Sophie Owner of IL Capo Barbiere based in Newcastle-under-Lyme is in the spotlight in our new series Meet The Local Business which features the person behind some of your favourite locally owned business.
Tell Us A Little Bit About You.
My name is Sophie, I'm 33 and I'm from Newcastle-under-Lyme right in the town centre. My barbers has been here at Bridge Street for four and a half years and I’ve been a barber for a longtime I started when I was really young.
Where did the name IL Capo Barbiere come from?
IL Capo means the Boss which was my Grandads nickname and I thought it would be great to put his name into the name as that’s the legacy that’s where it comes from. And Barbiere means barbershop so it’s the Boss barbershop.
There’s lots of tradition with your barbershop tell me a bit about the tradition
My grandad was a barber and my Dad is a barber and I obviously followed suit and I came down to Bridge Street in Newcastle and Dads followed me. The Tradition of my Dad and Grandad both cutting hair in Newcastle-under-Lyme actually dates back to 1949.
Did your Dad train you to be a barber?
Yes Dad trained me, I started very young. I’ve been cutting hair for about twenty years now,
What is the most popular haircut you do ?
Without a doubt it’s the skin fade, it’s been popular for a while now and I don’t see it going anywhere soon. There’s a lot of focus and paying attention to the detail to get it right and no one leaves my chair until it’s absolutely right
People travel to have their haircut with you, where’s the furthest someone has travelled to have their haircut by you?
Yes people do travel and we have clients that come from Manchester and Kent. The furthest a client has travelled from was a client who came from New York.
What does it mean to you when people choose your barbers to have their haircut with you?
It gives me a sense of pride and appreciation for all the effort I’ve put in. It’s really nice, it’s awesome I get acknowledged for what I do.
How did you cope when Covid struck?
It was very very difficult, barbering to me is more than earning a living it’s my hobby, my passion, my life. It was very difficult to suddenly stop for eleven months, I had to hang on to the edge of my seat. I set up an online shop and tried to figure out ways to get around it really. I couldn’t cut hair so I had to hold on.
What Are Your Plans for IL Capo Barbiere?
I have a new apprentice starting in September, he’s very excited to get going.
Do you have any tips or tricks that you can pass on to any budding entrepreneurs?
Be aware there’s not really a day off, you’re on the clock twenty four seven. If anything happens it’s your problem. Hard work and just go for it, don’t be afraid to make mistakes because you’ll make mistakes along the way and things will go wrong but it’s how you respond to them.
What Do You Like About We Get A Deal And Also Selling On We Get A Deal?
I think it’s great that it brings all local business all into one place and there’s a lot on there. It helps to bring things back local it’s just great to put all that in one place and help to improve the high street locally. It’s good for the local economy and local people.
It’s fantastic and so easy to sell on there, you literally came in had a chat with me. It’s a great deal, you don’t pay anything upfront, you only pay if you sell something and your rates are great. You went away and did all the work, it’s so fast and so simple I barely had to lift a finger.
My advice for any other business looking to sell their products with you would be just jump on, you’ve got nothing to lose.
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You Can Watch Our Meet The Local Business Video With Sophie Here
