Announcing the MODERN SALON 100 Class of 2026
Join us in congratulating this year's list of hardworking, game-changing individuals.
2018 MODERN SALON 100: Matty Conrad @Mattyconrad
Barber we'd most like to grab a beer with, Matty Conrad describes himself as "the world's luckiest barber." He's also super savvy, launching his own brand while maintaining a clientele and overseeing salons. World's busiest barber, too, maybe.
August 2, 2018
Matty Conrad
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2 min to read
Barber we'd most like to grab a beer with, Matty Conrad describes himself as "the world's luckiest barber." He's also super savvy, launching his own brand while maintaining a clientele and overseeing salons. World's busiest barber, too, maybe.
Matty Conrad
Victory Barber & Brand, Vancouver,British Columbia
Specialty: Men’s hair
Followers: 73k
Most viral post: I posted a picture of my shop back in 2011 with a huge wooden sign that I had made and painted in my woodshop that had our shop motto on it: ‘Keep it handsome.’ The picture was taken on an iPhone and you can see a faint reflection of me in the mirror. But since then it has been reposted more than 100,000 times on Pinterest and has been replicated by countless people since. In fact, if you Google ‘vintage barbershop’ it regularly comes up as one of the first few images. Funny because I would see people labelling it as a ‘1940s barbershop’ or writing ‘I wish they still made shops like this.’ I see it everywhere. Someone even recently launched a line called Keep it Handsome and at least 10 other barbershops have tried to adopt it for their advertising.
Favorite apps: Over is great for adding text, Snapseed is my favorite for photo editing, and Boomerang because it’s fun.
Favorite hashtags: #worldsluckiestbarber #keepithandsome #barberlife
I follow:@mjsolofamensgrooming@andrewdoeshair @1924us @thebloodybutcher@farzadthehappybarber
Pro tips: Content + context = engagement. Make sure your content is quality and give it a back story so it’s relatable or interesting.
Hidden talent: Many years ago, I was a women’s hairstylist and an award-winning colorist.
Hidden talent: Carpentry, I love to build stuff.
How social media changed my life: It created a much broader platform for me to share my work and my passion for what we do. But originally I just started out using it to share my daily life with my friends and my clients when I was out on the road teaching. I have always been on the move so I wanted everyone to know what I was up to and that I wasn’t just ditching them.
The first time I was featured on MODERN’s Insta: I can’t remember the exact photo but I always appreciate any support that the magazines have given me and that’s why I am the #worldsluckiestbarber.
See the full 2018 MODERN SALON 100 here!
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