ISSUES #22: MAY 2016
BLACK ENTREPRENEURS
And that’s what? You planning to open your own shop?
I am, but I’m carefully laying all my groundwork to launch it properly. I feel like you have to prepare for your success just as much as you have to grind to get there. It can come fast and you have to be ready for it. You know, to make that first impression and establish a good reputation with my new clients. My clientele now keeps me steady and when I go out on my own, I want that first impression from new customers to be right. So I’m at a stage where I’m getting deep into my planning. When I’m home, I turn the TV off and get into a focused zone so I can build my game plan; promotion and advertising, location, expenses… everything.
Family wise, you have brothers and sisters?
Yeah, I’ve got two sisters and one brother. One of my sisters and two or three cousins live out here but the majority of my family lives in New Orleans. In my own family, I have my wife and one son. He’s nine years old.
Gotcha. That father-son relationship is very important. The parental relationship overall, of course, but how do you guys bond with your son?
I pay attention to my son. Just watching him grow and listening to him and the different relationship he has with his mom. And he communicates with his mom a lil’ differently than he does with me. He’s more open with her where he’s probably a little more scared of me or less
EYE ON
EXCELLENCE
An interview with master barber Andre Eugene
Andre Eugene is a New Orleans native, out of New Orleans east, that relocated to Houston, TX in 2001. He is a barber and stylist with a reputation for his expert work and clean cuts. He has a suite in the barber and beauty “Grand Lux Salon and Barbery” in Katy, TX, a classy shop with a Parisian sidewalk motif. Andre has his sights set on launching his own shop in the near future.
I got to chop it up with Andre in his shop in December. Good dude. Here’s our conversation…
Thanks for making time to speak with me today. So what brought you to Texas?
Just looking for something different. New Orleans is pretty roughand Houston was a nice change of pace. More opportunities here too. Plus the way I carry myself, which is pretty much on my own, I was at much less risk to get caught up. Being independent is a good thing but in the wrong situation the isolation can make you a target. So while I was younger I figured I’d give Houston a shot. This is actually my second time coming here. When I moved here the first time I was like, 21. I was young and didn’t appreciate what Houston had to offer. So I was out here 8 months then I was back in New Orleans. I came back after two or three years with a friend I grew up with that was opening a shop in southwest Houston.
Were you working out of a shop In New Orleans also?
Out in Saint Rose, LA where my family grew up, I owned a shop for about a year. That situation fell into my lap. The way it is in New Orleans, your skill level had to be so precise in that city. I felt at that time my skill level didn't meet N.O. Standards. In that city you can get your best haircut from a dude cutting hair out his house. You can eat off cutting hair down there and all and the laws aren’t as strict there as they are in Houston. I wasn’t as into it there as I am here. I also worked for an oil company in New Orleans but I’ve been 100% with it here in Houston.
How long have you been cutting hair?
Collectively it’s been 22 years. I trained at Sidney Collier in New Orleans and when I saw them barber student cats cutting in there, it was on. I already knew that’s what I really wanted to do so I went with it.
Man you don’t look like you’re old enough to have cut hair for 22 years. 12 years maybe… (we laugh).
Now, I’ve seen a few of those beauty shop reality shows, THROUGH MY WIFE, let me make that clear, (laughter), and I’ve seen some real shadiness that can exist in shops. It’s gotta be hard to avoid some of that catty behavior through the years.
Well, I worked out of shops in southwest Houston for 10 years and I’ve been in Katy for three so I’ve seen my share of it. Usually because I stay to myself and I handle my business and don’t get involved in the hoopla. Some people in the shops took that as my being standoffish but I just like to take care of my business and move on. I chitchat a little bit but I don’t do a lot of that “fluff” talk. I do that with my clients all day engaging them in conversation. So I’d just come in and do what I’ve gotta do.
I also had issues with other barbers and my work where they felt like I was trying to take all the customers. I was given a booth near the door so the shop owner could kinda use me to greet and deal with walk-ins and they’d end up wanting to wait for me to cut their hair instead of other barbers. Once they saw my work, they’d want to deal with me. At one shop that I worked out of, the owner even changed the locks on me! So with that, I felt like I needed a different environment until I was ready to do my own thing.
comfortable to talk to me about some things. I try to tell him to calm down and let me know what’s going on too. But when I overhear him talk, he goes into another little zone with his mom. You kinda hear where he’s at mentally. She’ll tell me things he said and he’s real deep in thought for his age. I try to nurture that a bit.
I’m always examining the experience of Black parents raising kids in the current cultural climate in America. I know your son’s fairly young but are you incorporating any of what’s happening out there into his non-school education?
I keep him aware of it, especially because of where we live in Texas. The “difference” is clear at times. Like when I go to pick him up from school, the Black students are like bookends. I let him know a little bit. He’s already aware of some of it but, because of his age, I don’t get too deep with it. Not into no hatred and all that. I filter it out, you know, for his age but I let it be known that in some cases you are perceived a certain way whether it applies to you or not. I don’t keep him blind to it. AND… he knows a lot already. I don’t kid myself that he doesn’t have experiences and understanding of his own about it, even at 9 years old.
So he’s getting his life lessons.
Yeah he is. He’s interested in football right now but I’m kinda holding him off on it. I told him that football appears to be physical but, like a lot of things in life, it’s a lot more mental. Running fast or being able to jump high is just part of it. You’ve got to use your brain. I’ve been weaning him away from it because I don’t think he’s mentally ready yet.
What do you like to do for fun?
Honestly, not a lot. When you’re from New Orleans you start early in that street life so at this point in my life, I kinda like I stick to myself. I mean my wife and I might go out for a drink or we do a family outing but otherwise I enjoy being at home. I work 7 days a week since I live so close to the shop. If somebody calls me for a
cut I come to work. If I can squeeze something fun in I get it done but right now it’s not on my mind. Right now I’m trying to get where I want to be with my business goals.
Which is your own shop?
My own shop. I’ve been talking about it for like ten years but I know it’s a process. I’ve been looking at everything I’ve been going through and, I don’t regret it or dwell on it, but I take it all in as a learning experience. I have too many ideas and a vision for my own thing and I’m ready to run with ‘em. That’s my next move within the next 10 months.
I’m checking out the pictures on your wall and I’m realizing that these are pics of customers. I didn’t realize at first that these are actual photos. The hair lines look so clean I thought they were drawings or something. Definitely not photographs.
That’s because I use that straight razor. Barbers in New Orleans, that’s the standard. You’re not going anywhere in New Orleans cutting hair with just clippers. That helped to set me apart when I came to Houston. Not that I introduced razors in Houston but my using one helped set my work apart from other barbers. Especially in Katy where there wasn’t that many black shops to begin with. I keep the quality high. My mindset is to give top level service every time. I’m not gonna impress you on your first visit then get by every other time. I put 100% into my work every time because this is all I do. No side hustles. That’s what my customers understand and appreciate.
What’s your business model going to be?
It’ll be a suite rental set up and I think it will work out good. I’ll call it 3D. I’ve seen a trend of people shying away from shops lately because of the open air environment where clients come in and want to converse and get loud and what not. A lot of people don’t want to come to the shop and hear all that. A lot of female customers specifically tell me that so I know the structure that I want is going to work. A professional barber shop where barbers and stylists have their own private suite for their clientele. They control their suite’s mood and client traffic within the overall location. Personally, I’m only 700 hours from getting my beautician’s license to include women’s hair in my service. I plan to go back to school and get that license as well.
As far as the shop, I have to put the right people in and I’ll be straight. For booth rentals, you don’t really have to advertise or anything because people will pop in on you to see if you have booth space available. Usually there’s no interview process and nobody asks what type of clientele the barber or stylist has. With that, you never really get to know the person and the people around them until they’re in your shop. Part of my plan is to have enough financial reserves to cover all expenses at my location for a year on my own. That way I can take my time and ensure that I get the right crew in my shop. I want everything to be just so. And once I get 3 or 4 people, that’s when I put everything on blast promotions-wise. My shop will be all about quality, convenience and professionalism.
I haven’t really pushed myself the way I will when I launch 3D; the way I know I can. But when I do, I know success is gonna come. It’s coming right now.
I always say good things happen to good people. Wishing much success to Andre! Keep supporting Black businesses!!
V. Ray
#positiveblack
