Meet Grant Paquin of Cut-splice in Charlestown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Grant Paquin.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Grant. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Over a decade ago, I attended New College at Oxford University. I met a guy from town at a pub and he told me he was a hairstylist. This is the first straight male I’d ever met that did hair. We kept in touch, I finished school and he dared me to become a stylist as well. I took the dare and here I am now. Cut-splice opened three and a half years ago with the seaport location following a mere 18months later.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
You’ve got to pay your dues. Hours upon hours of training knowing you’re never really done. That’s the technical skill part. Opening the business? An absolute walk in the fire. Thankfully I learned very early to have a team around me that’s super solid both in the shops and in the background. My job is HR every minute every day- in person, over the phone, via emails and of course on the interwebs via review systems and blogs and vlogs. It’s draining, it’s all consuming.

Cut-splice – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Cut-splice came about because I needed to get back to the root of why I started hairstyling. I needed smiling faces all around me, I needed to refocus on the person in the chair and deliver the best hair and my best self over and over. What makes our company different is we don’t rush. The staff takes as much time as needed to deliver their best work, we play the best music, and we have a very down to earth easy going attitude. I hate walking into salons where you feel critiqued the minute you walk in. At cut-splice we all say hello- everyone is expected to play a part in costumer comfort. Think of it like a neighborhood bar rather than a hair shop. There are no egos here.

We tackle anything a client would like to throw our way. I never push stylists to become the master of unicorn hair or pixie cuts but rather understand and know how to do it all. Of course everyone has a strength and rather than placing a client with the next available stylist we really try to pair the customer with the right stylist for their hair type. It’s amazing to be in a small talented shop where we can do this day in and day out. I’m overly proud of the skill level of everyone that works at cut-splice and know clients are leaving happy; unless they’re crazy, you can’t help crazy.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When a stylist I’ve mentored for a long time who chose to follow me in this adventure was able to buy her own home. Every time a staff member crosses something off their life list and I have a part to play in it I get giddy.

Contact Info:

• Address: 197 8th street STE700
  Charlestown ma 02129
  And
  25 drydock ave
  Boston ma 02210
• Website: Www.cut-splice.com
• Phone: 6172867921
• Email: info@cut-splice.com

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