Joy of hair ‘I want it to feel happy … That’s the main goal here’: Woody’s Barbershop opens doors, fulfils personal dream By: Aaron Epp Posted: 7:26 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2024

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For his birthday this year, Adam Woodbury treated himself to a business.

On June 30, the Red Seal hairstylist celebrated turning 32. The next day, he got the keys to 558 Academy Rd.; after almost two months of renovations, he opened Woody’s Barbershop late last month.

“I’m so happy,” Woodbury said Tuesday during some downtime between clients. “My life has changed forever and it’s going to be so exciting.”

A barber’s pole spins in the front window of the 850-square-foot shop, located near Lanark Street.

Inside are six barber stations, complete with matching red-and-black chairs. The waiting area is outfitted with vintage McDonald’s restaurant seating and a checkered racing flag design on the wall.

A cheeseburger-shaped phone plays a popular Christmas songs whenever someone calls. It’s part of Woodbury’s desire to create a joyous atmosphere.

“The ringtone to the phone is Jingle Bells, in hopes that everyone feels like it’s around Christmas time,” he said. “I want it to feel happy, you know? That’s the main goal here.”

Inspired in part by his hairstylist mother, Woodbury started down the path to becoming a barber in 2011. His friends were broke and needed haircuts, so Woodbury grabbed a trimmer and got to work.

After high school, Woodbury studied business administration at Red River College Polytechnic and then got a job at an insurance company. He kept cutting hair on the side, eventually charging people for his services.

“Some people like baking or whatever but on weekends, I would get excited to cut my friends’ hair.”

Woodbury didn’t enjoy wearing a suit and tie every day, so he quit his job and enrolled in the hairstyling program at Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology. In 2016, he was one of the first four barbers to join Waltz On In, the retro West Broadway barber shop started by Walter Spooner.

“I learned pretty much everything I know from Walter,” Woodbury said. “It was very special.”

Woodbury dreamed about opening his own shop, but says he was “either too lazy or too fearful” to make the leap. While crunching the numbers for a different business venture that didn’t come to fruition, he realized he had the finances to make his own barbershop work.

“Instead of buying a house, I did this. I’m terrified but excited at the same time. It’s beautifully terrifying.”

“Some people like baking or whatever but on weekends, I would get excited to cut my friends’ hair.”–Adam Woodbury

The shop takes its moniker from the nickname given to Woodbury and most of the males on the paternal side of his family.

Two people will start renting chairs in the shop soon, joining Woodbury to create a team of three barbers.

“There’s no real rush on hiring, just because it needs to feel like a very curated group. We all have to get along in such a small room … and I want them to be here for a long time.”

The thing Woodbury most enjoys about cutting hair is getting to interact with customers. “Everyone needs a haircut, and there’s something so cool about seeing that many different people and truly getting to know them all.”

Tucker Edwards is one of those customers. Woodbury has cut the 29-year-old air traffic controller’s hair regularly for a half-decade.

“When I saw he was opening his own shop I was glad, because I’ve been coming to him for five years for a reason,” Edwards said while getting a fresh cut Tuesday afternoon. “I haven’t found anyone else that cuts my hair as good.”

Dorothy Vannan, owner-operator of Grace & Company, an upscale gift and lifestyle boutique next to Woody’s, is happy to have the barbershop in the neighbourhood.

“I think it’s lovely,” said Vannan, who has been on Academy for nine years. She’s already noticed Woody’s bringing new people to the area. “It’s good for the street. I think he’ll do well.”

Woodbury plans to operate his shop for decades to come.

In 2019, he told the Free Press if he ever wins the lottery, he’ll keep cutting hair. He holds to that today and envisions a future as a wizened stylist.

“Right now, Woody’s is new, but one day, Woody’s will be old and I will be that old barber,” he said.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca