Meet Madison Dufour | Barber

We had the good fortune of connecting with Madison Dufour and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Madison, why did you pursue a creative career?
The hair industry is both creative and artistic but not just from behind the chair but on the business side as well. Having a service business means that you have to cater to other’s needs and strategically market to the needs of your clients. However, when a barber, like myself, becomes self-employed we get to have the freedom to manage our schedule and client base however we want. With that being said, I feel as though I have to be creative in how I say yes and no to scheduling clients. For example, which clients do I stay late and schedule that last minute appointment for or take extra time on of my days off to do hair for their wedding? I get to decide and have that freedom to run my business the way I want and have a flexible schedule at the same time.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
There are hundreds of barbers out there that work for themselves, like me, but what I believe sets me apart is that I have the flexibility to be able to put my family first as a priority over work. And I can bring my son to work with me and not have to pay for childcare. But most of all, I write. The Exquisite Find Hair Blog is my business that I have been able to pursue and work from home to still share the knowledge I have about hair and the hair industry as well as practice what I love (writing AND hair) all while not missing a minute of precious time that I have while my kids are so little.

What was easy? I would say, the hair part is easy. Working with people is a bonus but that’s also a challenge sometimes. Hair can fight back but almost every time I can convince it to go the direction we are wanting it to go or do what we want it to do. Learning how to cut hair was hard, but set me up to have the best career I could have. And I had mentors that helped me learn the business faster than it would have if I had no one to look up to or watch in the industry.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Colorado Springs, I always take guests to Manitou Springs, which is about 20 minutes outside of the city. I love their quirky little boutiques and restaurants. If my guest is more outdoorsy we definitely hike Red Rock Open Space and Garden of the Gods. When we want to go out to a fancy dinner we would go to either The Rabbit Hole downtown Colorado Springs, or Bristol Brewery in the old Ivywild School for some good food. To be entirely honest, I couldn’t just pick a single brewery to visit though, if my guest were staying an entire week we would end up visiting several around town, as well as coffee shops.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Cheaper by the Dozen by Ernestine Gilbreth Carey I was intrigued all those years ago by the way this family operated in the book. Their father was an efficiency expert and made a living, and lifestyle, of figuring out how to save seconds and milliseconds by doing everyday motions slightly differently and thus at the end of the day saving a lot of time!
For some reason this stuck with me and when I began my career in hair I wanted to be the best I could be and be the most efficient I could be. Especially as a barber I deal with a lot of men that want their haircuts quickly and efficiently because they want their haircut and get on with whatever their schedule holds. Or I have clients that want me to take my time, this is their time to pamper and treat themselves. It’s up to me to measure what my client needs and give it to him without taking too much time.
In the 10 years that I have been doing hair now I have developed a routine in which I can give a beautiful haircut, take my time, and still be done before their allotted time slot is up. This allows me to take more time for add-on services or even, at the end of the day, be able to fit in another client and make more money that way.
Thanks Gilbreths for recording your family story and inspiring me to be the most efficient I can be to help run my business in the best way I can!

Website: https://theexquisitefind.com

Image Credits
Photo Credit Ariane Roberts