Today we’d like to introduce you to William McMillan.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After spending some time in the IT field, I became disillusioned with that type of work. I wanted to do something with my hands again, and feel like I was helping people and making a difference. Difference. Even to just my small community. I’ve always been interested, and fascinated with everything mid century, so of course part of that was also barbering. My mother always cut my hair, when I mentioned to her. I was interested in barbering. She suggested my go find a barber!
After searching, I found one in Provo, Utah and went and had an amazing experience that set me off in the right direction for the rest of my career. Before me and my business partner started our barbershop, I worked in five different barber shops. All giving me an amazing experience and shaping me into the barber I am today.
When I was ready to make the leap I didn’t know where to start to start my own shop. I look at places to lease and didn’t have much luck. So had the thought that there might be an older Barber who was looking to retire and sell his barbershop. So I literally googled barbershop for sale. And funny enough, I found Jim’s! After some negotiation with Jim, I then brought on a business partner and the two of us bought Jim’s business from him and immediately started construction. We had a month to do construction and get open, and that was December of 2019.
After the first couple of months of first Business struggles, they started to get our feet. And of course covid hit about February/ March of 2020. We were fortunate enough to stay open and push through the covid struggles, and have been charging onward ever since
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not exactly, I had my first child 3 months after we opened, quickly followed by covid. As well as in that time frame our ex boss- tried to sue me /threatened to sue me about 4 four times the 6 years we’ve been open.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a classically trained barber, specializing in men’s haircuts, beards, and shaves. I was fortunate to apprentice under a senior Barber named Darrel, and he taught me a lot about the industry. I also had a amazing learning experience working for a company called The art of shaving. There I tended to do four to six full face shaves a day, and that greatly improved my confidence and skills with the straight razor.
Now within our own shop, I think what we specialize in and are most proud of is that we are simply a barber shop. We’re not a chain, we are not a Instagram shop, we strive to simply be your neighborhood barber shop and provide a welcoming experience where you can get a great haircut. In this day of of non-stop moving, we want to be a place of respite for people to sit down, relax and know that they can trust us.
A lot of other shops out there seem to always be trying to be more than what they are, and that tends to hurt them more than help them. We have a small saying to describe our shop, and we call it ” The genuine experience” and that is all we are striving to be
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Regarding my work?
Seeing a regular walk-in, sit down, take a deep breath and relax. There is nothing more rewarding Than having someone who you have been cutting their hair for years, trust you and come in and let everything go. For just 30 minutes. They can forget about stress, about work, about all the crazy going on in their life and simply relax.
Pricing:
- 30min service is $35 with card or $30 with cash
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wmbarberco.com
- Instagram: @Wm.barberco
