Diane Moca: Trying to start and run a business feels like you're lost in a maze, facing one obstacle after another. That's what happened to Walter Chambers but he cut through those barriers with his persistence and his belief in his dream. How long did that take? Walter Chambers: Well it's actually been about five years. I actually begged the previous owner for a year and a half just to work in this shop. Every time I came to the mall I used to ask her could I get a spot in here? She never had a spot for me. And she finally gave me a spot and I cut in that back storage room for two and a half years. Diane Moca: Before he was shaping his career in a closet Walter was a teenager in Gary, Indiana who wanted his own business someday. Walter Chambers: I was the kid in the neighborhood that used to cut everybody's hair in the garage, and my family always wanted me to take it professionally but I never really wanted to until later. Diane Moca: Instead Walter spent years working at warehouses and other jobs until his wife gave him the motivation to cut to the chase. Walter Chambers: Instead of going to barber school I went to cosmetology school, so I'm not just a barber I'm a cosmetologist also, so I do women's hair also. When I was going to cosmetology school I told my wife I was like, "You better not tell your friends I'm going to no cosmetology school."I was embarrassed of it. And when I was about to graduate telling her "Hey, you better tell everybody. Hey, you better tell all them ladies you ride the train with, let them know." Diane Moca: Did you get something right away or was it hard? Walter Chambers: Well I bounced around in a few shops, a few salons, got fired from a few barber shops. And in the meanwhile I was asking the owner of this shop the whole time after I got out of school can I work here? My wife, she said you should leave the lady alone, she doesn't want to hire you. I'm like you'll see one day I'm going to work in the mall. And when I finally got the job in the mall I didn't even have clients so I used to stand at the door or walk the mall and beg people to cut their hair. I used to give away free haircuts because I knew once I got them in my chair they'd want to come back. Diane Moca: But after all that effort to build up a clientele Walter left the shop he had begged to join because the owner didn't want him selling products. Walter Chambers: But we noticed the owner, she was packing up, moving out, so I was just like let me just see what would Fox Valley say? I wasn't even serious about moving in here. When I asked them they really made it worth my while. And so I signed the lease, three weeks later we went on lockdown. So I spent the whole pandemic putting this shop together, taking out loans, maxing out credit cards, dipping into the savings. I had to get this shop opened because we couldn't be on lockdown forever. You got to put in the work. A lot of barber shops are closed on Sundays and Mondays, we are open seven days a week, you got to outwork your competition. Diane Moca: I was actually planning to straighten my hair before I came out for the interview today but I thought no, I'm not going to do that, I'm going to see if Walter wants to do it for me. Walter Chambers: Yeah, I can hook it up for you. Diane Moca: And we're going to do a little before and after okay? Walter Chambers: Cool. Diane Moca: So right, this is before and after. All right, thank you. What do you think? Walter Chambers: You're welcome. It looks good? Diane Moca: I think so too. Walter Chambers: This is what we do seven days a week. Diane Moca: It's what you're doing, but you know what you're doing more than just smoothing hair, you are smoothing the path for other aspiring entrepreneurs so they can follow your lead. Walter Chambers: I always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I don't get a lot of time to spend with my family like I should so you got to sacrifice one for the other, but you can provide them anything they need at the drop of a dime. So what do you do? Do you stay at home and sacrifice time financially or you go out there and put in work so they can have a better life than you had. Kids ain't going to listen to what you say, they going to listen to what you do. They're going to do what you do. So if you are out here wild in the streets they going to be out here wild in the streets. But if they see you get up and go to work every day, take care of the family, that's what they going to grow up to be. You got to be an example to your kids, a positive example. Diane Moca: For Talking Cities I'm Diane Moca.