1 haircut = 1 career

I was a trainer for a chain of salons that featured five haircuts in their cutting education program.  They believed that all haircuts that needed to be delivered in their shops would qualify as a pure form or variation or combination of their five basic shapes.  That is what we learned and delivered every day.

I attended a cosmetology school that taught four basic structural haircut forms.  They believed that all haircuts you would ever deliver were made up of these four structural forms either in pure form or, more likely in varying combinations.

Many haircutting trend releases share variations on a particular stylistic theme in three interpretations, short, medium and long.  They profess that their trend interpretation can be adapted to all clients using these three length categories.

Some haircutters see techniques and styles as divided by gender.  A look is predominately male or female.  This brings two distinct views of a haircut, its options and applications.

I have long held that I only know one haircut.  I have claimed to have built my entire career on the mastery of just one haircut.   I guesstimate that 99% of all guy haircuts are some variation on the basic, classic taper.  That classic taper is the basis of the guy haircut business and the overriding theme of my career.  I believe that if you are to succeed in the guy haircut game you MUST master the classic taper.

That being said, I recently participated in a discussion about haircutting careers and what you really need to know to succeed.  I had shared my position on only really knowing one haircut.  By the time the conversation was over I had come to the conclusion that I was right, but off by just a little bit.  You only need to know one haircut.  The only one you need to know is the one in your chair right now.  It is the only one that really matters.  A career and a clientele are built one haircut at a time.  One satisfied client is all you really need.  That one client, that one haircut, can be the foundation of a complete career.  If you can deliver that one haircut, all the rest are easy.  Commit yourself to nailing down just one haircut.  Find that one client on which you can park this one cut in world class fashion.  This client and this one haircut are bedrock of your career.  Build on that and your will create a career with real staying power.  Making it a classic tapered guy cut won’t hurt either.

Happy clippering.

Ivan