Spanking The Ugly Off of Portland!

By Christian Messer Photography by Horace Long unless noted
Hair-Dryer Mafia: Hair by Spank, Outfits by Frock
Artwork by Whiplash Design

Mitch Bridon, opened Spank Hair Studio in 2004 in the bustling Alberta neighborhood. As with a lot of Portlanders, Bridon is a transplant from Michigan and loves Portland relentlessly. I took some time to chat with him recently to get his story and of course to introduce him to you. Full disclosure: I’ve been going to Spank Hair Studio since 2004 and Bridon and I have become friends since then, I was his client and then he in turn was mine, when I built his web site. We threw our history aside so you could get to know him just as I did many years ago.

id Magazine: I know you’re from Michigan – but give me a little bit of your background, where you grew up, when did you move to Portland etc.

Mitch Bridon: I grew up in a suburb right outside of Detroit, called Livomia. I owned a salon there for about five years. I just started out by assisting in a salon and then taking courses in England and Scotland at Vidal Sassoon and Rita Rusk. I sold the business because I wanted to move out of the state, and I moved here 12 years ago. I was here for a year (Portland) before my dad got in his car accident, and was paralyzed so I had to go home and take care of him. So, I lived back there five more years.

Then I came out here, and I was driving through Nebraska and a friend called me and they were eating at a restaurant across from where the salon is now. They told me there was a place for lease across the street and it was going to be my new hair salon. I told them they were crazy because I was already spending all the money I had to move out to Oregon and get established again…I certainly wasn’t going to have enough money to open a business.

When I got to Oregon, we went across the street to look at the building and I walked out in less than five minutes because the building was such a wreck. One of my friends was a contractor, so he took me back in and said, “You know what? Just pretend that this is going to be your business. Have a vision, and go around and tell me what you would want to do with everything.”

So I told him what I wanted to do, and he said, “We can get that done in a month, and we’re signing a lease.” It wound up taking us three months, instead of one month to put it together. My mother doesn’t have the concept of really what it’s like to open a business, so all she would say when she would call was, “Just open the doors and start cutting hair now,” so I could make money. So I said, “Well, you know Mom, I’m kind of a perfectionist and I don’t want it to be a sh*t shack, I want it to be really nice.”

So we did and the neighborhood was very supportive and curious and we did really well just because of the community. Then PABA (Portland Area Business Association) was a big supporter when I belonged to them…

When did you get involved with PABA?

Probably a month or two into the business. Pam Colton was the one who got me into it. I told her the only way I would go to one of those meetings is if I didn’t have to stand up in front of a group of people and talk. She assured me that I wouldn’t have to do that and within ten minutes of being in the meeting I had to stand up in front of about 75 people and introduce myself…and I wanted to kill her!

I can imagine.

But it took me out of my comfort zone, it took me out of the box, because I’m more comfortable doing one-on-one, I don’t like being the center of attention.

We got the business going, I hired stylists. It’s very hard to find people who are dedicated and driven. I think to keep the business going, I took like $7,000 out of my IRA. I myself didn’t take a check for three years. Then I had to take a check, but I just took…I was living on $600 a month is what I allowed myself on payroll.

It’s been six and half years and the business is paid off, so I paid off all the credit cards and loans that I had. And it’s just been fun…It’s the best clientele I’ve had in 23 years.

It’s still a struggle to find people who are good. Most of the people I find are good at what they DO, but there’s not a real strong work ethic. Portland itself is so transient with people moving in and then, not being able to make it or because they miss their family and friends, they often move back to where they came from.

There’s a pretty high turn over. I remember when I interviewed in salons twelve years ago a lot of the higher end salons wouldn’t let me fill out an application because I was out of state. Their experience was that if they invest the time and money usually with someone who is out of state, within a year they’re gone, and it was just a bad investment on their part.

That makes sense.

Well it does, but I didn’t know realize it until I got into the positions of being a business owner. What really is crazy, back in Michigan, the way a salon works is they are an employee of the salon and they get paid on commission so they get a weekly paycheck. Out here, the majority of the salons like to do a booth rental. Where the stylist is and independent contractor, buys their own supplies, and makes their own hours. I think if you have employees rather than booth renters, you have more control of your business, everybody’s on the same page, and it’s more of a team effort, instead of everybody being out for themselves.

What I get frustrated with is the young kids that come in, that they want a job and want to do booth rental, they either moved here form out of state and don’t have a clientele, or they’re right out of school and don’t have any experience and don’t have clientele; and where are they going to get the $200-250 to pay me for renting the station? So wouldn’t they rather work for someone on commission and get paid for anything that walks through the door, whether they get a $50 paycheck at the end of the week, or a $500 paycheck. They’re making something instead of going deeper and deeper into a hole by paying me $200 a week that they haven’t made.

It’s an interesting career. I loved it, I’ve traveled, I’ve met great people, I’ve met movie stars, worked on T.V.

Tell me more about your education, your schooling, you mentioned going abroad.

Well, what it was, when I went to school 23 years ago, the state paid for it because I was under 21, I think. At that time, tuition was a $1,000. Now the kids are paying $10,000 to $25,000 to get into the industry. Which I think makes it…you’re more serious about it if you’re wiling to pay that amount of money on an education. Whereas, a lot of people, $1,000 was nothing and they wanted to go work at Supercuts and Mastercuts. But, you can make a good career out of it, and you can make good money.

When I got out of school, I went and got a job at a salon and assisted for a year for the owner and then for some of the stylists. I did a lot of in-salon education, but then one year we went to London, to Vidal Sassoon. They are way more advanced over there, like in the fashion area than here…it was really grueling, we’d go to school from 8am to 6pm, and learn all these awesome cuts and we’d go home and show people all these new cuts and the new clothes we bought over in Europe and people would be like, “I’m not wearing that…I’m not getting my hair cut like that.” We’d just tell them within a year, this is what you’ll be wearing and this is going to be the trend.

A couple of years later, I went to Rita Rusk in Scotland. We were her first class in her new school. She was wonderful, we learned really great cuts…it was interesting to see how nervous she was, with us being her first class…somebody that is that established can be nervous and humbled. We learned a lot form her.

I’ve been to the International Beauty Show in London. I try to do a couple shows a year, a couple of classes a year. I just had a color class set up in the salon. I’m looking at going to a trade show in Las Vegas. One of my goals this year is to take some kind of cutting class in California…or maybe another country. I’ve been to Toronto, took a class on doing up-do’s through Mark Parsons and that got me over my fear of doing fancy hair for weddings, New Years things and parties.

I think that in this industry, to be regulated a little bit more, and I know that certain professions like nurses and teachers have to do ongoing education every so often. I think hair stylists in order to keep their license every year should have to attend a couple continuing education classes, because you don’t always know everything.

No – in business and in life, we’re all works in progress.

Right.

When you say color classes, do you host color classes?

We just had a color class for my stylists. We were looking at taking on a new line, which we decided not to do, because we like our line. I’ve used it for 23 years, it’s one of the best.

Speaking of which…what is that line of products?

Schwarzkopf.

Why is it the best?

The color is fool proof if you know what your doing, it doesn’t eat up the hair, it doesn’t coat the hair…their reds are amazing and their gray coverage is amazing. Their semi-permanent hair color covers gray very, very well. They have a great highlight series so you don’t have to always use bleach.

It’s funny, out here, because when I was back in Michigan everybody wanted to be blonde and highlighted so everybody looked the same. Here, I was at the window one day when we were getting the salon ready to open, and I was thinking, “I’ve never turned anybody’s hair blue, I’ve never washed dreadlocks, highlighted someone’s hair pink…how am I going to do this?” Again it was just one of those things where it took me out of the box and took me out of a rut, I just did it. It was fun! It was fun for me, it was fun for the clients and when I tell people back home, they just can’t imagine, because they’re so much more conservative.

I get that about Michigan with your stories…

Yeah…And right now we’re seeing a range of things in color, people are conservative, people are wild, people are wanting Japanese hair straightening but then again, people are starting to get perms again…we didn’t do perms for years. The scene is changing…you know what goes around comes around, but with a twist.

The one thing that’s funny is that when I was first doing hair, each stylist on average would do two to three perms a day. Now we do maybe a perm a month. The thing is, if my stylists don’t like doing perms – I’ll take the perm because they’re turning away a ticket. By not allowing yourself to learn and grow, and do new things, you’re just not going to make money.

Like if I did 10 haircuts in one day and booked $400…would I rather book a ten hour day and earn $400 or do a Japanese hair straightening in four hours and make $360? You want to be good with what you do, but you also want to…how do they say it? Not work harder, work smarter. Give a good quality service without ripping people off, but don’t break your back making a paycheck.

Who is the Japanese hair straightening for?

Anybody that has wave to their hair, curl to their hair or their hair is course and frizzy…it brings it down to perfectly straight so they don’t have to worry about using a flat-iron. Most times it leaves the hair in better condition than before you started.

How long does that last?

It’s permanent…the average growth in hair is about a half an inch in a month. So they’ll want to get a touch up when they have about three or four inches of new growth in their hair. It would be like every six to eight months.

How did you come up with the name Spank?

Oh, you don’t want to know this one…

(Laughing) Yes we do!

It’s not from what people think that’s for sure. Friends wanted me to name it after myself and I didn’t want to do that, and I wasn’t going to name it something super kitchy. So I was just looking around and it was raining and nasty…some people looked like they rolled out of bed and didn’t care what they looked like…and I just thought, “You know, I’m going to Spank the ugly off of Portland.”

At first I didn’t say it because I thought it would offend people…but now it’s on the business cards and stuff.

So that is the way you came up with it! We all wondered.

Yeah…and I love Portland, so nobody get’s the wrong idea! Portland is the funniest place I’ve ever worked and I do love the people. It did take me a while to acclimate, because it is so much different than the Mid-West…but I can’t imagine going back there, to work or to live. It’s the best clientele I’ve ever had.

What’s the biggest difference between Portland and the Mid-West?

It’s a lot more laid back, it’s not keeping up with the Jones’, not everybody competing for bigger and better and more and more…back in Michigan, it was buy a bigger house, get a bigger car…when I went back they were still building Hummer dealerships. Now I think a lot of people have learned their lesson, their houses are going into foreclosure, they can’t afford their car payment. I think people are becoming more simplified…they’re simplifying their lives.

What I appreciate here, of course, is the art scene and the ability to express yourself people don’t bat an eyelash…they don’t judge. People are just more politically aware, more environmentally aware…where as back in Michigan, if I try to recycle anything, they look at me like I’m a crazy. (Laughter.)

And…when I went back for my dad’s funeral, it was so funny…people would tap me on the shoulder and ask me, “How is everything in Denver?” I’m like, “I don’t know…I don’t live in Denver.” When they find out I live in Portland, they thought I lived on top of a mountain or in a corn field with nothing to do…(more laughter)

So I try to tell them how great the individual neighborhoods are, the downtown area, great restaurants, great shopping. I have a friend that just moved here and she works for Guess and she just loves the fashion that is here, and I have to say I do too.

It is pretty amazing…fortunately we already have a fashion issue in the pipeline for id Magazine…it’s incredible how many local fashion designers there are, and what’s going on in the scene right now.

Portland is a great place to come and be inspired.

Right…last questions here…what makes Spank different from other salons in the neighborhood?

The neighborhood is just so diverse, everything from salons to barbershops…to salons that just cater to the African-American community. I don’t usually judge other people’s work, but I think you get an extremely good quality for an amazing price. I think that we’re very personable, we’re not pretentious. We get a ton of referrals…people just don’t feel threatened, we don’t do things to people that they don’t want done. We communicate…communication is the big one. You’ve got to be willing to bend with the wind.

Do you travel back to Michigan twice a year or once a year?

I usually go twice a year, one year I went back several times within one year. I’m getting ready to go in about two weeks…every time I get back into the Portland International Airport, it feels like home. Michigan’s just desperate right now.

How’s the economy there now, has it changed, improved at all?

No…they just sold the Pontiac Super Dome which is was the home of the Detroit Lions. It’s on a 127 acres of land. I think they built it for $500 million, and they just sold it for $80,000…

Ouch!

Yeah…and people are upside down in their homes, I had a cousin who came out here to visit, and he loved it so much he wanted move his family out here. But when he got back to Michigan, he realized he couldn’t get what his house was worth, or what it used to be worth.

Yes, that’s a familiar story. My sister is in Las Vegas, and they’re stuck. They want to move out here but they can’t because they’d have to sell their house and can’t, not in this economy, or their economy anyway.

You know…It seems here has slowed down, I’ve had clients who are losing their jobs and clients who are losing their home, but it’s nowhere near as bad as back in Michigan. Michigan focused so much on the auto industry and wasn’t willing to make the changes that consumers wanted. At one point we were just dependent on lumber here, but there is so much more that moved in…you’ve got Nike, Adidas, we’ve got Intel. You’ve got small businesses, and small business is huge here, the city is really supportive. Like the PDC grant that we got to re-do the front of the salon. They don’t have things like that back in Michigan, and if they do, they don’t promote it. Portland is very protective of it’s people which is really nice.

I read somewhere that some of the stimulas money was going to Michigan auto factories to retro-fit them for green technology.

I haven’t heard anything about that. I just know that if I had tried to opened a business in Michigan, like the way I did here in Portland… It wouldn’t have worked. I would have lost everything.

Spank! Hair Studio is located at 1433 NE Alberta, Portland, Oregon 97211. Walk-ins are welcome, but they do suggest booking an appointment in advance at 503.280.5280 Frock Boutique is located at 1439 NE Alberta St. Portland, OR 97211 503-595-0379