Author // Kiana Klass
A walk-in men’s haircut came in the other day, but didn’t know what he wanted. All he knew was that he needed a change. Step one. I went along, doing his haircut when I asked my regular question of “how did you hear about us?” Step one.
He chuckled a little and then proceeded to tell me that he was driving past our salon looking for motivation in life. His job wasn’t fulfilling, his past was haunting him, and he was plain & simple, uninspired. Seeing our sign (Be Inspired Salon), he pulled in desperate for a change. The more we talked, the more he uncovered.
I listened quietly as he explained the last haircut he had was in jail. He told me about the drugs and alcohol. The DUIs. The distant sister. The raw, the messy, the ugly.
My heart ached for this man in my chair. He revealed the dark places he had been. The places he got too close to. How he knew there was more to life then what he was doing. He admitted he wanted to get rid of it, start fresh, cut off the old ways.
The realization hit me and I looked up through the mirror to meet his eyes. “So this haircut is actually your step one.”
It took a second to sink in. He raised his eyebrows, cracked a smile and nodded. Out of all places he could start and people to be vulnerable with, he chose a haircut. He chose a hair salon. To cut off months of old hair and old him. To start new again & to look in the mirror and see someone rejuvenated. Inspired.
After this, he lit up & spilled details on what he would do next, what step two was to turn his life around and told me about the beautiful things going on. He told me about how great he is at skateboarding, his passion for bowling and his belief in angels. He told me about the journals he’s kept and the book he will write. (Which I will be the first to read)
When I took the cape off, we both held still for a moment as we quietly looked at the new man in the mirror. A little more determined than when he came in. A lot less hair, a little more confident and feeling worthy. Step one of his journey.
This is all it takes, y’all. My job, seemingly such a simple job of giving a haircut, runs far deeper than what you think. He had never had his hair washed, a hand massage or a hot towel (he couldn’t stop man-giggling). And possibly someone listening to him and believing in him, either. What a gift it is to be the one to bring comfort, relaxation and to serve someone so lost. The joy of my job comes from the ability to reach strangers all within an appointment’s time. The second they sit down in my chair, I get to be intimate with them. Not in the way you automatically think of intimate, but in a close, trusting, authentic relationship, despite possibly not knowing them. I’m locked into anything they want to get off their shoulders, anything they want to celebrate and anything they need to share. If they let me, I will dive into their lives because humans need REAL relationships, not just a trim off the ends.
Who knew step one could be so simple and so beautiful.
And this my friends, is where it’s at. I so often leave the salon feeling like the lucky one. And I believe I am.
It’s always more than a haircut.
