Young Entrepreneurs with Pappy's Barbershop Poway
Gehrig seen cutting at Pappy’s Barbershop - a barber-owned shop with a nostalgic feel to it.
One of the groups most affected by Covid are small time, privately run businesses. As restrictions are placed and the number of customers slows, these places which are, sometimes our favorites, really begin to feel the pressure caused by the changing times. Today, we have a special guest with us as we get a glimpse into the life of young entrepreneurs and the work that they put in to own and operate a business especially amid the pandemic. So here’s a look at Pappy’s Barbershop in Poway.
We had the opportunity to talk with Gehrig Sullivan, barber and co-owner of Pappy’s Barbershop in Poway. Gehrig is a young entrepreneur, having opened up the shop at 28 years old, a San Diego local, a pop-punk enthusiast, and Dr. Raines’s own barber!
We asked Gehrig about what led him to be a barber and he told us, “I was trying to find a career, and I needed a backup plan because I was playing music, going on tour and such, and me and my brother had just gotten kicked out slash quit slash the band was about to fall apart. I was working part time jobs and I was talking to Mark about it, that’s Pappy. So I ask him, ‘You like your job?’ and he tells me, ‘Yea, it’s awesome.’ So I started looking into barber schools and every few weeks I would go and get my haircut by him and he would ask me, ‘What’s the latest with barbering?’ I told him, ‘I’m going to do it.’ And he responded with, ‘Well, there’s a way you can do it through an apprenticeship.’ I couldn’t cut hair until I got my apprentice license and then I did after two years. So I became an employee and started talking with Mark about opening up a shop whether doing it alone or with him. I told him one day I want to.”
We then wanted to look into what the process was for opening up a Barber shop and he explained to us, “Mark asked me again one day, ‘Hey are you still thinking about opening up a shop?’ I wasn’t sure, but he told me, ‘If you want to, together we could open one.’ So I decided to sleep on it and when I woke up the next day, I told myself I would be crazy not to. To get a chance to work with Mark who knows what he’s doing. So I told him, ‘I’m in.’ Then we started looking for a spot and it took us about a year and a half before we finally signed a lease. When we found the place, the rent was right, the size was perfect. So we said screw it, let’s do it. So we signed the lease and started building.”
There’s many obstacles to starting a business, so we then asked what the hardest parts about it are and he described, “So it was 10 to 7, but you were there before and after closing so it was more like 9:30 to 8. There are still jobs that are longer, but the physical side to it. So you get tired, and also if you’re booked all day you’re not thinking about business stuff. Then you have to do it when you get home and there’s paperwork you have to do for the city, for the state, for the Board of Cosmetology. Then you’re also trying to pay for advertising, set up an instagram, making sure you’re posting. Then you’re taking photos to post. That’s the struggle is not just working but also operating your business on top of doing the extra stuff. That’s the hardest part, if you’re a nice person and a decent barber and you’re in a spot for long enough you’ll get business if you’re patient, but you have to treat people right. But you also have to put in the hours, especially when you first open and it’s slow as hell. You just have to be there.”
