A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of chatting with Chad Allen (@chad2klean) on SLCKR Collective. The overarching theme of our conversation was growth. Chad is an individual who is never content and always moving himself forward. He has a critical thinking approach to his work in barbering that allows him to reach goals that most would shy away at. There was a lot to learn from our conversation and I highly suggest you watch the full interview here. For those of you that are time strapped (as most of us are), I have broken down the most important quotes from our conversation below.
Take this time to listen, learn, and think about how you could apply some of this knowledge in your own life. And, as always, Stay Slick.
Here, Chad talks about one of the biggest assets we have as barbers, an asset that is poorly utilized. Barbers have the power to determine how they get paid. There are a multitude of payment options that we see in our day to day lives - a credit card machine, a square iphone plug-in, a tap to pay. Despite these options, many shops still choose to take cash only. We all know the reason for this, but the fact of the matter is these shops are actually hurting their earning potential. Eliminating as much friction as possible in the payment process is essential to earning more money. Need more convincing? Look at Amazon's buy now option.
Chad discusses how he creates a productive cycle to encourage his clients to use cryptocurrency. Rather than pushing a point of sale concept directly to a paying customer, Chad instead uses his knowledge to educate the consumer. He uses his power as a barber to generate this conversation and establish rapport in the concept. This causes his clients to look into it themselves. When they come back active in the cryptocurrency space, they are that much more likely to pay Chad in cryptocurrency.
Burnout. A concept that all barbers are intimately familiar with. Day after day, cut after cut, passion or not, burnout can occur when things get to repetitive. Chad suggests the key to avoiding burnout is innovation. Here, we get a nod to our own product, The Rig. Chad notes that it allowed him to have fun cutting hair in a way he wasn't accustomed to. As we say, any place, any time.
One of the most powerful statements from our conversation. Put yourself out of your comfort zone. If you are constantly doing things that are comfortable for you and you are unhappy with your life, nothing is going to change! Chad discusses changing your interpretation and appreciation for the concept of time. Every second counts.
There are not many professions where you have a 30-45 minute window to have a conversation with someone. Better yet, you actually get paid for these meetings! What Chad talks about here is gold. As a barber, you should have an expansive network of individuals across a variety of professions. If you don't, you are doing something wrong. Talk to your clients, make connections, and leverage that network into opportunities.