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Mary Jo?s Barber Salon

It all started with this postcard I received in the mail. The picture got my attention and then the caption was the clincher. Being in advertising, I decided to save this postcard for an idea starter. I taped it on my computer for inspiration. Working for myself had been a mixed blessing. Working from home was great; having to drum up business was not. In marketing you have to make a great first impression and the competition was stiff.

I found myself staring at the postcard quite often and then caught myself dreaming of having my hair all cut off. The woman in the picture looked good with her flattop and it might be a good attention getter for new clientele. I had talked myself out of it though until I received this in the mail:

Haircut: $6.00

Tip: $2.00

First Touch: Priceless

Mary Jo?s Barber Salon 777-HAIR

Marketing geniuses! Not only were the pictures eye catching, but the premise was bold. A barber shop using women as advertising and then challenging the women to go against the norm. If nothing else, I had to meet Mary Jo and at least get a haircut there. I put the picture on my refrigerator and drove to the shop.

As I walked in, I was surprised to find only one man working there. The shop was empty and he asked me what he could do for me. I was caught off guard and clumsily asked him if he cut women?s hair. He nodded and asked me to sit down. He placed a tissue around my neck and then draped the cape and snapped it. ?What are we doing today?? he asked. I was speechless. This was the moment of truth. I hated my hair and I wanted to tell him to shave it all off but I could not say a word! There was a moment of awkward silence and he waited for me to say something, anything. As I was about to say something, the door opened and in walked a woman.

Her hair was cut so close on the sides, I could see her scalp and the top was cut like the flattop I saw in the picture. She was wearing black slacks with a white blouse and large pearl earrings with a matching pearl necklace. She walked to the back of the shop and it struck me that she must be Mary Jo. She then came back out wearing a barber smock and smiled as she passed by. I asked the barber if that was Mary Jo and he smiled and said yes. ?Now what are we doing today?? he asked again and I shrugged my shoulders and explained the story to him. Mary Jo overheard it and walked over to meet me. I complimented her on her advertising and asked her what company she went with. She told me she did it herself and used women who were her customers.

Because of the conversation, I forgot that I was sitting in a barbershop and the barber excused himself to wait on another woman who had walked in. Mary Jo continued to talk and I found myself enchanted with her style and the way she could carry on a conversation as if she had known you for life. She grabbed a set of clippers from the stand and put a guard on them. Never slowing down in the midst of our conversation, she began to shave the back of my head and with each pass she would bring the clippers up and flick a mountain of hair off of them! She was feeling the back of my head after she had shaved most of the hair off and then commented that I had a wonderfully shaped head. Without asking, she then took the guard off the clippers and started shaving me bald. Before I could say anything, she was running the clippers down the middle of my head! Pass after pass she made all over my head until my head looked like the woman in the last postcard I had received. There was nothing but a shadow on my head and she turned off the clippers. She walked into the back and I placed my hands on my newly denuded scalp. The postcard was right, priceless! Mary Jo returned with a Mach 3 Razor and a can of shaving cream. She unloaded shaving cream all over my head and then smoothed it out with a shaving brush. My head was all white and she slowly started from the forehead scraping what remaining hair I had left on my head off stroke by stroke.

After going over my head twice with the razor, she took a waxy substance and rubbed it over my entire head and then as if she was waxing a car, she took a soft cloth and buffed the shine. When she was through my head was so shiny and the feel was incredible. She then asked me to step back into a room and took pictures. She was going to use me for her next advertisement! The next week I received a postcard in the mail from Mary Jo?s:

Highlights: $85

Haircut: $45

Products: $25

Never writing a check to your

hairstylist again: Priceless!