Meet the Barber: Shane Nesbitt

Shane Nesbitt, 32, is owner of the San Mateo Zoo, a hip-hop record store and barber shop. He recently opened his second shop, Head Shots, across town in the same Bay Area suburb of San Mateo. Here he discusses his unique perspective as a barber, business owner, and hip-hop fan.

Hair, Hip Hop, and Barber Schools

Q. How did you decide to become a barber? Who inspired you?

A. I never really thought I'd become a barber. Years ago, I owned a record store that was initially successful, but as the music industry changed it became less so. At the time I was going to the barber shop about once a week to keep my hair and beard looking clean. One day I wrote my barber Ray a check, and he must have seen something stylish or steady in my handwriting because he commented, "You'd make a good barber." After that, every time I came in he'd pester me about it and finally I decided to close the record shop and enter barbering school.

Q. Where did you attend barber school? What was your experience like?

A. I was 27 when I went to barbering school, older than a lot of other students, and the only white kid in my class at Bayview Barber College in Hunter's Point in San Francisco. At first I wondered just what I had gotten myself into, but I stuck with it and really developed a passion for black hair and Afros in particular.

Q. Do you get a lot of people who doubt that you know how to cut black hair?

A. One guy walked into the shop and when he saw me, he asked if I knew how to cut black hair. And everyone in the shop started laughing. I'm probably better at cutting an Afro than I am with straight hair.

Q. What kind of tools do you use? Were there any techniques or tools that were intimidating to you?

A. I prefer to use clippers to scissors when cutting hair. I only use three clippers, the Oster FastFeed, the Andis Master and the Andis T-Outliner, and of course the straight razor. I use a straight razor to line [finish the edges of] all my haircuts and for shaving. With that, the challenge is not to end the life of the man in your chair!

A Barber License Leads to Two Successful Businesses

Q. What kind of products do you sell at the Zoo? Any hair products?

A. We don't sell any hair products. All my clients come here for the service and to buy music. We have hats, shirts, painting supplies, and a lot of records. Lots of used mid-90s hip hop, lots of stuff from the golden era that's hard to find. It is kind of a challenge to keep the merchandise clean in a barbershop. I sent out a record and once the customer got it, he asked why it was covered with talc and pieces of hair!

Q. With two shops and a full clientele, do you consider yourself successful? How are the shops different?

A. The Zoo is both a record store and a barber shop, so the clientele is young and hip. Head Shots is more of a straight barber shop, so we get a lot of families and younger kids there. My shops are successful because I have put every bit of my energy into them. My heart is invested. I'm not in it for the money.

Q. Barbers specialize in men's hair. Have you ever cut a woman's hair?

A. Sometimes I'll do a short haircut on a woman, or an Afro, but my girlfriend's a cosmetologist and I like to leave women's hair to her.

Q. What are your favorite parts of your job? What's your biggest challenge?

A. My favorites are Afros and shaves. The hardest part of my job is sometimes dealing with clients' personalities. Also, it's not easy to manage ten employees!

Q. What's your advice to students who want to become barbers?

A. I hear a lot of people saying, oh yeah I'm going to do that. My advice is, don't talk about it, just do it.