Welcome back to the Business Over Beer Podcast for part 2 of our interview with Don Lovell, Owner of The Barbers. In this episode, Don talks candidly about the challenges his business is facing due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and we learn about his Customer Service DNA and how hard they work every day at providing a legendary customer experience.
The last live podcast interview we did was on a Thursday with our friend Don Lovell, founder of the Barbers. It was such a great episode with great stories about Entrepreneurship, Beer, Business and Baseball. If you haven’t listened to episode 1 yet, I highly recommend you listen to it.
This week on The Business Over Beer Podcast, we welcome Don Lovell, Owner of The Barbers. The Pac 10 North Player of the Year with Portland State in 1985, Don had a successful baseball career in the minor leagues before suffering a shoulder injury which eventually forced him to retire from the game.
After baseball, Don got into the hair business, selling hair care products to salons in Michigan, before moving back to his hometown of Portland, where he met his wife, a hair stylist at one of the salons he called on. Together they opened The Barbers in 1999, doing 12 hair cuts the first day. After 21 years in business, they have 35 locations, 450 hair cutters, 3 franchise partners and did over 1 million haircuts as an organization in 1999.
It’s time for a Thirsty Thursday Throwback edition.
The year was 2018, the month January. My wife Angie, the kids, and I were driving on 162nd our way to a friend’s house. We came to the stop light on NE 18th street, when Angie asked, “Has that tap house always been there or is it new?” her finger gently pressing against the passenger door window.
“I don’t know.” I responded. “Should we go by there, and see what’s up?” Angie nodded and I immediately turned my right blinker on.
On this episode of the Business Over Beer Podcast, the Founder of Athletic Brewing Company, Bill Shufelt, joins us for part 2 of his interview, where we dig a little deeper into his business. We discuss coping with rejection as an entrepreneur and how they are filling a gap in the craft beer market for those that love beer but don’t drink alcohol.
If 2020 has any silver lining for me, it’s the fact that I’ve been able to visit breweries and tap houses that I haven’t been to in a long time, or at all. One of those places I’ve always wanted to visit is this week’s Thirsty Thursday Spotlight, Mahoney’s Public House.
The owner, Tom, and I have known each other for damn near 6 years, back when he owned another Tap House on the east side of the Couve. He’s always been a great guy to me and my family every time we visited. He even embraced my emotional roller coaster and crazy outbreaks during the Cubs and Indians infamous 2016 World Series Game 7.
I’m so glad to say that same embrace was welcomed when the dude’s and I visited there this past week.
