By Kevin Morley
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.‐ ‐In the modern generation that we live in today, it has become all
too common for people to use their phones as a way to avoid conversation. However, in a time
where conversing with friendly strangers is all too scarce, Karen’s Cuts keeps the conversation
alive.
Karen Nolan has been cutting hair for over fifteen years in Clinton County. Although her
haircuts are the main reason her customers have remained so loyal over the years, her humble
and welcoming personality enhance the haircut experience. Her genuine spirit is exemplified in
her knowing of the exact day she started working; September, 5, 2000.
Nolan’s humble persona stems from her roots as she of being on welfare, before she had
gotten involved in the world of cosmetology. After taking a one‐year program, the rookie
barber was in search of a shop to make a name for herself.
Fast forward to present day and Nolan is now comfortably in her own shop on 30 Broad
Street, Plattsburgh. It is here where she has developed a reputation for her authentic
friendliness. Although her regular’s makeup a majority of her clientele, there are still many
newcomers. An initiation ritual awaits these new customers.
After your first hair cut at Karen’s, in order to go through the initiation process, a
menthol solution is placed on the back of your neck. If it doesn’t tickle your fancy the first time
around, then you don’t have to keep going through with the ritual. But it is non‐negotiable for the
first go.
“It’s definitely become a trademark here,” Deroziere said.
Despite the fact that it may have taken some time for her name to become known as a
trustworthy barber in the Plattsburgh area, Nolan is quick to remember the name of nearly all
of her customers. On the contrary, Nolan does admit to having the rare brain fart lately, which
she
half-jokingly blames on her age.
Nolan has surpassed merely making a name for herself with customers of Plattsburgh
and in fact, befriended an abundance of her clientele. Nolan developed such close bonds with
her customers through her selfless ways. For most, they feel close to Nolan because she is
always willing to lend an ear that will listen to anyone who needs to vent to her. She prides
herself on her ability to keep a secret.
“I feel comfortable here,” Chris Deroziere, a graduate of SUNY Plattsburgh said. “I think
the reason for that is Karen. She’s easy going and her conversation just kind of flows with the
barber shop atmosphere.”
For Deroziere, his relationship with Karen remains in the early stages. However, for
Brian and Deann Guimond, their barber‐customer bond runs a little deeper due to the fact that
Nolan was a part of their wedding day. The Guimonds had the shop rented out for the day of
their wedding as Deann only trusted Nolan to do her hair, just as she has for the past five years.
“We overtook her shop for that day,” Deann Guimond said. “It was a really fun time.”
A picture of the couple on their wedding day resides amongst the sea of pictures that
blanket the walls of Nolan’s shop today. The pictures collectively make up a collage of photos
that have been given to Nolan by her adoring customers, who will follow Nolan wherever she
goes.
“I’ve been going to her for over fifteen years,” Brian Guimond said. “She went to one
shop, I followed her there, she came to this shop and I followed her here. She mixes personal
friendliness with professionalism, that’s why I love it and keep coming back.”
Nolan has not always been accustomed to the stalker‐like tendencies of her current
customers. In fact, during her inaugural years of cutting hair, Nolan struggled to fill her chair.
“I didn’t have a clientele base,” Nolan said. “Who was going to sit in my chair?”
Nolan went to work in a small salon for a set 30‐days. However, during her time working
there, she had been offered another opportunity in downtown Plattsburgh. It is there where
she worked for the next nine years of her career. Due to conflicts later in her time there, she
had decided it was both the right time as well as a better business decision to open her own
shop. Nolan who had just climbed her way out of welfare was prepared to take the risk in
herself.
“I never pictured myself as a business owner,” Nolan said. “I had to take a chance in life
and I didn’t think I would make the first months rent. But now it has been almost five years I’ve
been here by myself.”
Nolan is proud of her personal accomplishments, but she is also quick to let others know
that if they have faith in themselves, they too can make changes in their life for the better.
Nolan explains how faith is all you need.
“If you believe, it can happen.”
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