A Lifetime of Haircuts | Homemade

Summary

Podcast Summary: A Lifetime of Haircuts | Shannon Cason’s Homemade

Host: Shannon Cason
Guest: Stanley Paige (Detroit Barber Company)
Release Date: January 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt and humorous episode, Shannon Cason explores his lifelong relationship with barbershops, barbers, and his own hair (or lack thereof). Through storytelling and a candid conversation with his current barber, Stanley Paige, Shannon reflects on the culture, community, and personal rituals tied to Black barbershops, the challenge of sensitive skin, bad haircuts, and the value of a good barber who listens.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Growing Up with Hair Struggles and Barbers

• Hair Growth Woes:
  Shannon begins by sharing his struggle with “pseudo folliculitis barbae” (razor bumps), setting the stage for a lifetime of managing hair and skin sensitivities.

  “My hair grows how I talk: very slow. All my life, I’ve never had a true afro – it kind of just grows about this much, then stops.” (01:20)

• First Haircuts and Dad as Barber:

  • Childhood hair memories: Dad was a former professional barber specializing in Jheri curls in the ‘80s. Shannon preferred haircuts over a UFO-shaped Jheri curl.
  • Parental power dynamics: “The thing about your dad cutting your hair, no matter how good a barber they are, they’re going to cut it the way they want, not the way you want.” (04:30)

• The Emotional Impact of a Good Cut:

  • Memory of first haircut and its self-esteem boost:

    “I remember looking in the mirror after the haircut and I was shocked…I said like, ‘Gosh, not bad. I’m decent, I’m decent.’” (02:45)

The Social Status of Barbers in the Black Community

• Barbers as Pillars:
  • Shannon explains that, for Black men, “being a barber is an esteemed profession…there’s a power in that. And barbers are usually the coolest people ever.” (07:00)
  • Anecdote about how even the neighborhood drug dealer needs the barber:

    “The best way to stay off drugs is by needing a barber!” (07:36)

The Search for “The Right Barber”

• Loss of Trust After a Bad Cut:

  • Mr. Throckmorton, the neighborhood legend, gave Shannon a bad cut before a basketball game:

    “One bad cut can end a relationship with a barber. It’s like getting sick at your favorite restaurant. You’re never going back.” (09:10)

• Chasing Fresh Styles in Rival Neighborhoods:

  • Transition from old-school shops to trendy new ones (Bud’s Barbershop), contending with neighborhood rivalries and the safety net provided by being a known basketball player.

    “If you could hoop, you could go anywhere. And I could hoop.” (10:45)

• Peer Barbers and Creative Cuts:

  • "Huggy," a high school friend, became the go-to for artistic designs.

    “He was like an artist with the clippers…you could get your nickname in graffiti lettering in your head… I got ‘AK Shan’ in my head.” (12:00)

• College Haircuts:

  • Roommate Troy at Michigan State gave functional, home-style fades — the college barbershop in the basement experience.

The Trials of Sensitive Skin

• Barber Shop Fails Across America:

  • Humorous but frustrating episodes at Dominican and Jamaican shops—miscommunications, unsanitary conditions, and haircuts that missed the mark.

    “I got up in a flashy silk shirt with a gold chain… I could dance all of a sudden. I know I’m stereotyping, but I looked like N.O.R.E.” (13:50) “His clippers were too sharp, so I had a scar hairline all around my head.” (14:54)

• The Razor Bump Cycle:

  • The constant struggle to avoid barber-inflicted skin trauma, failed product attempts, and ultimate realization:

    “Until eventually, I had the bright idea to just let my hair grow out... Sometimes I’m just dumb like that.” (15:08)

Detroit Barbers: Attitude vs. Listening

• The trade-off between barbers with swagger and those who truly listen to client needs—culminating in Shannon’s praise for his current barber, Stanley Paige, who both listens and delivers a professional experience.

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Conversation with Stanley Paige, The Barber Who Listens

(Segment starts at 15:19)

Stanley’s Origin Story

• Learning from Bad Experiences:
  • Stanley’s commitment to listening and client care came from a negative adolescent experience where sharp trimmers left him with scabs.

    “I just thought my line was going to be a lot sharper… The next day I wake up, I got a scab around my forehead, everywhere those trimmers touched.” (16:11)

  • This shaped his philosophy:

    “When I become a licensed professional…I don’t want that for the people that’s coming in, because it’s all about protection, making sure the client is taken care of.” (16:50)

Professionalism in Modern Barbering

• Importance of Experience and Cleanliness:

  • Focus on listening, skin care, and maintaining hygiene is paramount for Stanley.

• Price Hikes and Client Expectations:

  • Discussion on the steady increase in haircut prices—from $20 to $35-60 and up—attributed to inflation, heightened service expectations (influenced by social media), and more elaborate grooming options (like man units, “enhancements”).

    “If your experience doesn’t match that price point, you shouldn’t be going to that barber.” (20:59)

• Quality of Experience Matters:

  “My haircuts with you, it’s like a beautiful location, best equipment, the hot towel… it’s, like, an experience.” —Shannon to Stanley (21:12)

How to Find Stanley

• On Instagram: @dunathebarber
• Website: detroitbarbercompany.com (Grosse Pointe location)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Barbers are usually the coolest people ever. Who’s cooler than the barber in the neighborhood? Maybe the neighborhood drug dealer. But even the drug dealer needs to go to the barber.” — Shannon (07:20)
• “One bad cut can end a relationship with a barber, it’s like getting sick at your favorite restaurant. You’re never going back.” — Shannon (09:10)
• “If your experience level don’t match that price point, you shouldn’t be going to that barber.” — Stanley Paige (21:01)
• “I always give you credit…even though I just have a bald head and a beard, but the experience is what I’m talking about.” — Shannon (21:44)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00-04:30 – Hair struggles, first haircuts, dad’s influence
• 07:00-10:45 – Status of barbers, importance in Black community, tales of neighborhood rivalry
• 12:00-13:50 – Peer barbers, creative designs, Instagram moments
• 14:00-15:15 – Bad haircut stories, barber language barriers, skin sensitivities
• 15:19-22:40 – Conversation with Stanley Paige on professionalism, haircut prices, and the client experience

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Conclusion

This episode spotlights the deep personal and cultural significance of haircuts, especially within Black life. Through lively memories and a frank dialogue with his Detroit barber, Shannon Cason weaves a tapestry of humor, nostalgia, and hard-earned wisdom about finding a barber who truly listens—and the value of a quality cut that’s about much more than just the hair.

Transcript

[A]

I suffer from pseudo folliculitis. I think it's. I can never say it. Barbe. Pseudo barbe, AKA razor bumps. Welcome to Homemade. I'm Shannon Cason. Hair, I have none, but I still go to the barbershop. I get a buzz and a beard shape up. And then I had Grandk, Shaim, Avery and Jeremiah. I have to take them to the barbershop, so that's a whole ordeal. And I also cut my own hair. I cut my own hair most of the time because I don't have much hair. But I do enjoy going to the barbershop. It's a great place for good conversations and stories, like listening to other people's stories, watching other people's stories. You know, all kind of things happen at the barbershop. So this, this episode is about my life of haircuts. And then my most recent bar. He's a good barber too, so I hope you enjoy. My hair grows how I talk very slow. All my life, I've never had a true Afro ever. It kind of just grows about this much, then it stops. But the hair around the sides by my ears, it does grow and grow and grow. And if I let it grow, it, it kind of looks like a UFO shaped Afro. Like it's low here and then it grows out here kind of looks strange. I do remember noticing my first haircut. My hair was in the style that I just talked about, like a UFO shaped fro. And I guess my dad finally remembered that he needed to cut my hair. I remember looking in the mirror after the haircut and I was shocked that I looked so good. I never thought of myself as a good looking person. But after that cut, I remember saying to myself, damn. Well, I was a kid, I probably didn't say damn. I said like, gosh, not bad, not bad. I'm decent, I'm decent. And to this day, I still go through that process. I let my hair, I let it grow out and I look a little crazy for a little bit. Then I get it cut and I think, damn, I'm decent. I'm decent. And I know I should keep a regular haircut for consistency, but I like having these dramatic changes to my appearance, at least my hair. And because of this, it's crucial that when I do cut my hair, it has to be cut right. It's just that doesn't always happen. Like I said, my first barber was my dad. My dad was a professional barber before, like years before I was born. And then when I was young, he had stopped cutting hair and he was doing Jheri curls at that time. It was the 80s. Jerry Curls was the big thing. So he knew how to cut hair. But Jerry curls were in style. There was a salon set up in the basement of the house where my dad would do the Jheri curls. And it was mostly women from around Detroit. And I didn't want my UFO shaped afro turned into a UFO shaped Jheri curl. So I asked him to cut my hair. The thing about your dad cutting your hair, no matter how good a barber they are as a child, you can't really tell them how to cut your hair. They're going to cut it the way they want to cut your hair, not the way you want your hair cut. And that worked when I was like 5 or 10. But when I got to high school, I didn't want my dad to cut my hair anymore. I had to find my own barber. Being a barber in the black community is an esteemed profession. I think barbers are respected universally. I don't know about other communities because I'm not in them. But in the black community to be a barber is an admired profession. It's a skill not everyone can do. It is well paid relatively. You know, a good barber can make good money. People need you. When people come to you out of necessity, there's a power in that. And barbers are usually the coolest people ever. Who's cooler than the barber in the neighborhood? Maybe the neighborhood drug dealer. But even the drug dealer needs to go to the barber. You don't need the drug dealer if you still need the barber. If you need the drug dealer, you stop knee in the barber. So needing barbers is the best way to stay off of drugs is what I'm saying. It's a good thing. My first barber after my dad, he was pretty cool. Mr. Throckmorton. He owned the Throttbordon Barbershop in Ecourst, Michigan. And I walked past it every day on my way to school. I never went in. It was one of these old school barbershops with the candy cane pole on the building. Dropmore was a professional barber, someone you look up to in the neighborhood. He drove a nice car, dressed decent, tall, strong guy, man who everyone in the neighborhood respected. He was the first barber that I went to outside of my father for fades and haircuts before basketball games. Now Throtty, and that's what we called him when he wasn't around. Throtty cut mostly grown ups hair and little kids. He didn't do the latest styles in the 80s with the designs and everything. Throtty just did basic cuts, which was fine. But one time he cut over my ears too high, and it was a bad cut. And I had a basketball game that day, and. And I was hurt. I don't know if you know, if you got a bad haircut and you got a basketball game, it's like the worst day of your life. So I never went back to Dratty after that. Stopped going. One bad cut can end a relationship with a barber, it's like getting sick at your favorite restaurant. You're never going back. Then I found out where all the people were going to get the freshest cuts. Buzz barbershop in River Ridge. Bud had the trendy cuts for the young people in the early 90s. Throckmorton was old school, which is good, but Bud was new school, which is better. The only thing about going to Bud's, it was in River Ridge, Detroit. E course and River Ridge were all connected. In the neighborhood that I grew up in, it was like, right across the street, you cross Bassett, you in Southwest Detroit, you cross Viziger, you're in River Ridge. And then E course is where I'm from. I wasn't in any gangs or anything. And in the area wasn't really big on gang culture like Chicago or la. But it still mattered what part of the neighborhood you grew up in. E course and River Rouge would have major fights sometimes, so you had to keep your eyes open. Southwest Detroit was his own thing, too. You just had to keep your eyes open, even if he wasn't involved. The thing with me, I played basketball. So being a baller was like a golden pass into every neighborhood, because you would go to the neighborhood basketball courts in every neighborhood. So if you could hoop, you could go anywhere and I could hoop. But you still had to be aware. You had to know what was going on. I would carry my basketball sometimes just bounce it around the hood because that would be proof that, hey, don't shoot me. I'm playing basketball. I play basketball. Don't shoot me. So walking the Buds had a degree of stress. You have your head on swivel, ready to run back across Viziger to get back to E course, where you were safe, semi safe. So. But I went to Buds on a regular basis. Bud knew how to do, like, the simple lines in your hair, like the fades with the simple lines. So you was, like, fresh for the 90s. This is in the 90s. You was fresh. Then one of my high school friends, Huggy, got really good at cutting hair. Hug lived right around the block from me. I lived on 19th street in Ecourse and he lived on 18th street and he had been practicing on the whole neighborhood for years. But then he got really, really good. I mean, Hug's house became the spot to go for haircuts. Even the people who was going to Bud's to be going to Hoogs, everybody was going to Hook at one time. And he was still in high school, so he was making good money for high school. And the best thing about Hug is he could do the freshest young cuts. He was like an artist with the clippers. So if you wanted intricate designs in your haircut, Hug could do it like a picture of a football or basketball or if you play baseball, your favorite sports team in your hair, a memorial to your grandma for her funeral your know, one of your cousins or something like that. You can get your nickname and graffiti lettering in your head. I never had a nickname, so I got Ax Shan in my head. I got AK Shan. I thought that was a cool name. I put a pic on Instagram of me with my action in my head. I still got a pic of it. I'm at Shannon Casein on Instagram. But Hug did it all. And because he was my friend, I would dip out sometimes without paying them. I just kind of like talk to him for an hour. I probably owe Hug some money next time I see him. I actually saw Hook not too long ago at my 50th birthday party. He had came on out, so. So shout out to Hug. It's a good man right there. And I do owe you something. When I went away to Michigan State, my roommate Troy would cut my hair all the time. Troy could do all the basic cuts. I went to his house not too long ago and beautiful family, beautiful home. And there's still a makeshift barbershop in his basement even to this day. Troy wasn't a barber, he's an engineer. But he could cut hair. And all I needed was a fade. Back in the day, you just needed a fade. I'm a pretty easy going haircut guy. Basic haircuts, some designs because I had Hug, but but mostly basic haircuts. It doesn't even have to be perfect. But the only thing with me you have to listen to me because my skin is very sensitive. Being easygoing with sensitive skin has put me in some bad circumstances. I've gotten numerous terrible haircuts throughout my life and I just live with them and until the hair grows back is no biggie. There was this one time I went To a Dominican barbershop. And I told the guy what I wanted. I had a beard. And I don't know what he heard, but I got her from the chair and I didn't even notice myself. I think he thought. I think he thought I was Dominican or something because I had a Dominican haircut with like a little chin strap beard and everything. I sat down and I was dressed normal. And I got up in a flashy silk silk shirt with a gold chain, and I was. I could dance. All of a sudden, I don't know. I know I'm stereotyping, but I look like Nori. You know, Nori from Drink Champs and the rapper Nori? I seriously, seriously. I remember I went to a Jamaican barbershop in Brooklyn. And you ever been. Been somewhere like you was gonna get something and you telling yourself in your head, you're like, walk out. Don't get a haircut. But you don't. I knew I shouldn't get a haircut. Everything looked unsanitary while I was waiting. There was no clipper cleaning after every cut. It was downstairs in this basement. And the goat came out of the back room. I know I'm doing some terrible stereotyping right now, but it was bad. I knew I shouldn't get a haircut. I knew I was gonna get hepatitis or some kind of disease at that barbershop. Thank goodness I didn't. But I needed to cut for a date. I was going out on a date. And his. His clippers were too sharp. So I had that scar hairline around my whole head. The worst thing a barber can do is to try to make me look too clean. Cut. I have very sensitive skin. Like, very sensitive. I'm light skinned, you know, super sensitive skin. I was in Oakland once, and Oakland had a really nice high class, highfalutin barbershop. All the barbers were good barbers. They were great barbers. But I was telling my barber that I have sensitive skin and to not cut too close. But he was just too cool to listen. He was dressed cool, he was talking cool. He was on his phone cool. And he cut my hair perfectly, but too perfectly. Like, he got every single hair that was out of place on my face and on my head, you know, So I could just feel like while he was doing it, he might be cutting it too close. He didn't nick me or anything, but he was just cutting it too close. So for that one day, I had a perfect haircut. But then the next day, when my hair started growing back, the hair grew under my skin and my skin bumped up. I suffer from pseudo folliculitis. I think it's. I can never say it. Barbe. Pseudo Barbae, AKA razor bumps. These are painful, ugly bumps that grow on the beard line. It's an ingrown hair, and the hair curls up under the skin and they just hurt and look bad. I've tried everything. Bump stopper, magic shave, black opal, tin skin. I even had six sessions of laser hair removal. Nothing worked. Until eventually, eventually I had the bright idea to just let my hair grow out around 30. I said, well, I'm gonna just let my beard grow. And sometimes I'm just dumb like that. It's right up under my nose, and I'm not thinking that I could just let my hair grow. Speaking of cool barbers, Detroit has the coolest barbers. Coolest barbers in the world, but great barbers. There's great barbers in Detroit, but they're so cool that they don't listen to you. Until I found one Detroit barber that I actually like and that actually listens. Here's a call with my barber, Stanley Paige at the Detroit Barber Company here in Detroit, obviously. Hey, man. Stanley. What's up, man?

[B]

What's up? What's happening, Shannon?

[A]

Doing good, man. Hey, I did an episode on cutting hair and the haircuts I've gotten over the years. You the first barber, One of the first. I don't even remember one before you who actually listens to me when I'm getting a haircut. You actually, like, hear me saying to you, my skin is sensitive. Please don't cut me. You actually listen to that. Have you always been like that? Have you always listened to your clients and, like, where did that come from, man?

[B]

Oh, absolutely, man. Well, it started from just my own experience because, you know, I had a bad experience at a barbershop at a young age. Age I was about 14. And in that barber shop, I had a barber, you know, that I went to every other weekend, probably like twice out the month. And one day he went to line me up. Those trimmers, they were a lot sharper than I anticipated. So, you know, I go in there and I. At this age, I didn't know nothing about cutting hair, so I just thought my line was going to be a lot sharper, you know, So I was like, okay, cool. I'm gonna relax, chill. The next day I wake up, I got a scab around my forehead. Everywhere where he lined up, everywhere those trimmers touched was a scab. So that's where I just had, you know, told myself like, you know what, forget it. I'm going to Walmart. I'm gonna go to the local, you know, beauty supply store, try to find a pair of clippers and. And that's how I got my start. So when it comes down to like just my own experiences, that's why I felt like, you know what, I'm not gonna do that when I become a licensed professional because I understand how that felt and I don't want that for the people that's coming in, because it's all about protection, you know, making sure that client is taken care of, making sure that you're all listening to what they want first and foremost and, you know, making sure that everything is sanitary and clean to the point to where you don't have any issues with razor burn cuts, nicks, you know, things of that nature that will make that person skin uncomfortable. So yeah, it started from there, man. So I had my own experience. I'm like, you know what, it gotta be a better level than that. So let's go ahead and, you know, do things the right way. And that's really what made me want to make sure that I take care of my clients, my own personal experiences, man.

[A]

No, that's. That you saying the thing. Cause you saying like the key word for me is professional. And I feel that from the experience with you, it's like you really listening. What do you want? This, that and the other. And because for me, I just want a grown man haircut. And, and I do get razor bumps. I'm. I talk about myself, I'm light skinned, so I get the, I get sensitive skin or I get the razor bumps. And you really listen and really be a little lighter and know that you don't have to go super close. I'm not looking for, you know, to go to the club with the super scab line around my head like you just said. So I, so I appreciate it, man. I appreciate it. What's your take on the cost of the haircuts nowadays? I mean, I grew up with the, it was the 20 cut for the longest. It was the 20 cut and then after some time it just became an extreme amount for some cuts. What is your take? Because I know it's a professional career and it's a respectable career. That's what I talk about on the podcast. But what's, what's your take on the, the jump in, in cost now for the haircuts? So.

[B]

Yeah, no, honestly, yeah, there was a noticeable jump because like you said, the, the the typical haircut went from 20 to about 35 to 40. And now you get some phase at.

[A]

45, 60 is what I think in my head, just starting. And then it may go up from there depending on, you know, the shop that I'm in.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, but I think that's due to, I mean, the obvious. We can start with inflation, you know, we can start with that. Just the amount of things, you know, the dollar doesn't stretch as far as it, it did in the 90s, 80s, you know, and so on. But I do think at the same time that just the, the consumer aspect of everything, like, you know, everybody's on the gram, tick tock. They want to look like the superstars that they see when they scrolling through their phone. And a lot of the time that, that added experience, that added service, that preparing the skin. So there's a lot more that goes into the art frame of being a professional licensed barber these days. So, you know, we gotta incorporate more in order to get that look that they want. But yeah, a lot of it has to do with vanity now, man. You know, we got guys that get the enhancement. We got guys that, you know, even want to get the, the male toupee that they have now, they call it a man unit glued to the top of your head. So, you know, it, it has evolved over time. You know, people want more detailed looks. So, yeah, that's why I think the, the price comes from. But I do think that too. Another thing I want to touch on is your experience has to reflect that price. Right? Like, you can't just go in somewhere and, oh, I'm gonna sit you down. I'm allowing you to watch some alcohol on your forehead and I'm gonna send you out of there. You know, you want that person to feel relaxed. So if your experience level don't match that price point, you shouldn't be going to that barber. You know what I mean?

[A]

I agree.

[B]

Yeah, you got to be able to give that quality along with the price. Because if it isn't, if it is that reflective of what you charging, then what we doing, you know?

[A]

Nah, nah, I can feel you on that because, because my haircuts with you is like a beautiful location that I'm in. I see that you have all the best, the best equipment. You know, it's just a good experience. We got the hot towel, we got the whole, just the whole ordeal, you know, and then it's a, it's like an experience. You've gone in, you've had an experience, you wanted the Best barbers, man, from my standpoint and that I've experienced over the years, over my 50 years, I'm like, man, Stanley, Stanley at the top. And I always giving you credit. Like a lot of times I'm talking to people, I'm like, man, my barber, even though I, you know, I just have a bald head and a beard, but the experience is what I'm talking about, you know, so, so how can people, how can people find you, man? How can people, if they want to come, come and have the same experience? How can people find.

[B]

Well, if they want to find me, obviously, you know, social media, everybody's on that. I'm on Instagram as well. Duna the barber. So you know, Duna the barber. D O O N A P H E E B A R B E R so you can find me on Instagram. Also we do have a website that people can Click on is detroitbarbercompany.com we have a list of locations. I'm at the gross point one. So, you know, just go on the website. It's definitely easy to get through a couple of clicks. You have your appointment made, you got that time and you can come on in and see me.

[A]

My man, one of the best ever. I appreciate you taking a few, few seconds with me, man.

[B]

Oh, anytime, man. Call me anytime. This ain't gonna be the last time we talk.

[A]

No, you, you might be a reoccurring character. You might be a reoccurring character, man. I appreciate you. Hey, stay warm out there. Make them. Make them Kia shovel to snow. You ain't got to shovel no snow.

[B]

Oh, you already know. Thanks a lot, brother.

[A]

All right, man, I'll talk to you in a little bit.

[B]

All right now. Take care.

[A]

All right, peace. Thanks for listening. Shannon Case's Homemade is proud to be supported by the friends of Homemade. I want to thank everyone who listens, enjoys and supports the stories. My friends. Robert R. I appreciate the Venmo. I enjoyed those tacos. Best friends. Angela B. Thank you for the Patreon. Thanks for the email from Dr. Adia. I appreciate you. I'm gonna be in touch soon. Homemade is a friend funded podcast. Visit patreon.com backslash Shannon Casen or dollar sign Shannon Casen on cash app if you just like to go direct. And I'm gonna see you later. I need a haircut right now. I'm gonna come see you soon. Stanley, make sure you tell your barber what you want or just go see Stanley. Stanley will take care of you. All right, I'm gonna see you soon.

[B]

Now that's homemade.