My name is Hal Lindenbach. I'm a self-employed, independent, barber/stylist at Salon Sports. I've been in the business about ten years, in this location approximately six months. My last job before I took my training, I was a serviceman and on-site foreman for a sign company in the city here. It was pretty much a repetitive, dead-end job. It was going nowhere too quickly. Where here you have under the premise that we're working, you have the ability to promote yourself, to increase your productivity through your own efforts. You don't have to rely on other people. You're self-employed. You're putting your shingle out there yourself. You're living and dying by what you do.

A busy day where you're on your feet anywhere from eight, to ten, to twelve hours without a chance for a break to sit down. It's very tough and as far as standing or very slight movement around the chair, it's something that takes a lot of getting used to. It's, you know, working with and greeting roughly on an average, the clientele would be eight to fifteen people a day. Greeting them, working with them, you know, performing whatever service they choose, if it's just a haircut, if it's a perm, colouring, highlighting, both men and women. I did take my training in cosmetology but pretty much specialized in barbering.

When I initially took my training, I didn't…wasn't prepared for how gruelling it can be: physically, mentally and emotionally. Your clientele can take a lot out of you. They're everything. You get such a cross-section of people. You get to visit while you work predominantly. You can have the most serious conversation about world affairs or the most easy going, fun, casual time that you could every expect and anything in between. The people are the best. I was not a big fan of high school so I have my Grade Eleven in high school. I decided that just labour positions were not what I wanted to do and I took my training in cosmetology school in Regina.

The training is very important. You have to know basics before you can progress on. I would assume it's like any other trade. You have to know your foundation before you can progress on to more intricate, more elaborate work practices.

The perfect hairdresser is someone who is very well educated, very adept at their skill, at their trade, is a lot of fun to work with as a staff member and as far as a client someone you could trust explicitly with your look. You're creating your own look, listen, be open-minded, try to obtain new education. Have fun. If you're unwilling to learn and change with the styles, and that's part of the learning process I believe, then you very much are killing your own business. Your return clientele is everything. You have to establish a basis, a foundation, a clientele base. You are creating a relationship with people that you hope they're going to spread the good word about you to their friends.

The best form of advertising is a happy client. We're the bartenders - the bartenders of the hair trade. You have to be able to listen and that can be demanding at times, too. It can take a lot of you. It's a lot more difficult in the holistic view than I ever thought it would be. It can be very tough work but like anything it is what you make of it. I love it.