Hey Barbers,âŚ..do yourself a favor and take a lunch break!!
.
Youâre no good to yourself or your clients if youâre pushing through a work day without fuel, being hangry and moody and not being able to function at your best performance levels.
.
You can afford to take 15 to 30 mins for yourself, or more, every workday and it not be the thing that keeps you from being successful or making money.
.
Remember that a successful Barbering career is an about the long game, itâs a game of endurance and sustainability, and the burnout from not taking care of yourself when it matters most is extremely real.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering
âYou either die a Hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain!â đŚ
.
.
Itâs the teamwork that makes the dream work in almost any work place environment and Barbershop culture shouldnât be any different, especially with Barbering being a Trade.
.
The success of all Trade work comes from the constant on the job learning that happens from the first day on the job to the last. Thereâs never any egos in the mentoring or teaching because every member on a crew remembers being the worm, the low man newbie who was wet behind the ears, and just trying not to F up on job.
.
Sure there is some impatience from older and experienced workers because theyâre having to teach on the fly and trying to do their jobs too, but thatâs often the type of sink or swim mentality every new tradesperson needs to make it.
.
Closed mouths donât get fed, and big egos donât get grace, so if youâre a worm, the newbie, or someone who struggles with how to get things done on the job, SPEAK UP and donât be too proud to ask for help. Youâre not the first Barber whoâs had to figure out how to fit in and do things, and you wonât be the last either. Everyone wants to you to succeed, but absolutely no one will care if you donât because you didnât want it bad enough for yourself!
.
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering
.
.
Hindsight is always 20/20, and a few bad days or challenging events spread out over 365 days doesnât make it a bad year. It just means that your choice of perspective was to hyper-focused on the bad days or challenging eventsâŚ.rather than truly opening your eyes, your heart, and overall big-picture perspective to see how much you laughted, ate, shared, saw, enjoyed, embraced, and experienced that made for far more better days that you can remember.
.
My life is by no means perfect, or without itâs moments of pain and discomfort, BUT through my FAITH and my intentionally CHOOSING to focus on my blessings, I am always in a place of peace, happiness and gratitude because my plot and parcel in life is easily far more than what one man deserves through my health, my children, my family back home in American Samoa, my business, and the small circle of friends who are now my aiga, my ohana, my family by choice.
.
Faâafetai, mahalo and thank you to everyone who supports the life journey I travel, and I pray that not only will your New Year be prosperous, but more importantly, that your ability to see how truly blessed you are grows greater with every new day! đđ˝â¤ď¸đ¤đ˝đş
.
I love you all!
.
- MJ
.
#MyYearInReview2024
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering #2024 #ny
Finally learning to self-braid the skullet so that Iâm not scaring the natives in-between cornrow sessions with @cutzbylexxi when the skullets is out and wild and free đ
.
Second attempt and Iâm not mad at it. đ˝ đ˝đ
.
Braided, faded, and feeling R-RatedâŚ..eh who am I kidding, Rated PG because itâs a family show đđ
.
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering #skullet #braidedhairstyles
Barbers will complain about not being tipped even though theyâre being paid for the service price they opted to charge. And if they do get a tip, theyâll complain it isnât enough.
.
I donât want to hear the complaints about making a living wage, or how tips are what we live off, because if thatâs your mentality or frame of thinking, then youâre not charging enough. Additionally, the second you start complaining about tipping or even expecting a tip is the second you allow entitlement and ego to take over as the governing principles of your Barbering journey.
.
Honest days work, earnest days wageâŚ.do a great job for what you charge and expect nothing more than a happy client who will return regularly to support you.
.
And IF by chance they SO CHOOSE to pay you a gratuity of any denomination, be humbled and grateful for it, and consider it to be a blessing and not their obligation!!
.
Not everyone believes in tipping culture which is a very American practice, so as a Barber itâs always a best practice to not expect it to begin with!
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering
Another Barber special coming up!
.
.
Iâve seen many a Barber over my lifetime dish out the same haircut to every client regardless of whether itâs the haircut the clients asked for or not. While this can be common for old head Barbers to do because theyâre at a point in their careers where they donât really care about service or anyoneâs opinions, itâs a very problematic habit for new Barbers today too who are one dimensional in what they choose to do.
.
Barbering is not âone size fits allâ like it used to be during war times, with âhigh and tightsâ or âshort sides and backâ being the standard issue haircuts. Barbering as a trade has evolved, which requires Barbers to evolve as well.
.
Iâve had many of these kinds of Barbers pass through my shops over the years and all of them were asked to leave because not only could they not understand how poorly they were performing technically, they also couldnât understand that their kind of barbering was counterintuitive to the service and experience driven culture of Barbering I promote.
.
If youâre a one trick pony Barber, I suggest you learn to broaden your arsenal and repertoire unless you plan on working in a military base chop shop where fast and furious is the pace, and one kind of haircut is the name of the game.
.
.
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering
âWhoâs the Master??!!?!!â
.
.
The thing with having high expectations, like walking into a barbershop and asking whoâs the best Barber, often means youâll be met with higher disappointments because the âbestâ to one is not the âbestâ to another. Itâs all subjective.
.
In a shop full of Barbers, youâd be hard pressed to have anyone say theyâre less of a Barber than the Barber next to them, and as egos would have it, youâd be even more hard pressed to find one of them who didnât think they were qualified to give the best haircut in the place,âŚ..even the worst of them would say they could do it.
.
If youâre going into a new Barbershop, go in with realistic expectations that your first haircut there may not be to your liking, especially if youâre walking in their blindly without any research and wanting a perfect haircut!
.
But you can improve your chances of a better haircut if you go in and are able to explain and articulate what you want and donât want, be specific in your explanations, and even bring a picture of what youâd like your haircut to replicate within reason.
.
Help the Barbers help you, and you may likely have better results by having more practical expectations.
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering
Who hurt you as a child old man??
.
.
Patience is definitely in short supply around the busier seasons of Barbering, particularly with the holidays rushes of any kind. This can be especially true in busy walk-in only Barbershops where often times itâs standing room only in the waiting areas.
.
Understand that as Barbers, your quality of service standards shouldnât diminish just because youâre busier or working longer hours, because itâs not a clients fault that your hungry, tired and grumpy when they come in later in the day instead of earlier in the day. You are expected to on your A game for EVERY client, because itâs not for a client to be concerned that youâre not at 100%âŚ..thatâs what the job calls for us to consistently do and to consistently give!
.
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #instagram #entrepreneur #businesscoach #entrepreneurship #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber #barber #barbering
Sadly the ego of todayâs Barbers and their need to flex about being busy and booked and being by appointment only, has way too many of them feeling comfortable treating walk-in customers like theyâre business is less valued as the customers who book ahead.
.
And even worse, the ego of these Barbers somehow makes them think theyâre above acknowledging a customer who walks in, as if taking the time to assist them is a nuisance and inconvenience (which theyâll display unapologetically in their irritated facial expressions or just them not looking in that customerâs direction at all).
.
If youâre that kind of Barber or Barbershop, get over yourselvesâŚ.none of you are that special!!!
.
Anytime someone comes into my shops as a walk-in, theyâre welcomed and asked how we can be of service to them. When they ask if we have time for a walk-in, the Barbers will check amongst themselves if anyone has availability to serve the customer. Failing there being no availability, we will apologize for not being able to accommodate them at that time, but we will explain to them our booking process should they want to try and make an appointment for a future time and date. Then we will thank them for coming in.
.
It is a team effort to manage these scenarios, and itâs all part of offering good service because that person could potentially come back solely because they were treated with class, dignity and professionalism.
.
Whether youâre busy or not, donât be a dick to the folks who come in simply because they donât know your shopâs setup or system, or because they donât know who you are, or how many followers you have on social media.
.
They just need a haircut, so be a proper human being and professionally let them know whether youâre able to accommodate them or not.
.
Check your ego at the front door Picasso, youâre just a Barber!!
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #shorts #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen
Theyâre dead to me now!đ
.
.
Bad reviews online of your business are inevitable no matter how much you try to avoid them, because even your best effort of service and professionalism and hospitality will never be enough for some people. Itâs the nature of life, not just business.
.
So what do you do when a bad review comes in?
.
I try to get to the bottom of what happened. Iâll read the review impartially, then Iâll talk to my team and managers for our honest perspective on whether we as a unit dropped the ball somewhere. If it turns out we did, then Iâll reach out to the client who left the poor review to try and make amends. Iâll also use the review to correct the in-house issues that prompted it.
.
If the review is the result of an unreasonable or irrational client, then Iâll also address that with a public reply to the review online, because itâs important to defend your business against online bullyâs and people with nothing better to do that bash small business when theyâre too scared to speak up for themselves at the establishment when theyâre unhappy.
.
And whether Iâm able to rectify the incident with the client or not, the clock doesnât stop ticking and the train doesnât stop moving, because reviews should only help you keep your business aligned to itâs purpose, not serve to derail your forward progress.
.
.
.
#reels #reelsinstagram #reelsviral #reelsvideo #viral #explorepage #joy #laugh #style #smile #love #mjsolofamensgrooming #mjsolofa #groomingmentobebettermen #berkeleybarber #instagram #god #funnyvideos #berkeleybarbershop #castrovalleybarber #entrepreneur #castrovalleybarbershop #businesscoach #smallbusinessowner #samoan #samoanbarber
