Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Refined Men’s Salon Owner Julie White in studio to discuss finding her passion and motivation for hair at any early age.
Leahy: We are broadcasting live from our studios on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. We are going to talk a little bit about some of the local headlines and then we’re starting a new feature, kind of an irregular feature.
But it will be something we do here fairly frequently. We call it The Entrepreneurs Corner, and we talk about local small business people and what they’re doing to survive and prosper in the era of coronavirus. A couple of the headlines today that will get to later in the program.
Governor Bill Lee is silent on additional Afghan refugees relocating to Tennessee. There’s a story that the Bridge Rescue Services have already brought in many Afghan refugees into East Tennessee. They plan to have more.
The other story is how Representative Mark Green is questioning the Biden administration moved to fire Trump appointees from military advisory boards. But we’ll get to that later in the program.
Right now, we have a special guest in the studio here with us. The very first entrepreneur in our series of The Entrepreneurs Corner.
And we’re going to feature a lot of local businesses that have struggled and ended up figuring out how to thrive in the coronavirus era. We welcome to our studio, Julie White, the owner of Refined Men’s Salon in Franklin. Good morning, Julie.
White: Hey. How are you?
Leahy: It’s great to have you here. And of course, for those of you who are kind of guessing, yes, Julie cuts my hair! She does a fabulous job. Julie, we were talking about this before. I think most men probably do this.
You try to find a place to get a good haircut. And now I’m 66. I remember the first haircuts I got as a kid. I got the crew cuts, right? I was a kid. Crew cuts. That was the thing.
And then when I was in college, I’m going to have to admit, this and Scooter is going to crack up. Our producer is going to crack up. I had a Prince Valiant haircut. (Chuckles) I never had a mullet.
Scooter: I did!
Leahy: Did you have a mullet, Scooter?
Scooter: I did. I rocked that mullet.
Leahy: Then over the course of a lifetime, I will go to get a haircut. And sometimes it’s a good haircut, sometimes a bad cut. Then when you find somebody who really knows how to cut your hair, you stick with them.
So I found out about Refined Men’s Salon which was at the time located in Cool Springs. And Julie cut my hair perfectly. Tell us about your background and how did you become a hairdresser? You are absolutely obsessed with cutting hair, aren’t you?
White: Yes. It’s really my passion. I figured out that I love fashion at a very young age, and I always was drawn to hair. Could never do anything crazy with my hair because my parents wouldn’t let me.
Leahy: You’re from Franklin?
White: Yes, I am from Franklin.
Leahy: A local girl made good.
White:Â My grandmother owned a business in Franklin. So I just came by it honestly.
Leahy: What kind of business did your grandmother own?
White: She owned Freeman’s Flowers. It was on First and Maine on the Franklin Square.
Leahy: So you have the entrepreneurial spirit?
White: Yes. Yes, I do. I grew up there. She taught me how to count by counting money. And it was great. I loved it.
Leahy: So you would count money with your grandmother?
White: Yes. Absolutely.
Leahy: You’re smiling when you say that. Was that fun counting money with your grandmother?
White: I mean, money is always fun. I mean, even at any age, it doesn’t matter.
Leahy: Said like a true entrepreneur.
White: Yeah. So when I was growing up and finding a love of hair, I could only change my haircut. I could never change my hair color. And I really enjoyed that. But I never wanted to stand up all day.
Leahy: Yeah, I could see that.
White: It was a silly thought, but I did hair school in high school and ended up finishing right as I turned 18 and became a hairstylist with just a quick men’s salon and decided that I loved men’s hair. I don’t know why I immediately went to that.
Leahy: All the men in the audience say, great. Somebody loves men’s hair.
White: Absolutely. There’s so much more variety in men’s hair, so I think that it gives you a more well-rounded skill set. It takes a lot more ability.
Leahy: There are people that cut hair that do an adequate job. And there are people that cut hair that do an okay job. But you have figured out how to really do a spectacular job.
What’s the difference between somebody who is spectacularly good at cutting hair and somebody who just does an okay job? How did you develop that skill?
White: I will take any type of subject that I am really into and I will go the whole nine yards with it. I don’t care what it is. I want to learn absolutely everything.
Leahy: So you’re obsessed with.
White: Yeah, absolutely. I just decided that’s what I wanted to learn everything about it. When we come back, we’re going to talk a little bit about how coronavirus and the shutdowns and all of the rules and regulations that have impacted small businesses have impacted Refined Men’s Salon of Cool Springs and how that has actually turned into a positive in your entrepreneurial career.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
