Top Notch Barber

Chris Parrish proudly admits he’s been impulsive ever since graduating from Haltom High School in 2000. He worked for a government agency, played standup base for various bands, owned and sold a firearms business, and tried his hand at college.

Wanting to get off the worldwide music whirlwind and put his art love to good use, he finally settled on a career as a barber. For nearly a decade he joined with others – first in Southlake, then in Hurst.

“The cool thing about barbering is a lot of guys and girls who do that job are artistically inclined,” he said. “I would leave for months at a time and they would hold my spot. I worked with some of the best co-workers and clients around. The people were great.”

But then in 2020, Dirk Jackson, owner of Coin Barber Shop in Haslet, asked him about buying his business.

“We had no intention of buying a barber shop,” Parrish said. “I was going to take fewer hours at the shop I was at. I was never planning to leave here. I had good clientele and a boss who would let me get away with bloody murder. We had a good thing going. But Dirk came along and presented me with a challenge.”

So he and then-girlfriend Erin took the plunge personally by getting married and professionally by buying and preparing Top Notch Barbershop. Unfortunately, it all came as the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns hit. But in true movie fashion, things turned around after they were allowed to open thanks to a mom and her son who walked into the shop.

Parrish asked for and received permission to go beyond a basic hair cut which mom liked so much she posted his picture on social media. Immediately, Parrish started having more business than he could handle first with moms and their sons, then the dads which are his target audience.

Such local support has allowed Parrish to grow to know and love Haslet. While some people want it to remain low-key, Parrish knew that wasn’t realistic with everything growing around it. So he asked, ‘how can Haslet maintain its small-town charm while adding amenities?’

His answer: connect small businesses like taco trucks, coffee/sandwich trucks, tattoo shops, smoothy stores, and gas stations to benefit all rather than drive somewhere else.

“You want neighbors making their town a cool place, well we accidentally started doing that,” he said. “Most importantly, have the people who are part of this town and live in this town be the town. Now we have a community where we’re taking care of our own.”