Jourdan Miller
Javin Labrenz giving his first straight razor shave to his father, Kit Labrenz.
Let’s not call Javin Labrenz’s decision to make a career switch at age 40 from cleaning commercial kitchen exhausts to cutting men’s hair a midlife crisis. He doesn’t look at it that way.
“I’m hoping that the barbering business will support me just as much as the hood-cleaning business,” says Labrenz, who lives 70 minutes north of Madison in Kingston, pronounces his first name “JAY-vin” and operates Frontier Hood Services, a family-owned company with several clients in Madison. “What I do now is a dirty job, and I’m out in the cold a lot. Barbering is a cool skill to have, and I like a job that results in a sense of accomplishment. It would be nice to work at a barbershop down here in the Madison area where the people are.”
When he’s not going to barber school or working, Labrenz hangs out at Chris’ Barber Shop in Sun Prairie, observing veteran barber Dave Bakken at work. He hopes to eventually join Bakken by working the shop’s second chair upon graduating in September and (hopefully) receiving his state barber license.
After that, who knows? Labrenz eventually could run his own place.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. For now, Labrenz — who wears his hair very short, by the way — is up to his ears in weekend classes at the Aveda Institute of Beauty and Wellness in Milwaukee. He drives 200 miles round-trip every Thursday, Friday and Saturday to train with four other men and five women. They range in age from late teens to mid-40s, and they practice cutting real hair on mannequin heads and straight-razor shaving on inflated balloons smeared with cream.
In order to advance in the class, all barbers-in-training at the Aveda Institute must log a specific number of free haircuts on real people. Because Labrenz is not from Milwaukee and doesn’t know many locals, he’ll walk into a coffee shop near the institute to find people willing to put their heads in the hands of a rookie.
“I think I’ll be a good barber, because I can talk to anyone,” Labrenz says.
He’s a practicing Jehovah’s Witness, but says he won’t share beliefs with clients unless they ask. “They tell us that barbers are one of the few people who are as intimate and in close proximity with clients as doctors and dentists,” Labrenz says. “We have our hands on your head, and we’re right in your face, especially when it comes to shaving. My instructor wants us to actually put our hip against the client.”
Barbers once were a dying breed in Wisconsin and around the country. “How many young barbers do you see?” asks Labrenz, who will turn 41 on Jan. 16.
But the profession appears to be making a comeback. Unlike stylists, barbers cut and groom only men’s hair. And they can also shave faces and necks with a straight razor.
Growth in the profession may be due, at least in part, to a 2013 state law change that reduced the number of training hours for a barber from 1,800 — the requirement for cosmetology training — to 1,000. Labrenz say he would not have pursued his barbering dream had the number remained at 1,800 hours.
Since October, Labrenz leaves his home in Dalton at 5:30 a.m. on training days, sometimes not returning until 14 hours later. To cut down on travel expenses, he purchased a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta that almost tops 50 miles per gallon.
He’s upbeat and chatty about his new prospective profession, and his 14-year-old daughter recently developed an interest in cutting hair, too. “Would it be cool to have her working in the chair next to me someday?” Labrenz asks. “I think it would.”
Hours of training required by Wisconsin State Statute (Chapter 454) to become a licensed barber: 1,000
Hours of licensed practice required to receive a barbering manager license: 4,000
Cost of training: $12,500 (at Milwaukee’s Aveda Institute of Beauty and Wellness)
License examination application fee: $391
Pieces of equipment a barber can’t live without:
Scissors
2 or 3 pairs of versatile clippers
Variety of combs
