Bartolomeo “The Hair Engineer” Cerrati is the owner of Just a Touch Hair Lounge, a full service hair salon for men & women that offers grooming and styling, as well as several fragrance and cosmetic products. The number one thing that motivated Bartolomeo to start his own business was the idea of having the ability to take his life into his own hands — to live life on his own terms.
“I couldn’t keep working for others, helping them build their dreams. I have a lot of great ideas, and I am very innovative. It is in my nature to collect data, analyze, find the problem, & provide a solution. That’s the engineer’s way. No matter what, we don’t stop until we find that solution,” Bartolomeo shares.
Bartolomeo began his entrepreneurial path early, playing strategic card games, shoveling snow annually, and selling lemonade as a young child. He started cutting hair at home at the age of 12, eventually graduating to the garage with one folding chair and minimal supplies. Now at 26 years old, Bartolomeo owns his own retail storefront. In those 14 years, much has changed. After fluctuating through many jobs, and even an attempt at beginning a small construction business, it would ultimately be a Chemistry course at Rutgers University that would inspire him to create his own line of shaving products.
“I was destined to be a businessman; sales brewed in my blood. The journey never ends & for me there is no finish line. I will always continue, but most of all, I will never give up. One night, during the middle of a chapter for my Chemistry class, a lightbulb went off in my head. I immediately thought to make my own organic compounds and develop a formula for shaving products, since the hair industry is what I knew best,” Bartolomeo recalls.
Bartolomeo was first inspired by the hair industry as a child, when, as he recalled, he had never gotten a worse haircut his life. After a few bad cuts, he declared enough is enough and purchased a color coordinated Wahl clipper set & began working with his own hair. Of course, it wasn’t all success right away, as Bartolomeo cut his own hair for about a year before getting the hang of it. He would go to peers in his High School, asking if his “new barber” had done a good job. When folks eventually started to say yes, Bartolomeo was on a mission to get his first clients to pay for a haircut.
“When I would go to the local barbershop, they would chip me up every single time, but they would do great work on others. This made no sense to me back then , but it all makes sense now. They were trying to make quick money off a little kid, who they thought didn’t know,” Bartolomeo on not receiving adequate care in salons as a child.
One of Bartolomeo’s biggest challenges when starting a business as a young adult was struggling to be taken seriously in his decision making as an entrepreneur. Secondly, having to sacrifice late nights with his peers proved to be a difficult distraction to manage along the way. Finally, of course, something that we all struggle with, are the personal doubts.
“The doubts are inevitable. Everyone around you, including yourself, will doubt you at times, but it is that burning desire within you that keeps you going no matter what. That belief in yourself is strong, and that faith you have is so powerful that you will always prevail through any negative. It’s the mindset that matters most,” Bartolomeo shares.
For Bartolomeo, mindset is absolutely key in business. As someone who has struggled with chronic pain since a child, he shares that staying mindful and focused is enormously important for success. One must begin to develop a powerful mindset, fully armored, with a relentless pursuit the second that one thinks owning a business is in the foreseeable future for them. Hunt or be hunted.
“Don’t wait. Time is a finite resource that will eventually run out. Learn to grow & grow to learn. You must be so committed to your goals and dreams that nothing will stop you from achieving them. It’s a promise you make to yourself, and you always have to live up to your promises. This is non-negotiable for success in business,” Bartolomeo advises.
