A regular told me my fades looked 'rushed' and it stung but he was right

This guy comes in every two weeks like clockwork, always gets a skin fade. Last month after his cut, he paid and then said real quiet, 'Hey man, love the shop, but sometimes the blend on my fade feels a bit rushed, like you're trying to get it done in one pass.' Oof. I was defensive at first, but later I really looked at my work. I realized I was using my 1.5 guard to try and do too much of the heavy blending, skipping smaller steps. Now I force myself to use the 0.5 and 1 guards more, even if it adds a few minutes. The difference is crazy, way smoother transitions. It's a small change but it made me slow down and focus on the details. Anyone else get a piece of feedback that made you totally switch up a basic part of your process?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendy3917d ago

Man, that hits deep. It's wild how a tiny bit of honest feedback can flip a switch in your brain. I used to get so mad when my guitar teacher would stop me and say my timing was off on a simple chord change. I thought he was just being picky. But then I started recording myself, and wow, he was right. I was rushing the beat to get to the next part. Now I practice with a metronome all the time, even on stuff I know cold. It feels slow and boring, but the whole song sounds tighter. That one piece of criticism basically rebuilt my foundation.

terryk287d ago

My old boss at the diner told me I was plating pancakes like I was in a race. He said they looked sloppy and the butter was just dumped on. I started putting the butter on the side in a little ramekin and stacking them neatly with a gap for syrup. It added maybe forty seconds per order, but the tips went up almost right away. That one comment about slowing down and caring about the look changed my whole approach to the rush.

diana_black12h ago

Honestly, I get the idea but that would backfire for me. If I slowed down on every single cut like that, I'd fall way behind and my whole day would be chaos. Sometimes a client's just really picky, you know? I've found most people don't even notice the tiny details if the overall cut is sharp and you keep a good pace.

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