More than just a haircut: Local barber seeks to become community resource

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BY GARIN PIRNIA | LINK nky CONTRIBUTOR

During an unseasonably warm winter morning, Covington-based barbershop Hair on the Floor is literally buzzing.

Barber Ryan Richardson uses a razor to cut a client’s hair, while owner Reginald England talks to another barber, D.J. Burt. The brightly lit wide space is filled with painted portraits. A fridge is stocked with complimentary drinks like Capri Suns and bottled water, and a small bookcase houses donated children’s books for young customers to read. On the wall hangs a sign that says, “Look up. Get up. Never give up.”

Located on Madison Avenue, the barbershop Hair On The Floor will celebrate its 10th anniversary on July 13. It’s a major milestone for any business, but for England, it’s deeply personal.

“It is about building relationships that’s going further than just a haircut,” he said. “It’s about teaching my other barbers how to be better men and how to become better business men. It’s bigger than just a haircut, though. If it was just a haircut, we’d just cut hair and go home. But we’ve been here for a reason, and we want to continue to be here. But we would like the support of the community to go further than where it’s at.”

Artists like Ben Thompson designed a few spray-painted paintings that line the wall, including portraits of England’s uncle, England’s first client, and of Richardson, England’s first barber.

Shawn Voelker painted a portrait of England, too. Other artwork includes England with his kids, his mother, and his sisters.

“All the art on the wall is foundational pieces,” he said. “Everyone on the wall means something special to me. I put ‘em on the wall because it humbles me and it reminds myself who supported me through the ups and downs.”

In young adulthood, England ran into some trouble and was incarcerated. He didn’t want to talk about his conviction, but instead wanted to focus on how he improved his life after incarceration.

In 2005, inspired by his own barber, he enlisted in Cincinnati School of Barbering and earned his license. He spent the next several years working in barbershops around Cincinnati, including Phaze1 Barbershop.

“As I grew I just wanted more,” he said.

In 2013, he opened Hair on the Floor.

“It’s a multicultural barbershop,” he said. “I don’t want to name this a Black barbershop. It’s just a community barbershop, so all walks of life could walk in here.

“If you got a dog that we could cut, I’ll cut it,” he joked.

He added that he steers clear of women’s hair, “because they’re picky.”

A barbershop is worlds apart from a salon like Great Clips.

“Most salons have cosmetologists who are in settings to cut hair, but they don’t have the master barbering skill set to be able to use the razor or things of that nature,” he explained. “Now, if they want to further their skills, that doesn’t mean they can’t get to that point.”

Hair on the Floor might be successful to- day, but it took a while for England and the shop to find its footing.

“The first five years was a struggle due to the fact that I didn’t have any mentorship that was leading me to understand how to run a business properly,” England said. “In the next five to 10 years, I would want to see more programs that are designed to help new businesses stay in business. The City of Covington – I feel if they put more programs and advertise it on bus stop benches, it would give more awareness of how to start small businesses and we’d have more minorities going for it.”

He explained the pandemic hit the business hard, first with the government shutdown and then not receiving a PPP loan.

“A lot of people don’t understand that PPP loans weren’t for every business owner,” he said. “I’m a felon. I didn’t have my LLC in place. My taxes was right, but I didn’t have certain tax papers that I needed. When I went to apply, they denied me.”

Despite the lack of government funding, “We made it through,” he said.

“I’ve been with the same guys, my cousin David and my best friend Ryan, they’ve been with me from the beginning,” he said. “So we just stuck it out, paid our bills, and we still here.”

His little cousin David, aka D.J. Burt, became interested in barbering through cutting his friends’ hair.

“I always was a person who worked with my hands, so that led me into doing people here,” he said. “I like creating a new image for somebody and giving them a fresh up.”

Ryan Richardson, the best friend, got into barbering because of his dad, who’s an unlicensed barber.

“If I was going to do it this way, I wanted to do something that he didn’t do,” he said. “So I went ahead and got my license.”

In high school, he constantly used a pair of trimmers on his own hair.

“I would try to keep my hair kind of touched or clean around the edges,” he said. “My mom actually recommended I go to barber school. It’s one of those things where the more you do something, the more you realize it might be something for you. And I look up and I’ve been doing it 10 years.”

Richardson met England through a childhood friend.

“England cut my hair a couple times in high school and he followed up by my mom, told me to go to barber school, and recruited me down here,” Richardson said. “It’s been a good ride.”

As much as England likes his fellow barbers, he said he likes to surround himself with people who aren’t afraid to disagree with him.

“Don’t be like me,” he said. “I don’t want yes men around me. I want people to say no sometimes. Now the advice they give me is ‘stay focused.’ And I’ve been trying my best to. In today’s society it’s a mental game. We have more mental illness than ever, so you got to learn how to meditate and just stay focused on keeping your mental [health] together.”

Originally, he wanted to open the shop on Madison Avenue in Covington’s Central Business District. But zoning issues and high rent prevented him from doing so.

“It’s hard for small businesses to pay a high level of rent in the inner city because it’s owned by the city,” he said. “Who could afford $2,200 in rent when you’re starting off as a small-business owner? I had to come somewhere where I could afford it. Once they filled up the downtown area — I’m not saying this is what happened, but in my assumption, they opened up the permits for everywhere else. That made me miss out on a building that would’ve been affordable for me. I had to find something that fit my budget. I talked to the landlord here and we were able to negotiate the proper rent for me to survive here. And it has been working for me.”

As tough as it is to start a business and keep it alive, he said it is even more difficult with a criminal record – difficult, but not impossible.

“My advice is if you can’t get a job, you create a job,” he said. “A lot of people, they’re scared to hire felons. But I believe in second chances. I don’t believe that letter should hold you back from any opportunity, especially in the city that’s grown with a lot of crime. A lot of felons can’t get home placements. They don’t allow them to get certain things. I feel like they should have more programs that cater to that.”

At his location he has a parking lot, and the shop is nestled between Black-owned businesses Carols Pearls Chicken and D&R convenience store.

“All the high school kids come and go back and forth patronizing these businesses,” he said. “Anything we could do to bring more awareness to this parking lot is that there’s some good businesses over here.”

Through Hair on the Floor, England also gives back to the community. His sister Janetta Thomas started the shop’s book club, Read with My Barber. Kids can read, play video games, and play chess while they wait to get their hair cut.

“It’s basically a way for us to interact with the community outside of just seeing them in passing,” he said.

Last year, he hosted a flag football match featuring the community versus local police officers, and he sponsored a back-toschool community cookout.

“We do this out of our own pocket, so we don’t ever have any type of financial assistance with anything,” he said.

England hasn’t decided yet what he’ll do for the big anniversary. But in ruminating about the past decade, he gets philosophical.

“I feel like I surprise myself because I taught myself how to be more professional,” he said. “I taught myself how to manage a team of good role players. I learned how to say sorry to a lot of things. I learned how to be more patient and realized everything’s going to always work itself out if you keep pushing through it.”

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