Ten years ago, Kirby Schimmels Sr. quit his sales job and decided to go to barber school. He wanted a change from a job he said he hated, and soon after finishing school he started cutting hair professionally. Around that time, his son Kirby Schimmels Jr. was in fifth grade. At career day at school that year, Schimmels Jr. dressed up as a barber. Today, Schimmels Sr., 49, who has replaced his clean-shaven look with a beard, is still following that career path as a barber. For the last five years, On a busy stretch of Brazos Street downtown, Schimmels Sr. has been working in a red shirt, holding a pair of scissors or a straight razor with his housemade products lining the shelf behind him. Right beside him, Schimmels Jr., 21, wears a blue shirt and works with the same tools. The business venture has not followed the typical path of a family-owned operation—in the family for decades before father handed it off to son. Rather, it is a journey the two embarked upon together. “He didn’t take the easy route. He took the hard route with me,” Schimmels Sr. said. “That’s why he’s a 50-50 partner with me. He doesn’t work for me; he’s his own man. It’s a true partnership.” Both barbers specialize in traditional men’s haircuts along with beards and mustaches. Cuts are cash only and fall into two categories. A single service cut is $29 and involves a hair cut, beard service or hot lather shave in a 20-minute appointment. A full service cut is $58 for a 40-minute appointment, accounting for the extra time to consult with a first-time client, provide multiple services or work with a longer style. Customers scanning the barber shop when they sit in the chair won’t find a phone. Kirby the Barber and Son book entirely online, and a color-coded monitor with blue and red boxes at one end of the shop shows their schedule for the day. The absence of a phone means the barbers aren’t distracted by booking appointments, helping them focus on the cut and conversation. Schimmels Sr. and Schimmels Jr. both said a great barbershop goes beyond the cut to provide something else not taught in barber school: a personal connection between the barber and the client. “You have an intimate relationship once you find the guy you go to monthly,” Schimmels Jr. said.