FRIEND REQUEST: LOU FABERARDINO OF LOU’S CLASSIC BARBER SHOP

Lou Faberardino wears many hats at Lou’s Classic Barber shop including head barber, owner, and operator. While cutting a client’s hair Lou multi-tasked with LOCAL 219  to provide some straight answers and quick background on what makes him unique. 

LOCAL 219: Let’s dive in. Was it hobbies, circumstances, or childhood that led you to this position?

LOU FABERARDINO: The welding job I had, that place shut down. My grandfather, my father, uncle, and cousins all cut hair so I walked into the family business.

L219: And you obviously enjoy it because you stuck around?

LF: I enjoy my clients. My clients are the ones that keep me here.

L219: That’s fair. What gets you out of bed in the morning? What gets you excited for the day?

LF: That’s an interesting question. A lot of people are going to sit there and say you have to pay your bills, have to pay your mortgage, and practically, I could say the same thing. I mean you gotta pay your bills You know, you don’t want to be one of those lazy ones that sit around and don’t want to do anything. You work your entire life, then you can sit there and retire. Then go and enjoy your life when you’re hopefully in your early 60s.

L219: Hopefully, yes. Whose has had the greatest influence on you?

LF: My father. I have his same ambition.

You don’t stop until the job’s done.

L219: You’re the same?

LF: The same. Even my wife, she calls me a robot. She gets mad at me because I don’t stop until something is done. I don’t care if it’s 11, 12, 1 o’clock in the morning. If it’s not done, you finish it.

L219: So, if you start a project, you’re not going to bed until it’s complete. That’s admirable. What has been the greatest lesson you’ve learned while working here?

LF: People are very unique. Everybody has their own little personalities. Even when people say, “I’m just like this one, I’m like this person.” No, you still have your own little personality that makes you, you.

L219: I feel like you can never be too similar because we’re all shaped by different experiences and different lessons.

LF: Exactly.

L219: You can grow up next door to someone, on the same street for 10 years, and end up with completely different outlooks on life depending on what you take-in and come into agreement with.

LF: My sister and I only share the same smile, that’s it.

L219: Siblings are a perfect example of similar environments yet become very different. What do you enjoy most about this position?

LF: My clients. They make me happy.

L219: What are your greatest passions? What makes you come alive?

LF: My motorcycle. When I’m out there, I have no worries. I don’t think about the shop, I don’t think about home, nothing.

L219: You just go.

LF: I just go. Try to get lost.