More About Rosemary Senjem

The Ely Barbershop

Wildly Successful Haircuts for Everyone!

Desire:

I wanted to learn more about business and considered various MBA programs. Meanwhile, I had given haircuts to friends and family for years. It was a wonderful creative outlet and forum for relating. It occurred to me that I could start a business and learn about it experientially and have a lot more fun along the way. (more about experiential education)

 

Focus:

After 8 years in the area, I knew that I loved living in Ely, Minnesota. I also knew that Ely was a town divided by deep political differences, galvanized by the creation of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1963. Families lost their homes and resorts to make way for the new wilderness area. While many sold their properties and livelihoods willingly, their children remained bitter about the transition. I had an affinity for the people on all sides of the political argument, respecting their common love for the area and high-spirited way of living.

A dream began to form — a dream of running a haircut shop, in such a way that it brings people together to discover again what they have in common and celebrate the small town they share. I had found a focus for my self-directed business "education."

Opportunities:

• There were already several beauty shops and just one active barber in Ely when I began this endeavor.

• While in barber school, I interviewed with the sole barber in town about an apprenticeship and decided I would learn more by apprenticing in the city for more customer contact and more opportunities to learn about the range of business possibilities.
• Although there was a sizable population in the Ely area of people who had relocated from urban areas, none of the places to get a haircut in town seemed to particularly welcome them.
• There was also a sizable population of women and men who wanted a no-fuss, wash-and-go haircut without emphasis on all the gel and products often used in this business.
• I decided that my niche would be to focus specifically on "Haircuts for Everyone." I would not directly compete with the beauty shops and I would welcome people who were traveling out-of-town to get the service they wanted.
• I knew that humor and creativity are keys to helping people see their common interests. I decided that the theme for the shop would be history and humor of the Ely area.

Process:

It is always exciting when we treat the world as our classroom. I decided I needed to learn about customer service, so I took a holiday position at Nordstrom in the Mall of America to learn from one of the best. I took notes on everything I witnessed around me, interviewing co-workers and jotting down notes about the working environment. Next, I studied at a world famous beauty school in Minneapolis for only a week (I suppose that makes me a beauty school dropout!) and realized I was more interested in building community and giving a great haircut, than coloring, perming and aromatherapy. Eventually, I found my way to the Minnesota School of Barbering, on East Lake Street, where I learned my new trade and a bit more about working with people from all walks of life. My apprenticeship at Dick's Sports Barbers, in Minneapolis, became the launching point for the Ely Barbershop. The barbers there mentored and kidded me towards my dream.

Late one Saturday night, while still in my apprentice year, I pulled into Ely and saw the ideal building for sale on the main street. By Monday, the purchase agreement was signed and I began to conduct informal focus groups with the people of the town. I started at the diner next door (open at 4am) asking everyone at the counter what they would like for the hours and services of a barber shop. When it came time for renovations, I hired a contractor who was well respected and whose family is established in the community. I began to collect historical and humorous images and objects to hang on the walls that reflected the flavor of the focus groups.

My own family could not resist being part of this as well. My parents, sister and brother-in-law flew out from Pennsylvania to finish the renovations. Creativity was rampant! Dad and I built a display rack for my shampoos from an old canoe, long before anything like this appeared in department stores.

My brother-in-law put his sign-painting talents to work, while my sister and mother focused on the interior. Special features of the finished shop included: refurbished antique barber chairs, a piano for anyone to play, antique school desk with toys, crayons and paper for kids, photos and readings of Ely's history and humor.

Result:
The shop was wildly successful, serving the entire family, featuring "Music on the Front Porch" as time and weather allowed. There were even a significant number of seasonal customers from Chicago and the Twin Cities who waited until they came up to their cabins to get a haircut at the Ely Barbershop.

In this industry it is common to have a 80:20 ratio of one gender to another, catering mostly to males or females. I kept active records of my shop experience and developed a 60:40 ratio of men to women.

While running the shop, I wrote all my own ad copy and did my own radio commercials. Several customers told me that they thought I should have my own radio show. The radio station even asked me to read for other business' ads.

I had a lot of fun seizing every opportunity to market the shop and have fun with people. The highest reward was noticing people from both sides of the political spectrum in Ely begin to have friendly conversations while waiting for a haircut at the Ely Barbershop.