Clint Noble, an East graduate, owns the recently opened Noble’s Barbershop at 525 Washington Street. He sat down with CEHS News reporters to talk about entreprenuership, hair and life experciences.

Q: Can you give us some background on yourself and your business?
A: I graduated from East in 2005; I played football and wrestled there. I started cutting hair in Indianapolis and came back here to open the shop about nine months ago.

Q.: What prompted you to open your own business instead of working for someone else?
A: When you work for yourself, you pay yourself a lot better [laughs]. It’s always nice when you can help people provide for their families.

Q: Were there any experiences you had at East that influenced your business and creative decisions?
A: At East I was in the C4 program. I worked as a manager at Steak n’ Shake at night and went to school during the day, so that really helped form the leadership part of it.

Q: What you do between graduating high school and cutting hair in Indianapolis?
A:From 18-21 [years old], I stayed in Columbus and went to school at Ivy Tech and got a degree in Industrial Maintenance. I moved to Indianapolis and pursued a baseball career and then became a barber.

Q: What have you learned since opening this business?
A: Everything is on you. If things aren’t going right, it’s always going to be your fault. You reap what you sow. So I’m working 90 hours a week right now and I’ve been doing that for about eight or nine months now, and business is doing pretty well. You start to see where all of your costs are going when you look at your numbers. So it helps to get organized and know where you are.

Q. Can you give our readers some advice on career choices they will have?
A: They say you change careers three times in your life. You can do anything you want and make as much money as you want, but it’s really what you are willing to sacrifice. I went to Vietnam and I stayed there for a while when I was 20 or 21, and there, where you are born [determines] what you’re able to do in life. If your family is poor, you’re never going to be anything. Here, you don’t have to worry about that. I mean, if your family is poor, you can go to college and it doesn’t matter. There [are] too many possibilities out there for you to not be successful. It’s how hard you want to work for something. You can do anything you want to do. They have loans out there. I saved up for this, I made a business plan and I remodeled this space.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: We are a really modern barber shop and we have a lot of things that you can get in the big city. It’s the same quality haircut like in Chicago. It is a very modern atmosphere.

Q: What sets you apart from other places?
A: We have a pretty diverse staff here. I’ve cut hair in Indianapolis and even cut NFL players, so we’ve got a lot of experience. I went somewhere and I shadowed and learned what I had to before [opening the shop]. It’s a good idea to work under someone before starting your own business.