From Wicker Park to River North: My Story

People ask me how long I've been cutting hair and the honest answer is: long enough that some of my clients' sons are now my clients. I've been a licensed barber in Chicago since 2009. Seventeen years. Three neighborhoods. One craft.

Where it started

I came up on the North Side, cutting in Wicker Park and West Town back when those blocks looked a lot different than they do now. Barbershop culture raised me as a barber. The jokes, the debates, the regulars who walk in like family. Traditions Barber Parlor was home for years, and if you were around Wicker Park back then, you might remember me from that chair.

A shop teaches you things you can't learn anywhere else. It teaches you speed without sloppiness, because Saturday morning waits for nobody. It teaches you every hair texture in the city, because everybody walks through that door. Straight, wavy, curly, coily, I cut it all, and I got reps on every one for over a decade. And it teaches you people. How to read whether a man wants to talk or wants peace. That last one might be the most important tool I own.

Why I went private

The longer I cut, the more I noticed what my clients actually valued. It wasn't just the fade. It was the hour. Guys with demanding jobs and full houses would tell me the barber chair was the only 40 minutes of the week that belonged to them.

A busy shop, much as I love the culture, works against that. So in 2026 I opened my own private suite inside Salon Lofts at 9 W Erie St in River North. One chair. One client at a time. Appointment only. No bench of walk-ins watching, no waiting, no rush.

My chair is your reset button. Come in, unplug, and walk out feeling like the best version of yourself.

That's not a slogan somebody wrote for me. That's the whole business plan.

What stayed the same

The location changed. The standard never did. Every appointment still starts with a real consultation and ends with a razor lineup and a hot towel. I still check in with clients after big changes to make sure they're happy once they've lived with the cut a few days. I still believe the details separate a haircut from a Johnnie J cut.

And the people stayed. That's the part that humbles me. Clients from the Wicker Park days still drive 30 minutes across the city. One of them put it in a review: he made sure I was his barber before his wedding day. Another one has been in my chair for 13 years. When people ask why my Google rating is 5.0, that's the answer. It's not 66 strangers. It's a lot of long relationships and some new ones getting started.

What I believe

I keep it simple. Do quality work every single time, treat every man in the chair with respect, stay humble, and thank God for the rest. My family made me who I am and this craft feeds them. That's why there's no version of me phoning in a Tuesday afternoon haircut. Every head matters or none of them do.

So that's the story. Wicker Park raised me, West Town sharpened me, and River North is where I built the experience I always wanted to give.

If you've been looking for a barber and not just a haircut, come sit in the chair. First cut is 10% off, and the conversation is free. Or if you'd rather sit back and say nothing at all, that works too. It's your reset button.

Appreciate you.
— Johnnie J

More from the chair: How to Find a Real Barber in River North · Need a Cut Near the Loop? Read This First