Hit 500 haircuts this week and I'm still shook about it

I've been cutting hair out of my home shop for about 2 years now and I just hit my 500th haircut on Wednesday. It was a little kid who wanted a fade like his dad and I honestly didn't even realize I was that close until I looked at my book. 500 sounds like a lot but it didn't feel like that many when I was doing it one head at a time lol. I started off just doing friends and family for cheap and now I've got a solid rotation of regulars who actually trust me with their hair. It made me think about how far I've come from messing up bald fades to getting compliments from other barbers. Does anyone else keep track of their numbers or is that just me being weird about milestones?

2 comments

2 Comments

alex30712d ago

500 is no joke man, especially cutting out of a home shop where every single one is booked by word of mouth and repeat business. Most people don't get how much those first few hundred haircuts really test you, both in skill and in how you handle different hair types and requests. I kept a little notebook for my first thousand or so, just the date and a quick note on the cut, and it was wild looking back at the early entries where I was clearly still figuring out clipper-over-comb work. That moment when a regular brings their kid in because they trust you with the whole family is a bigger accomplishment than any certificate or social media following. Take the win and keep that book going, because in another year you'll probably double that number and it's cool to see the proof right there in front of you.

alice_hart12d ago

Those first 500 cuts definitely humble you in a way nothing else can. I remember being about 150 cuts in and thinking I had it all figured out, then some guy sat down with hair that was parted on the exact opposite side from what I expected and I basically had to start over mid-cut. The notebook thing is smart though, wish I had done that because now I just have a blurry memory of all the bad haircuts I gave in 2021. That moment you described about a regular bringing their kid in, that hit hard. I had a dad bring his son to me last month and I was more nervous than my first day behind the chair because now I had two generations to mess up. You're right that it means way more than some viral Instagram reel ever could. Keep tracking those numbers, it really puts the whole journey in perspective when you can look back at the mess you used to make.