i am interested in becoming more efficient and organized and stable. which is probably why i keep noticing how much is crazy and chaotic. actually, things are a lot better than they might feel. still... things are tricky. a balancing act of sorts. standing center in a flaming three ring circus. if i don't light myself on fire, we will celebrate. when something like a business expansion begins to click, many people are cued to the idea of financial opportunity. of course ways to improve our financial situation could arise anytime now - roughly translated: means we will have ample opportunity to pay the bills and the taxes. having new avenues of potential growth gives us the possibility of making the most of what we've already accomplished. today someone referred to me as a re-entrepreneur. i laughed (in a really good way) for the speaker understood how we have come around full circle from our little salon with a basement soap kitchen and tiny storefront. hopefully i am developing a keener understanding and insight. not so much in regard to making money, but in seeing how new ideas and perspectives have imbued me with a greater sense of purpose. i can tangibly state that all the old rules can be broken. all the old restrictions can be ignored. all the old reasons why progress was previously not permissible can be seriously reconsidered. the goalposts have been moved. we are playing a different game now - and it is one in which we are far better qualified to excel. so i assume we are finally living into all that we have built together. time will tell. our first duty is to carrying on the legacy of customer service, quality and craftsmanship, opening our new world up to all the people who have inhabited it, and in finding a way to knit tightly together what so many refer to as a lifestyle company. that is, if at first we do not go mad.

if you can’t beat a broken drum, what must you beat in order to become unbeatable? at the core of team duross & langel - we aspire to be unbeatable. be it virtue or vice, it is one of the defining characteristics we all share. and we own it as if for no other reason than it is the truth, and that it binds us as a team. for those of us who adapt become a part of the densely wound cabal that ascribes to the notion that there is no there there, no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. for us it begins and ends with today. making the best soap or lotion, working in the tightest fade of a haircut, or finding solitude, strength and grace within the walls of the yoga studio. now if only we could all. just. sit. still. but that is to ponder another day