Missouri Life June 2023

NEVER A BAD (HAIR) DAY In return, barbers often play a role in the most meaningful moments of their customers’ lives, from job interviews and weddings to funerals. Joey gave a customer’s son his first haircut, then sold him his first car years later. In Springfield, Russell has had similar experiences: “A lot of the people who grew up getting their hair cut here are bringing their kids in now,” he says. Robin doesn’t have children of her own, yet she has cut the hair of generations of families. “I don’t have any kids other than 58 years’ worth of kids I’ve had in the barber shop,” she says. Around Marshfield, longtime residents know that some of her “kids” have also been the canine companions she has had over the years, including a 220-pound mastiff named Max. Max was a therapy dog who was only a foot shorter than the petite barber yet weighed twice as much, and one of Robin’s favorite stories is about the local pawn shop owner who once fitted Max with a saddle for a parade. Over the years, Robin has held other jobs while working as a barber, yet even at 80, she has no plans to close the doors to her shop and advises others to do work they enjoy as much as she has enjoyed hers. “If you don’t like what you do, get another job,” she says, “because you’re at work more than you’re at home.” In only six years of wielding scissors, Tim agrees, noting that less than satisfying moments in barbering rarely last longer than one appointment. “I wish I would’ve done it 20 years ago,” he says. “This is one of the only careers I can think of that you never have a bad day.”

“God blesses you; you want to bless others,” the 39-year-old says. Joey considers the foundation a ministry that depends on others—and God puts those people in his life, too, he says. “I don’t cut 200 heads by myself,” Joey says of the free haircuts his shop donates. “The turkeys that we give away, I don’t go out and buy a thousand turkeys, you know.” Solitude is seldom penciled into appointment books, particularly for barbers with close community connections built on acknowledge ment and trust. “Everybody in the world wants to be recognized when they go somewhere often, especially if they’re spending their hard-earned dollars,” says Tim Keele of Sedalia’s Two-Bit Barber Company. “They talk to you about personal things, funny things.” Robin says she makes sure to pay attention to the news so she has topics to talk about with customers. When Wilma Cardwell sits down for a trim at Rader’s Barber Shop, Robin praises her friend and loyal customer’s unwavering support of Marshfield High School sports teams. They’ve discussed deeper subjects, though. “She’s just good to talk to, easy to talk to,” Wilma says of Robin, “and I don’t think she’s one that takes it somewhere else. It stays with her.” “Yeah, it stays here,” Robin agrees. Back in Kansas City, Joey speaks of the trust that develops between barber and customer. He jokes, “Anytime a man is willing to let you put a razor on his neck and he falls asleep, that means he’s got a lot of trust in you.” Being a barber “comes with a level of responsibility and account ability,” he says, “because the clients confide in you. They tell you stuff that you literally have to take to your grave.”

Dillon Edens cuts regular customer Chad Lance’s hair at the Two-Bit Barber Company in Sedalia. Robin Rader started in the barbering business when it was rare to find a woman cutting men’s hair. Walnut Street Barber Shop owner Russell Gann cuts the hair of longtime customer Michael Cochran.

41 / JUNE 2023