07/27/2025
This month marks 10 years of Doorbell Barbers — and today, I turn 40.
I’ve never really shared my story online, but after a decade, it feels like the right moment. Not just to talk about what I’ve built, but also what I’ve learned, what I’ve lived, and how I feel after ten years.
10 Lessons from 10 Years
What worked last year may not work this year.
Business is alive. It changes. You have to evolve or get left behind.
If you’re self-employed, your clients are your bosses.
Take care of them — but protect your energy. Set boundaries, lead with kindness, and listen more than you speak.
Build your business around your life, not the other way around.
Finding balance is an art, not an accident.
The public library system is an underrated resource for small business owners.
It’s been a refuge for me — a place to work, think, and meet other creators.
Systems give you freedom.
Chaos doesn’t scale, but structure does. Tools like SquareSpace, Acuity Scheduling, Salesforce, Stripe, Canva, and QuickBooks were my toolkit as I built this from scratch.
Always be building.
Every day, tinker, test, break it, build it better. Keep moving. Keep learning.
Barbering isn’t learned in a classroom.
Cosmetology school gave me the basics, but I learned my craft shadowing a master barber for six months and getting reps out in the world. If you’re new, find a job that offers you hundreds of cuts — and be ready to “fake it till you make it.”
Most of what I know came from YouTube: the Scumbags of Rotterdam (Leen and Bertus), Maeta Barber Life, Haircut Harry, and the Nomad Barber.
Running an in-home service business takes grit.
Patience, humility, resilience, and relentlessness. You step into people’s sacred spaces, earn trust, and form connections that make the work meaningful.
Find your outlets — mental toughness isn’t optional.
My outlets: yoga, racquetball, pickling, cooking, choir, sauna sessions, Shun Fa Relaxation Center, family time in Brazil, Bitcoin, and a rotating cast of micro-hobbies. And podcasts like WTF with Marc Maron, Lex Fridman, Huberman Lab, and Tim Ferriss kept me company on long drives.
These things keep me steady, recharged, and — most importantly — consistent. In this business and in life, consistency is everything.
Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.
You have to be okay with uncertainty, failure, loneliness, criticism, exhaustion, and starting over. But if you can handle it, you gain something rare: freedom, creativity, connection, and the chance to build something meaningful.
Looking Back
I’ve crisscrossed every street in Fairfield County (and only ran out of gas twice). I’ve worked weddings from D.C. to Maine, looking after a few hundred grooms and their best friends.
During the pandemic, I wore a hazmat suit for nearly two years. I’ve visited nursing homes, financial firms, hospitals, rehab centers, farmer’s markets, retail shops, stadiums, and even homeless shelters. I’ve cut hair for priests, rock stars, billionaires, and those just getting by.
I’ve cut hair in grocery stores, law offices, hedge funds, basements, backyards, beaches, ball fields, mountaintops, and thousands of kitchens. But never once in a barbershop.
When I started, “SHAVE SOON” was plastered on the back of my Subaru Outback along with my personal cell number. I got more prank calls than legit bookings. These days, I use a 1-800 number — and yes, I still get prank calls.
I’ve traded haircuts for local honey, a Speed Queen washer, homemade dog food (which inspired us to make our own for Frida), veggies, cookies, and ice cream. People are generous if you let them be.
I worked my wedding day, and was with a groom the moment I got the call that my grandmother had passed. My first paying client? The morning of my sister’s wedding in 2015.
I’ve shaved countless heads for clients preparing for chemotherapy, including my grandma — who’s doing great today and celebrating my 40th with us.
I’ve dealt with pitbulls, bee stings, sliced fingers, working outdoors in snowstorms, sitting bedside in hospice, and spending hundreds of quiet mornings with grooms before they take one of life’s big leaps.
I’ve also helped kids on the autism spectrum gradually get comfortable with haircuts, celebrating small victories as each visit got easier.
Above all, I’ve realized the trust and connection in this work is the real reward. Being invited into people’s homes, getting to know their lives and families — it’s a privilege.
This is a craft. An art you practice. A beautiful profession when you treat it as such.
At its core, the mission hasn’t changed: take care of people. Whether it’s home service, a medical need, a wedding, or just a bit of peace, that’s still the heart of this business.
Thank You
Rafa — you never let me quit.
I love you and the life we’re building. You’ve poured your heart into motherhood, and now we’re getting ready to welcome our second child in November. This business wouldn’t exist without your belief in me.
Bernardo — your sweetness, determination, and personality blow me away every day. Being your dad is the greatest joy of my life.
To my family — my parents, my grandmother (who has folded more towels than I ever will), my sister, my brother-in-law, my in-laws — and to my closest friend, Chris Alesevich: thank you for always being in my corner.
To the crew — Mayra, Adam, Yeimi, Mike, Deb, Ariana, Lydia, Aileen, Darlin, Delia, Maura, Santiago, Jennie (and the many more over the years): you’re pros, you’re artists, and it’s been a privilege building this with you.
And to everyone building something:
Being professional, punctual, respectful, and kind never goes out of style — even if haircut trends do.
If Doorbell Barbers has been a part of your life anytime in the past decade — even just once — it would mean so much to me if you left a Google review as we celebrate this milestone:
Leave a Review Here
Here’s to the next chapter. Still building. Still in love with the work. Still serving.
🙏✂️
-Christian
