Retired U.S. Air Force veteran, Mark Whitaker, and his business partner, career barber Dawn Guggenbiller, have provided Falcon with a Colorado-based, veteran owned, old-fashioned barbershop called Get Clipped.Whitakerís career has spanned two armed services. He was an enlisted U.S. Navy sailor during Desert Storm and later a space and missile officer in the U.S. Air Force. After commanding Minute Man and Peacekeeper Intercontinental Ballistic Missile silos, Whitaker transitioned to Intelligence. He completed tours as the assistant director of operations for an Air Force Special Operations Command Intelligence Squadron ó the first to fly and ìkill bad guysî with the MQ-1 and MQ-9 Predator drones ó and as chief of Intelligence at the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operations Center. Having been the vanguard of unmanned aerial vehicle operations, he retired in December 2014. Today, he is a defense contractor working space capabilities.Whitaker and Guggenbiller met years ago at Schriever Air Force Base. They stayed connected as Whitaker moved to new duty stations and Guggenbiller opened a new shop near Peterson Air Force Base. Upon his final return to Colorado Springs, Whitaker found Guggenbiller.ìIíve known Dawn professionally for so long,î Whitaker said. ìItís like going to your bartender when you sit in her chair. She kept up with what I was doing for as much as I could tell her. I kept up with what she was doing, too. Sheís like the big sister I never had. I think of Dawn and her husband, Jimmy, like family.îIn 2017, Guggenbiller mentioned her lease would end in November and didnít want to stay at the Peterson location. Whitaker sent photos of The Shops at Meridian Ranch and encouraged her relocation to Falcon.Noting hesitation, Whitaker offered in a text message, ìIíll be your silent partner ñ- just saying.î Guggenbiller recalled, ìI donít think he expected me to take him up on it. I said, ëYou could never be the silent partner. Thereís nothing silent about you!íîìWhen she gave me the cost estimate, I didnít even bat an eye,î Whitaker said. Mutually, they agreed on a traditional barbershop decorated in a car theme. ìDawnís situation was good timing for her and a good investment for me.îThey broke ground Nov. 1, 2017, and followed their business plan. ìWhere we couldnít cover with the budget, we did it ourselves,î Whitaker said. ìOur friends from JAKs helped stain the floor; my wife painted every inch of the walls; Dawnís husband, Jimmy, put up the lights and mirrors and built the office to look like an old-time garage; and my son helped put all the tables together. A buddy with a wood working business made two signature pieces with a Chrysler hood to display our product, and used a 1957 International truck bed for our counter.îGuggenbiller added, ìI love the old-school feel down to our vintage barbershop chairs.ìOn Nov. 30, we packed up the Peterson location, threw it into my car and brought what we needed to the barbershop.îThey opened Dec. 1, with a car show and donuts and coffee, Guggenbiller said.ìItís our intent for Get Clipped to be your family barber,î she added.While men of today frequent salons for hair coloring, manicures, pedicures, and trendy styles, Whitaker and Guggenbiller want to provide the old-fashioned barbershop. ìItís hard to find a true barbershop anymore,î Whitaker said. ìIt pained me to take my son to other stores where they charge so much and with inconsistent results. Our place is a lot different. We hire licensed barbers and theyíre tough to find.îGet Clipped has six barbers ó two are cosmetologists ó who can cut the trendy hair styles and shape and sculpt beards. Flat-top haircuts are a Get Clipped specialty. On moving from military to businessman, Whitaker said he was involved with the Transition Assistance Program when he left the Air Force. ìItís a great program,î he said. ìIíve dabbled in business my entire life. When I was in college, I owned a Greek store. I donít mean the type that sells baklava.I was 19 and selling jerseys with my fraternity brother to the campus fraternities and sororities.î Today, Whitaker also owns car restoration and car detailing businesses.What makes a good businessman? ìFirst and foremost, I think when people go in to a business, they unfortunately let emotions lead their business decisions,î Whitaker said. ìI can turn off those emotions. Sometimes my family thinks I am a Vulcan. I have a sharp focus on a good business plan, which is the first thing I do. I focus on good decisions ñ- there are many decisions to be made, planning and a lot of math to know if it will work or not. Also, you need to be available to your customer base. The customer is not always right ñ- but they are the customer.îFor networking, Whitaker said, ìThereís a robust system for veteran business owners. Most of the business owners I know, including JAKs, are veterans. One is on active duty and this is his investment. I served with the owners of JAKs while stationed at F.E. Warren AFB.î The barbershop and JAKS have done promotions together. Guggenbiller said one is the ìwooden, military-like coin,î with Get Clipped carved on one side and JAKS on the other. ìOn Facebook, we do a ìWhereís Dawnî or ìMention your favorite brewî when you come in,î she said. ìIn return, you get a coin for a free beer at JAKs. The problem is the coins are so cool, people hang on to them and donít trade them in.îGet Clipped is located at 11856 Stapleton Drive in Falcon.
