Checking Out: Michael Portman

What does a free-spirited kid growing up in Laredo, Texas, want to do?

First, head out of Laredo – specifically, for Austin.

Why Austin?

It’s the non-Texas. It’s unique. Think of a Willie Nelson concert, where a frat guy is standing next to a biker, standing next to an old hippie, next to a cowboy, next to a techie, next to a Republican state legislator – and everyone gets along.

You took a kind of circuitous path.

I wanted to be a writer, so I entered the creative writing department at Johns Hopkins University. That eventually took me to Dallas, working on a political campaign for Vicente Fox, for president of Mexico; then to Los Angeles, while trying to break into screenwriting.

Any luck with that?

I had a really great meeting once. And I met my wife.

What got you back to Texas?

We were both so sick of commuting our whole lives away, of being stuck in traffic two hours every day. One day, I called her, from my car to her car, and said, “I can’t do this commuting thing anymore. What about Austin?” And she said, “Okay!”

With a barbershop in mind?

With nothing really in mind. But I asked my boyhood friend, Jayson Rapaport, where I could get a good haircut in Austin and the options were fancy salons or discount chains.

So you created your own option.

In 2006, Jayson and I invested $15,000 each in our first Birds Barbershop. It was during the pre-boom in Austin. It would [cost] five times that now.

What was the concept?

All Austin, all the time. Live music, parties in the parking lot. A barbershop for everyone – from grandpa to a teenage girl,  to a guy with a mohawk. Affordable pricing and a “no-drama” policy!

Meaning what?

Gossip is forbidden. Stylists can’t talk too much about their personal lives. No bitching to customers, no negative chatter, no chronic lateness or other problems. And so, we attract good stylists who don’t like drama.

How’s it doing?

We’re building our eighth Austin location and our first one in Houston. Houston has a lot of University of Texas alums.

Do you depend on university support?

Less than you’d think. You can’t build a business on college students – they keep graduating. Also, they’re price-sensitive and not the greatest tippers.

And every store has a barber pole, I imagine.

Nope. It gives the impression of a men’s shop, and we don’t want that. This isn’t a bunch of guys discussing the game. To me, it’s not a party if girls aren’t around.

Inspired by Disney Details:

How did the time you spent as director of executive communications at Disneyland inform your approach to Birds Barbershop?

Not so much from a design standpoint, but definitely from a business and operations standpoint, seeing how a company handles things. I got a good grasp of the structure of it all – attending to the details of how to do it and what not to do. Never point with one finger! It may be insulting. No detail is unimportant or overlooked. Particularly, seeing the way they handle an event is amazing. Always plan for (and expect) the unexpected.