By FRED KRONER
The reason for selecting a business name can happen for any number of reasons.
Some people pick something to honor a family member or relative.
Others incorporate a street address or highway number into their name.
Some are randomly chosen during a late-night brainstorming session because of the way they sound.
Others seek a name with a word or phrase that immediately identifies the type of business.
The list of possibilities could continue for paragraphs.
For Denise Johnson, it was a matter of simply listening.
A friend that she first met at church back in the 1980s, Mahomet’s Jim Eagan, is a music aficionado.
“He’s a huge music lover,” Johnson said. “He knows who sings it, when it was out.
“When he’d hear a song that he thought was awesome, he’d say, ‘Now that’s the cut.’”
Immediately, a light bulb went off for Johnson, who has four decades of experience as a barber.
“I said that would be a good name for a barber shop,” Johnson said, “and we laughed about it.
“I had no idea at the time I’d be using it.”
The funny part is this: That’s the Cut Barber Shop & Shave Parlor is the name of the shop Johnson opened in Mahomet in August at Sangamon On Main, 601 E. Main St. She and colleague Garrett Rives are in Suite 106.
Mahomet customers have been receptive, though Johnson said, “when you’re not working from a storefront, it’s harder to get the word out. That’s the challenge we face.”
The shop is open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays. Appointments can be made. Johnson and Rives also accept walk-ins.
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Johnson graduated from Shelbyville High School in 1979 and wasn’t sure what line of work to pursue.
“I was cutting my own hair, and friends and family,” she said, “back when feathering was a big thing.
“My parents said, ‘You need to figure something out.’”
She looked into cosmetology school, but decided against it.
“You had to wait six months to start cutting hair,” she said.
Instead, she enrolled at the Decatur Barber College the summer after she graduated from high school.
“You could start cutting hair right away,” she said.
Her first job was on the Eastern Illinois University campus in Charleston, at Kampus Barber Stylists, in 1980.
A year later, she moved to Champaign and worked on the University of Illinois campus at Lando 1 and 2.
In 1982, she married Larry Johnson and they moved to Whitehouse, Texas, where she worked at West Minster Barber Shop and started raising two daughters.
“The shop was owned by a lady from England,” Johnson said.
She had found her niche.
“You make people feel better about themselves,” Johnson said. “There’s always good conversations.
“You always make it about them. You don’t focus on you.”
The Johnsons returned from Texas to their hometown of Shelbyville in 1988.
She worked at a barber/beauty shop on the town square for two years.
“At this time, my father had just bought a house with an attached building that he talked me into turning into a barber shop,” Johnson said.
She was a first-time business owner.
“I called it The Cutting Edge,” Johnson said.
She operated the business for 27 years, eventually moving it to an uptown Shelbyville location.
Keeping busy was never an issue.
“I was blessed doing this business,” she said. “I never really had to advertise.
“People came to me by word of mouth. When you’re from a small town, that’s easy to do. People knew you.”
Two years ago, Johnson moved back to Champaign County.
“I was looking for a new start after the loss of my husband of 38 years,” she said.
She became associated with Wicked Rascal, which had barber shops in St. Joseph, Urbana and downtown Mahomet.
“The barbers (at Mahomet) were relocating and he wanted me to go over and keep the shop going, with hopes that we would get a second barber,” Johnson said. “That didn’t happen. Barbers are scarce.”
When the Mahomet location shut down permanently, Johnson spent her time at the Urbana site.
She soon saw some familiar faces.
“A few Mahomet customers followed,” she said.
Johnson felt like her fortunes were looking up as the calendar turned to 2020.
“Then the pandemic hit and the barber shop was affected,” Johnson said. “The owner decided to downsize.”
In March, she was out of a job, except for teaching two Saturdays a month in Springfield at University of Spa and Cosmetology Arts (which was temporarily shutting down).
The opportunity to teach came about several years ago when Johnson was seeking a change, but realized barbering “was all I’d ever done, so the only thing left was to get my barber teaching license.”
She opted not to do it full-time, she said, because, “the income wasn’t what I had hoped for.”
Though she still owned a home in Shelbyville, Johnson was determined to make things work in Champaign County even after her layoff at Wicked Rascal. She was enamored by the area.
“I love the Mahomet area,” Johnson said. “I enjoy being outdoors, walking and jogging.
“I like all of the places I am able to go to with walking paths outside. The people are friendly and I’ve been very grateful for their support.”
It was because of her clientele that Johnson was encouraged to open a shop in Mahomet during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I had customers reaching out to me from Mahomet,” she said, “wanting haircuts.”
The village has a plethora of salons for women, but limited options for men wanting a barber shop cut or shave.
Suddenly, it was déjà vu for Johnson. She was back doing what she did decades ago. Now a grandmother of four, she was setting up a shop of her own. Again.
“I sold one of my vehicles and that helped me purchase and furnish a barber shop,” she said. “It has been 40 years, but I remember how all of this started, cutting friends and family’s hair while I was in high school.
“I knew I had a handful of customers to start with, and that has supported me.”
Even though she couldn’t have outside signage on her window in Mahomet, Johnson picked the Sangamon on Main location because she said the rent was “very affordable.”
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The path Johnson saw for her future when she first attended the Decatur Barber College has taken some twists and turns she didn’t envision.
“My intention graduating from Barber College was only to cut men’s hair,” she said.
Johnson had a hard time, however, saying no to other requests.
“I was doing a lot of women’s hair,” she said. “Color. Up-dos. Hair for proms and homecoming. Wedding hair.
“I got into women’s hair more than I ever thought I would.”
She desperately sought a better balance.
“I tried to wean women away,” Johnson said. “I was tired and burnt out, working until 9 or 10 at night, no lunch break.”
The workload was affecting the demand for her barbering skills.
“Men don’t want to smell the chemical stuff,” Johnson said. “I decided to sell the business (in Shelbyville) and go back to focusing on men’s cuts, straight-razor shaves and clipper cuts.
“Barbers seem to be a dying breed, but have recently made a comeback.”
The same can be said for Johnson as a business owner. She’s in the second month of her personal comeback running a barber shop.
“Starting over is the hardest when you start at zero,” she said, “but I’m in it for a few more years.
“Because of God’s grace, the profession has been a good provider for me.”
