Today we’d like to introduce you to John Cleaveland.
Hi John, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is John Cleaveland and I was born and raised in Austin. My family decided to move here so that my dad could attend the University of Texas for nursing on his GI bill. My mom was a school bus driver for AISD for many years as well. I’m the second youngest of five siblings. Our parents were great examples of hard workers and taught us that whatever we wanted in life, we could get it as long as we put in the work. I mainly grew up in south Austin. I attended Sunset Valley Elementary, Boone Elementary, and Covington Middle School. My family then decided to move out towards Dripping Springs for high school where I later graduated in 1997. After high school, I became stuck and floating around from job to job. I didn’t have much direction. I gave Austin Community College a try for a bit but then gave up after a couple of years. I found myself somewhat lost and spent a lot of time hanging out in places I shouldn’t have and didn’t have any good reasons for being there. I kept my circle small but then two of my closest friends became incarcerated for a while. That’s when my dad approached me with the idea of going to barber college. I was hesitant and honestly didn’t want to go. Little did I know that my dad had already visited Roffler’s School of Hair Design. My pops asked me to promise him that I’d at least go check it out and speak with the owner, Mr. Brown. I reluctantly said “I can do that”. I went in there and Mr. B and I hit it off. We talked for a while and found out that we lived pretty close to one another. I remember him telling me back then that when I open my own barber shop and he retires from teaching, that he’ll come work with me. I was thinking, I just met this man, I’m not sure that I even want to be a barber much less own a shop. I was baffled. I never had someone say anything like that to me. He hardly knew me but it was like he believed in me. I now know he was planting the seed. After graduating from Roffler’s School of Hair Design in 2002, Mr. B placed me in one of the best barber shops in Austin, Kervin’s Barber Shop. He knew that they would look out for me and they did just that and more. I spent nine years there and then 3 more years at Zeus’s Barber Shop. While at Zeus’s, I fell in love with the craft and everything about barbering. It just clicked and I think it had a lot to do with my life changing outside of work as well. That’s when I made the decision to take a chance and open up my first shop. The first time that I thought of being a shop owner was about two years into cutting hair at Kervin’s but I was nowhere ready at that time. So in 2015, I took a leap of faith and opened up Skinny’s Barber Shop on the corner of West Gate Blvd and William Cannon Drive. Skinny has been an old nickname that was given to me in high school. I had a rough start but after two or three years, Skinny’s was really buzzing. We had six barbers crammed into a little 700 sq. ft. space. On one busy day, I was giving a haircut and I paused for a second and took a look around the shop. I had to soak it all in what I was seeing. The barbers were busy, the waiting chairs were full, laughter and joy filled the shop and I asked myself why couldn’t this happen again? It wasn’t long after that I set off to open Skinny’s #2 in southwest Austin off of HWY 290 towards Dripping Springs. My friend Reece Davie, helped me get that location up and running. A few years later my old boss, Kervin Warnken, was ready to hang his clippers up and reached out to me to see if I was interested in buying his business. Without hesitation, I said yes. After all, it’s always been a dream of mine to own a shop just like his. In fact when I opened up my two shops, Kervin’s was the inspiration I used to create Skinny’s. That was a full circle moment for me
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life in general didn’t come easy. I’ve struggled with alcohol and drug addiction throughout life, from my teens to mid 30s. I was diagnosed with depression and ADHD at a young age. I didn’t care much for the medication prescribed and turned to alcohol and drugs for help. It did the job for many years but I progressively got worse in managing my addiction. Eventually it got to the point where I didn’t seem to have a choice whether I drank or used. Everyday I relied on drinking or drugs to avoid feeling what I was feeling inside. Somehow I was able to keep my job barbering, although I should have been fired many times. I tried quitting on my own but I could never put together much time sober. I finally got to the point when I was just beat up and tired of the way I was living. That’s when I reached out and asked for help. I was introduced to a man named Tony Loas and he had just as much time clean as I had been alive. He, along with others, introduced me to a life of sobriety and I am forever grateful. Today I’ve found freedom in sobriety, a life that I never thought was possible. That was about 3 years before I opened my first location. I have no doubt that Skinny’s Barber Shop would not exist today if I had not been able to get sober. Another challenge that I became presented with was that Covid almost closed our doors in 2020. We had to close for around 3 months. We then got denied for the PPP loan. When I found myself getting close to running out of reserves, I applied for the Emergency Disaster Relief Fund and was able to secure a loan. That loan made it possible to keep the doors open. Business started booming when we came back to work and we were able to catch back up. Our clients and our community ensured our success and I am so grateful for them. The last major challenge for me took place about four years ago when I suffered a seizure while working at the shop. It was caused by a brain tumor and I thank God it was benign. I ended up needing brain surgery that took place at St. David’s hospital. After that, I was on the road to a different kind of recovery but similar in a lot of ways. I was fearful of how life would change. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to keep the barber shops if I was incapable of working for a while. I had no idea of what was to come. My sister, Erika, had set up a go fund me to cover my hospital bills and living expenses. The community rallied behind me and chipped in with donations and such kind words of encouragement. My barbers stepped up and took care of our people and the shops. People and churches prayed for me through surgery and recovery. My dad stepped in and helped me with the shops and took me to doctor’s appointments and rehab. I’ve never felt so much love from so many people. As I write this I get emotional and cry tears of gratitude. I’m still recovering but I’m not alone anymore. I’ve got great people around me today. I’ve got a wonderful partner who loves me, supports me, and she’s there when I stumble.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Skinny’s Barber Shop?
Skinny’s a home grown business here in Austin Texas. We have three locations to serve our clients. (Central, South, and Southwest Austin) We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel in barbering. We try to keep it as traditional as possible. To us, it’s about relationships, community, and service. We try to keep it simple. We are a family establishment with affordable prices. We specialize in shorter haircuts, although we do have a few barbers that are great at cutting the long style haircuts. We are Skinny’s “old school” Barber Shop because of our style and shop decor. We want people to feel as if they walked back in time when they visit us. Each location has that vibe about it and is full of old barber stations, chairs, photos, tools and barber poles. Matter of fact our Kervin’s location has been on the corner of IH35 and 38 1/2 st since the 50s and that’s the shop that the other two are modeled after. Our goal is that you have a good experience every time you visit. So if you’re in the neighborhood come by and trade with us.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t believe in good or bad luck, it’s all blessings and lessons. I feel like everything was meant to happen in my life. From me cutting hair as a child to becoming a barber and eventually a shop owner. The people I have met and the mentors/role models that have entered my life at the right times. The struggles with depression and addiction needed to happen for me to find sobriety and a way of living that enables me to handle life on life’s terms. Today I have purpose outside of myself. I’ve learned to live in the present and to try to be of service to others. I believe those attributes have helped guide me in business as well. The brain surgery and my recovery has taught me patience with myself and others. It’s strengthened my faith and I believe that life will work out as it should. Anything is possible, I just put one foot in front of the other and never give up. I’m in a good place today.
Pricing:
- $40 regular haircut
- $35 kids and seniors
- $20 buzz cut
- $30 full face shave w/ straight razor
- $25 half shave w/ straight razor
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.skinnysbarbershop.com
- Instagram: @skinnysbarbershop
- Facebook: Skinny’s Barber Shop
Image Credits
James Cleaveland, First photo of just me standing in front of barber station with name on mirror
Brian Nixon w/ outsiders visuals, Next two of us group of barbers and me cutting a young man in black and white
Darius Calvin of me in my Skinny’s low rider car
