Shaping community at the barber shop

Spencer Johnson celebrates 10 years, by A. David Dahmer

Exactly one decade ago, Spencer Johnson tried something on a whim to help out an old buddy. Ten years later, Johnson has made a great career out of it and couldn’t be more positive that he made the right choice.
"Things are going well," Johnson says. "I have met a lot of great people and have had a lot of great experiences. I really like what I'm doing now and where I am at."
It was in April of 1999 when Johnson began his barbering career at JP Hair Design.
"I had never had a job before that lasted over a year, so to come here my intentions were just to help JP out," Johnson remembers. "I was very new to the whole barbering thing. I had never been in a barbershop before."
Johnson had met Patterson at UW-Whitewater where both were members of the football team —Johnson a running back and Patterson a receiver. Both men seemed to always be busy cutting hair for football players on the team.
"Years later he remembered that and he asked me if I'd be interested in joining him," Johnson says.
And Johnson has been there ever since. In 2004, he became part of management, and he continues to sharpen his skills as a barber by attending courses and seminars in the competitive cosmetology market.
"Spencer is a great staff member and has helped create the great name of JP Hair Design," said Jeffrey (J.P.) Patterson, the owner of JP Hair Design. "He enjoys his job and is very talented and well liked by his customers and co-workers. Every business owner needs to have a strong wingman to keep a successful business going. I have so much appreciation for Spencer for his 10 years of working with JP Hair Design."
The African American barbershop is an old tradition with a long and distinctive history in the United States. It's a fascinating social institution that has played a significant role in the lives of fathers and their sons. It's a place where elders instill youngsters with cultural and community values, a place to speak openly about issues and community events and, most importantly, the place to go to get the latest scoop. It's a very social place.
"Oddly enough, I was kind of a quiet kid growing up and in this type of business you have to have more of a personality and be able to adjust to different clientele," Johnson says. "I thought that was going to be terrifying for me, but it just came naturally. I was able to learn about the clients and adjust to what they needed. I've met a lot of great people that way."
A place to talk, to relax, to discuss, and to debate things that are going on in people's lives or in the world, a barbershop is an important institution for the community.  When people want to know what's going on in the community, they call or come to the barbershop.
 "I've seen kids grow to men, I've seen families form," says Johnson, who received his license from Madison Area Technical College. "It's just good to be there and witness all of this.
"I've seen many positive things — from kids to adults," Johnson adds. "From a kid's standpoint, they are seeing Black men working as a team. They see family and positive entrepreneurship. As an adult, you see professionalism. That's very important for African Americans to see a professional Black establishment having a positive impact on the community.”
JP's has a clean and professional environment and gets all kinds of clientele, from people right off the streets to professionals — doctors, lawyers, and businesspeople. JP's was originally designed with a sports motif in mind — basketballs, baseballs, and footballs sit over the mirrors and there’s always some type of sports on the television at JP's — and JP they always gets plenty of business from University of Wisconsin athletes.
Johnson has the cut the hair of many UW athletes from famous to not-so-famous, but the evolution of NBA basketball star Devin Harris amuses him the most.
"Back when he was balling at the UW, I remember one time he called for an appointment, and I told him he had to get here right now," Johnson said.
The only problem was that the student Harris only had a little scooter and it was a cold November day. The trip to the west side from campus is not very short.
"He rolled his scooter all they way out here and I felt bad for him because he was this little snotty-nosed kid, shivering, and his face was all cold and red," Johnson laughs. "A few years later when he called for an appointment when he had made it big time, he rolled up in a $100,000 Mercedes Benz. I thought to myself, 'My, how times have changed.'"
And as times have changed, hairstyles have too. What was old is new and sometimes things like hair, like fashion, can go in cycles. Is the early 90s Fresh Prince hairstyle with the two lines in the side of the head coming back into style any time soon?
"What's funny about that is there are people who want to be original so they will come and say, 'Give me the two lines [on the side hairstyle] thinking that that is original," smiles Johnson. "And we keep quiet like, "Oh, sure. You're the only one with this.'
"We do get challenged to be as creative as possible — people are trying to one-up the next haircut," Johnson adds. "I think people feel with our barbershop there is no limit to what we can do so they aren't afraid to ask us to put, say, Fred Flintstone in their hair. A kid came in one time and said, 'I want Michael Jordan jumping over a city dunking a basketball.' And we did it."
Johnson, who was born in Los Angeles and lived in Memphis, Tenn., before relocating to Madison as a teenager, knows that the youth he sees coming in and out of the barbershop are forming their values and habits all the time. He's long realized that he himself has a role in the community and about the power of giving back. That's why he spends some of his time at the Boys and Girls Club on Allied Drive.
"I teach young boys how to cut hair and I work with them on life and career choices," Johnson says. "I help them get ready for the next level."
In the meantime, Johnson is looking forward to his next decade at JP's.
"There's been no drama here. It's been a great environment to work in," Johnson says. "I wake up at 5 o'clock and I look forward to going to work every day."

JP Hair Design, 584 Grand Canyon Drive, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m.-6.p.m. For an appointment, call 829-1143.