Owner of Heartbreak Club Barbershop, Wez Jones talks to MB about investors, haters and self-discovery... all whilst he'd locked himself inside his cold garage in Leight-on-Sea
HOW DID YOU GET INTO BARBERING?
When I was little my mum did an apprenticeship at a hairdressing salon and I’d go hang out there after school. There were always products lying around and I’d love picking them up and playing around with them. When I got to secondary school, I was being influenced by the trends I saw in magazines, and I started cutting my mate’s hair. I’ve always been into football, so when I was 14 years old, I cut the hair of our local football team. A proper barber caught wind of this and asked me if I wanted to learn to do it properly. I spent my school holidays in that barbershop and did my mandatory work experience there.
WHAT NEXT?
I went to college, and back then you had to learn hairdressing too – I couldn’t just learn barbering. By 17 I was on the shop floor. I come from humble beginnings, without family backing or financial support, and I never dreamed of opening my own business. But a couple of years into the game, I had a conversation that changed my life. I had a client who was an old school friend. He was two years younger than me and we used to play football. He always had his head screwed on. Everything he turned his hand to, he made it a success. When I was 22, he said ‘I’ve got some money, I want to invest in a business and I want to invest in you.’ He had £20k in his pocket which sounded like a lot to us, but in reality it didn’t go very far. Luckily around this time I was approached by a barber who had a shop and he asked if I wanted to buy it. We had two weeks to get everything ready, so it was a case of giving it a lick of paint and that was that.
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED?
Taking on an established walk-in barbershop was a huge challenge. The clients were ‘Dave from down the road’, who wanted a 10 minute cut for £8. But I wanted to be earning a rate that matched my experience and creating an appointment-based business. We spent a week running it how it was to get some cash in the till, then I shut the door, gave people a card and told them ‘now you have to book’. It was terrifying.
WHAT WAS THE REACTION?
I had clients coming in telling me my business would never work. A former army barber said, “unless you’re doing four haircuts an hour you won’t make any money.” But I didn’t want to be that kind of barber, I had respect for the craft. I stuck to my guns. I guess today you’d call it manifesting, but back then I called it having a boxer’s mentality. I was disciplined and never lost sight of the end goal.
WHAT CAME NEXT?
Whilst building my business I worked on building my personal profile in the industry with brands such as Reuzel, BaByliss PRO, Andis and STMNT, doing stage work, doing shoots, getting involved in anything creative I could.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR 2024?
I am on a journey of self-discovery. I’m influenced by barbering, hairdressing, fashion, football... I think 2024 is the year of me finding my own identity. Photoshoots are a big focus for me this year and I want to create a studio space in the shop, so we’re changing things up.
