When I moved to Austin in 2004, Jayson Rapaport was my only friend in town. We’d known each other since childhood growing up in South Texas, but Austin was where we wanted to end up. Naturally I asked him where to go for all the basics. Top place for groceries? Diviest dive bar? Best haircut? I felt like I’d outgrown low-end chains, and fancy salons were too bougie an option. What was in the middle? He didn’t have a good answer.

From that conversation, Birds Barbershop was born. We imagined a place that was for everyone that didn’t take itself too seriously and delivered on quality each and every time. We logged on to the then-new Internet and typed in “best haircut,” “Austin barbershop,” “top salon near me” and came up empty. There seemed to be a hole in the market and we decided that if we didn’t build it someone else would. There are now nine Birds Barbershop locations across North Austin, South Austin, East Austin and Central Austin, with Round Rock and Cedar Park in our sights.