BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
“I’ve had moms literally break down in tears because their child had never been able to get a full haircut before.”
Jarvet Matthews
OPELIKA — Catering to guys, young and old, Family Fades is a space where men can enjoy their haircut, and families can feel comfortable while freshening up.
“If you look it up, statistically, the least touched spot on a man is their head, so [we’re] giving them a place to sit and relax,” said Owner Jarvet Matthews. “They can also get shampoos in my chair, steamed towels and whatever service they want to get as a man. And even though I’m a woman, I wanted to create a space that was a safe haven for men as well… I’m not looking to create a salon — I’m looking to create a space for men that women are also comfortable with. I don’t want women having to come in and get catcalled, but I also don’t want men to have to come in and be around a bunch of female talk, either; they deserve a space. And I think that was really important, just making sure men know this is for them. There’s not many traditional barber shops around, and I wanted to bring back that old school, traditional barbershop that I got to see growing up with my goddad. And I feel like I’ve done that — men feel really comfortable here.”
Matthews said she has been cutting men’s hair for eight years, and she went to hair school dreaming of being a stylist, until one day she took a clipper class and reached out to a barber to learn more.
“He just spoke so highly of it, and after enjoying the clipper class, I said, ‘You know what, I’m gonna give men’s cutting a try,’” she said. “I actually became a receptionist for Sport Clips. And it just opened up a whole new world to me. So I did that for about seven years. I ran the store for a couple of years, got into the corporate aspect of it, learned about keeping a business running and maintaining growing relationships with clients over the years.”
Through learning about cutting and customer connection in the corporate salon, Matthews said she was encouraged by her clients to open her own barber shop.
“Clients just kept telling me, ‘You should really step out on faith. I think you’re too good to be in a corporate salon,’” she said. “So one day I decided to up and quit my job with two small children and go shoot for the stars. So I started doing mobile barbering. [I would] go into people’s homes and businesses, while I worked a full-time job, just trying to build my independent clientele up, and then a local barber shop in the area reached out to me and said that they saw my work and they really wanted me to come join their team, and I did it. It was an all-male barbershop — it was very scary, but they taught me a lot. They taught me a lot of straight razor techniques and just the individual barber kind of game.”
After about eight months of working at the barber shop, Matthews said she saw a building open that she felt led to open her business in.
“I saw this building come open, and something just came over me,” she said. “I kind of say it was God — I feel like he led me to the building, and I reached out to the building owner, and I said, ‘Would it be a crazy idea to turn that building into a barber shop? ‘ and she said, ‘Why does it have to be an idea? Why not just do it?’ And after that, I went for it — I found a loan, I called around and in 30 days, I opened Family Fades.”
As she grew her skills working at the barber shop, Matthews said she was deciding what she wanted her barber shop to provide for the community and customers.
“I wanted to be that person who cuts your hair your entire life,” she said. “So that’s why I came up with the name Family Fades, because I wanted it to embody being a family. I opened it up, and I said, ‘You know what, it might be rough. I might not get the clientele.’ Because at the time of me opening it up, I probably was averaging six to nine clients a day, so I didn’t have much income coming in, but I just stepped out on faith. And I said, either it’ll work or won’t work, and as soon as I opened the doors, is what the community just surrounded me. They uplifted me, and they supported — they came through.”
As she grew her family-friendly barber shop, Matthews said families and moms began utilizing her services as a comfortable place to bring their children.
“I became kind of the safe haven for moms that are single, and they have to take their kids to the barbershop, and it’s very intimidating, and [they were] able to come into a female-led barbershop and feel safe and feel comfortable and not be worried about what their children might hear or see in a barbershop,” she said. “Then I did my first autistic client at the shop, and my biggest thing was [I knew we] we’re going to get the haircut done. Whether they have to sit in their waiting chair, whether they have to sit on the couch in the kids’ area, wherever they’re comfortable, is where we’ll cut it, and we’ll get it done. And then I became a safe haven for all the autistic clients and the autistic mothers to be like, ‘My child’s comfortable here, even if they’re screaming and crying, somehow you get it done.’ I’ve had moms literally bust out into tears because their child had never been able to get a full haircut.”
As she continues to craft cuts in the community, Matthews said she is thankful for the local support that has helped her business thrive and for the ability to serve the community through providing barber services.
“I just wanted to lead with love, and hopefully everybody will come through and support,” she said. “I think that’s what the main goal — it’s not to make money, it’s to literally give back to the community through cutting hair. So within a year, I’m averaging 15 to 25 clients a day. It’s really a blessing, like I really feel like all of this was God. This was His plan, and I just followed His lead. And I haven’t had a day where I’ve had to go without. My kids haven’t had to go without because of the community of Auburn and Opelika. I don’t feel like it was me who made Family Fades thrive — I think it was the backing of the community that made it thrive.”
To learn more or book an appointment with Family Fades, visit Family Fades on Facebook, linktr.ee/familyfades or call (334) 363-2223. Family Fades is located at 201 South Railroad Ave. in Opelika.
