20 Years ago (give or take) I was fairly destitute. No prospects and no particular aim. I had a minimum wage job that barely kept me fed and sheltered, and did nothing at all for my sense of purpose. I wanted to change things, get a little more direction, get something better. So I reflected on what I had done that I found enjoyable, what would I want to be “when I grow up.” By that point I had done some minor construction and I really enjoyed it, I thought “I’ll bet I would really love to make things, and earn my keep by swinging a hammer.” A good job. A real job. However, I needed training – I had NO idea how to get from “A” to “B.” So I made an appointment with a counselor at the Department of Labor, thinking they could set me on the right path to becoming a carpenter.

“I can’t help you.” I was stunned, not five minutes after sitting at the counselor’s desk I had all the wind taken out of my sails. “We don’t have a shortage of carpenters in the area, so I can’t help you. Have you got anything else?” Anything else? This was my result of soul-searching, thoughts and reflections on the dreams for the rest of my life (or at least the next 30 years). I didn’t come with a “runner-up” plan in mind. “Think of something else and call us back.”

I never sought outside help after that. It was a little demoralizing – I mean I wasn’t asking to be a movie star, I just wanted an ordinary job swinging a hammer. So I kinda felt like I was on my own., if you want something you’ll have to figure it out yourself, because the world has nothing to gain by giving a leg-up to someone like me. Or at least that’s where my mind was at the time.

So over the next 20 years I just did the best I could. Continued that minimum wage job, then transitioned into another job with slightly better pay and better prospects at building a skill-set. Within a year or so I became the manager at that job, and then left that job to an even better one. Then a better one after that, onward and upward as best as I could muster. Took some classes, made some contacts, and eventually I was making a good living as an independent designer as well as a part-time wage earner in the same. Not the BEST possible situation, and certainly not the most secure profession, but it was leaps and bounds above sweeping out movie theaters or stocking warehouse shelves for minimum wage.

Then the economy took a nosedive. I lost a good number of my freelance gigs as well as my part-time wage job, and was left in a tapped market possessing 12 years’ worth of honed skills that nobody wanted anymore. GREAT! Super-Duper! What do I do NOW? Go back to sweeping out movie theaters?

Ironically, this was all for the best. The fact is, as much as I enjoyed the relative financial “stability” I was getting a little burned-out on it all. I was beginning to feel like I had 20 years ago, when I wanted work swinging a hammer. I wanted an honest, non-gimmicky job that served a rudimentary purpose that a wide swath of population actually NEEDED. Unfortunately, I had spent the last 15 years or so nursing a cubicle and a computer, and was no longer built to swing a hammer for a living. Still, I wanted work that required a kit of tools, and not just software and a cubicle.

My search, as we know by now, brought me to the Salon Professional Academy… to cut and style hair for a living. Something I never EVER thought I would see myself doing, but here we are – 1,500 course hours later, and I’m very happy with my decision. As much as I enjoyed swinging a hammer, I had remembered that I ALSO enjoyed my exploits as an amateur hair person in the 80’s. I had completely forgotten about this side of me, but when I was a punk kid I was the guy who cut and dyed everyone’s hair. I was the one with the Oster electric clipper and the sculptor’s brain. We shoplifted hair peroxide and mixed it with ink and food coloring (because “Manic Panic” didn’t exist in our world), or used more organic compounds, like beet juice, to color everyone’s hair unnatural shades. From my kitchen I would send out into the world a series of blue, green, red and purple mohawks, toasterheads, cactus bristles and Chelsea fringe. However did I forget doing that?

(To Be Continued…)