Nashville barber prioritizes compassion during 37 years in business

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The Nashville cottage that houses the Family Barber Shop is constantly buzzing as 63-year-old Patty Stelmaszak adds the finishing touches for a continuous stream of customers.

The barber’s cheerful energy keeps her stepping on and off a wooden wine crate she brought from her first shop in San Diego’s Ocean Beach.

Her business model is simple. Cash only. Affordable, quality haircuts delivered with lively conversation and compassion.

Word around Nashville is that she’s especially welcoming to those who may be undergoing treatment at nearby Vanderbilt University Medical Center or other area hospitals.

On one breezy day with clear blue sky, Stelmaszak plugged in an extension cord and gave Jim Devillez, who was in a wheelchair due to a leg injury, a haircut just outside the door of her shop. That's just something she does sometimes to make life a little easier for those with mobility issues who might need a little extra dose of kindness.

She has a guiding ideal on what she offers college students, young professionals and older adults when they arrive for a haircut: “I want this to be the best 15 minutes of their day.”

On the home front, Stelmaszak and her husband, Jerry, a teacher, have had a long line of dogs.

“You can never go wrong with dogs,” says Stelmaszak. “I have a yellow lab and a blue tick coon hound. I’ve had two greyhounds from the racetracks, one from Birmingham, one from Florida. I’ve had a Weimaraner. I’ve had a boxer. I’ve had a black lab. I’ve had a Chesapeake Bay retriever. I’ve had a chocolate lab. Had a kind of a mixed thing. Dogs are the best thing ever.”

Dogs are right up there with the enjoyment of working in her bustling little barber shop, which she says, “…is the best job ever.”

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Music for The Age of Being Real is "Kites Over the Ocean" by the Kentucky Standard Band from their album "Angels of Mercy."
The Age of Being Real is created by writer and audio producer Rhonda J. Miller.