A Message From an Old Shipmate

Amon is the barber I met on board the ship, and he was the one I often went to. Properly professional, took real pride in the job, and we’d have a genuine conversation every single time I sat down in that chair. Genuinely one of the very good ones.

A little while back I got a message from him. He’d seen one of my posts about building something outside the day job, and he reached out to tell me he’s doing exactly the same thing himself, from the chair rather than the engine room. He’s started his own social media channel on the side, a project he’s calling “Words From the Chair.”

When I asked if he’d be happy for me to share his story here the same way, he said yes straight away. He doesn’t have a website yet, just Instagram, @amon_thebarber, and LinkedIn, while he finds his feet. The idea behind it, as he put it, is “to share real life experiences and advice from ordinary people from the chair” — hence the name.

In His Own Words

Here’s how he describes what he’s building.

A great haircut is more than the finished look.

It’s an experience, one where you should leave feeling that you were seen, heard and genuinely listened to.

The real atmosphere isn’t created by the purchase itself. It’s built through dozens of small interactions, the initial greeting, the consultation, the attention to detail, the conversation in the chair, and ultimately, the way we send you back into the world…

— Amon, Words From the Chair

Different Trade, Same Idea

Reading that, I recognised the exact same thing I’ve been trying to build here. Different trade, same idea. You spend enough years at sea and you learn that the job in front of you is rarely just the job, it’s the conversation, the trust, the small moments that actually make people feel looked after. Amon learned that in a barber’s chair. I learned a version of it in an engine room, and in every departure and homecoming since.

What I really want people to take from this is simpler than any of that though. Amon didn’t wait for the perfect moment to start something of his own. He built it around a career that already keeps him away from home for months at a time, same as the rest of us. If you’ve got something you’ve been meaning to start, a skill, a trade, an idea you keep putting off, this is proof it doesn’t need perfect conditions, it just needs you to actually begin.

That’s really the whole point of sharing this. It goes to show you can set your mind to just about anything and make it happen, ship, contract, or otherwise, if you’re willing to put the work in around it rather than waiting for the perfect moment to start.

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” — Zig Ziglar, American motivational speaker

Show Him Some Support

Amon and I have agreed to back each other’s work going forward, so you’ll likely see more of his story here, and more of mine on his end. He posted his own announcement about it on LinkedIn, well worth reading in full and giving some support of your own,

Amon’s post, https://lnkd.in/p/dnDs429X

Or look up Words From the Chair directly, or search the hashtags he’s using, #WordsFromTheChair, #40sClubCuts, #MoreThanAHaircut, #ClipperConversations.