Steve Harvey's Barber . . . Says It All!: An Extra Ordinary Look at Hair Care

By Thomas James and Revonne Leach-Johnson

"Steve Harvey's Barber Says It All (An Extra Ordinary Look at Hair Care) is a motivational tool for hair care industry professionals and it is a short autobiography that reveals the impact the Steve Harvey has had on the author's career and his personal growth. It gives the reader a broad view of the hair care industry through the personal experiences of the author. The book highlights a 12 step action plan for industry professionals that can help them achieve greater success in the industry and at the same time it also highlights areas of improvements for the industry as whole. Although the author targets hair care industry professionals, the self-improvement techniques that he presents in this books can be adopted by professionals in any field.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 9, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452031491

Thomas James

Jeannie Thomas lives in South Carolina with her husband, Rae, and two children, James and Betsy.  She graduated form Arkansas State University in the late 80s with a degree in Radio-TV, minoring in music.  She has since changed directions and works at home as a medical transcriptionist.   She has always worked with children in some capacity since she was very young, starting out as a baby-sitter in Collierville, Tennessee, where she grew up.  Through those years, she often scratched out or made up little children’s stories and would tell or sing them to the children.  After the birth of their two children, she had new inspiration for her stories and decided to try publishing a few of her favorites.  This is the first of her published works, done with the assistance of her husband, Rae who is her best friend.  The illustrations were done by her mother, Judy Doudoukjian and her son, James.

Book preview

STEVE

HARVEY’

BARBER …

SAYS IT ALL!

An Extra Ordinary Look at Hair Care

James Thomas

with Revonne Leach-Johnson

missing image file

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2010 James Thomas with Revonne Leach-Johnson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the authors.

First published by AuthorHouse 9/30/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4520-3147-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-3148-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-3149-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010907899

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

James Thomas is the founder and CEO of

Thomas Hair Internal System (THIS) Hair Care Products

This book is dedicated to my father Frager Thomas Sr. He was an

extra ordinary role model for me and I will always love him for the many sacrifices that he made for our family.

Contents

Prologue

PART I

THE

"EXTRA ORDINARY"

STEPS

CHAPTER 1

Why This Book?

CHAPTER 2

Setting and Achieving Goals

CHAPTER 3

The 12 Step Program

PART II

THE JAMES THOMAS

STORY

CHAPTER 4

Barber School to Barber Stylist

CHAPTER 5

Barber Stylist to Salon Owner

CHAPTER 6

Family and Business

CHAPTER 7

Getting It Done

CHAPTER 8

The Second Time Around

CHAPTER 9

Salon Owner to Road Manager

CHAPTER 10

On the Road with the Kings

CHAPTER 11

Hard Work Has Its Rewards

CHAPTER 12

Why THIS?

PART III

THE CLOSING

CHAPTER 13

An Extra Ordinary Ending

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

APPENDIX

ABOUT THE AUTHORs

Prologue

When I was hired by Steve Harvey almost 20 years ago, I didn’t know where the road would lead me. At the time, I was a barber stylist trying to succeed in the industry. I was doing whatever it took to make it; just like everybody else. I was determined to make the profession work for me. I experienced the same struggles and setbacks that every other barber stylist has seen. As I matured professionally, I learned from my struggles and eventually, I built a solid reputation and a profitable career.

Among those who know my work, there are many opinions. Some say that I am committed to the job. Some say that I am driven by my work. Some say that I am reliable. Others say that I am just good at what I do. Well, I gladly accept them all. I am committed to excellence. It shows in both my work and my work ethic. I am driven by my goals and my inherent need to always do my best. I am reliable because I truly believe that you are as good as your word. When people trust you they trust your work. And finally, I am good at what I do because I have paid my dues. I obtained the training, the skills, the experience, and the industry knowledge that I needed to excel in my field. When I started on my client, I didn’t just get the job done. I did it in such a way that I exceeded expectations. That’s what it takes if you want to succeed in anything! There is no easy way to the top. There is no expressway. There is no fast track. You have to pay your dues and what’s really wild about the whole process is that you eventually find out that the only thing harder than getting to the top … is staying there!

I have experienced much of what the industry has to offer and through my experiences I have seen both sides of the track; what will work and what will not; what clients like and what they don’t like; the behavior that is acceptable and the behavior that is not; the good, the bad, and the ugly from all sides and all angles. You name it and I have seen it! So now I feel compelled to write about the knowledge and lessons that I have learned over the years. I want hair care professionals to know that prestige, success, and financial independence can be obtained in this field, but it will not be handed to you. You have to earn it!

In this book, I will disclose what I have seen. I believe that my experiences have enabled me to do this in such a way that I can make a difference – even if it is for only one person. If I can help one, then that one can help another … and that one can help another … and that one can help another … and so on. It doesn’t take an army to make a difference. One person is all that it takes to get change started.

Giving back is important to me and that’s my intent with this book. I have gone from barber stylist to entrepreneur over the course of my career. I have seen it all and now I want to share it all with you.

James Thomas

Master Barber,

Project Manager for Steve Harvey,

Chief Operating Officer, Against the Grain Magazine,

Founder of THIS Hair Care Products

V00_9781452031484_text.pdfV00_9781452031484_text.pdf

CHAPTER 1

Why This Book?

When I was a young man, my father explained the term "extra ordinary" to me. This simple yet grammatically incorrect phrase has become the foundation of both my professional life and my personal life. My father believed that the quality of your work was just as important as the work itself. And I have found this to be true. So I am putting some of my life experiences in this book, with the hope that you too will come to appreciate the power behind this phrase and as a result you will tap into that unlimited reservoir of power that you have within you.

My father told me that he saw greatness in me. He explained that the difference between what people do and what they accomplish is the extra that they put into it. That is what makes an ordinary person extraordinary. To help me understand his point, he used my homework as an example. Just like most kids, I did just enough to get by. When my father realized that I was doing this, he took it upon himself to show me a better way. Unbeknownst to him, he did far more than show me a better way. He reshaped the course of my life.

My father told me that when I am assigned a project, I shouldn’t just write a report. I should add pictures; add more pages; add props; add the extra effort that would make my work special. I understood what he said and I applied it.

I remember a specific history project that was assigned to me in