Meet Marlon Frazier | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marlon Frazier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marlon, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
This is actually something that I’m asked quite often. My business started from a feeling of stagnation and hopelessness. These is something that a lot of people close to me don’t even know not even my mom, dad, or brothers. I was actually around 19 or 20 years old and living in San Antonio TX. My older brother invited me to come and stay with his family because he knew that I was not in school. I learned a lot about myself and people during this time, and the things I experienced while I was there have really molded and shaped me into the man I am today.

I eventually moved out of my brother’s house after a few months and got my own place. It was a $600 1 bedroom apartment off F.M. 78. I had a decent job paying more money than I had ever made and life was good at the time. Toward the end of that year my girlfriend at the time moved away, and I was officially alone. My brother had a family of his own, so the last thing he was worried about was another “grown” man. I added the quotations because I was mentally still a teenager. I didnt know anything about how rough, raw, and rugged life really was and my life as an adult began.

I met a few friends while living in San Antonio and a few I am still really good friends with today. My boy Brandon is the entire reason I am in Dallas, and he still give me HELL for not sending him an invitation to my wedding but that’s another story. Brandon left to go back to school so I started hanging out with a few other people. I always had a good time with them, but I missed my friends from high school. I would see everyone hanging out and having fun in Arkansas and I missed the familiarity of people I grew up with and knew. A culture that I felt comfortable with and in. Where Im from, there was no diversity at the time. It was either blacks whites. There were may be 1 or 2 asian an hispanic families but that’s it. When I came to Texas I experienced culture shock because I had never seen so many different ethnicities or groups. But the one thing that ALWAYS stood out to me was the number of successful African Americans I saw. I had never seen so many blacks in big homes, and driving luxury cars in my life and it always made me feel like my life can become more.

I went back to Arkansas to re-enroll in school and just kept running into problem after problem. Failiing classes and bouncing from job to job became the story of my life. If I didnt like a job, I would quit. I would always figure out a way to get fired or quit. My parents never really pushed me to stick with anything that I didnt like or made me feel uncomfortable. Eventually that lack of accountability started impacting me in adulthood and conditioned me to not be able to keep a steady job.

I got a job at the largest retailer in the world (who I will not name), and I absolutely despised it. Having to clock in at work to work weird hours. Being pulled from department to department to do other people’s work that I had not been trained to do. Having management treat me like absolute trash, but other employees were able to roam free and socialize. I felt like I had no opportunities for growth or any possibility have get more out of life. This is what caused me to feel hopeless as if my life was crumbling all around me and I didn’t know what to do. My breaking point was when I lost my apartment, and became homeless. Living from couch to couch and eventually my truck was mentally and emotionally draining. And I still had a job that I hated with every fiber of my body. One day as I was clocking in to work my shift, I just had an unwavering thought that this is not what my life is meant to be. “What can I do that I enjoy doing?” “What type of work will allow me to create my own schedule and make money?” My feelings of hopeless at this exact moment materialized into the thought of going to barber school and becoming a licensed barber. Every barber I knew as a child up to that point always had money, drove a nice, car, and was always happy.
As a kid most parents tell you to go to school and become a lawyer, doctor, or get a good job and retire. What they don’t tell you is that in doing so relinquish your financial freedom (student loans), time freedom (long hours), freedom to think creatively or express yourself (corporate rules and politics). I never heard any adults with the same vigor promote a trade, or entrepreneurship. And to the laughs and side eyes of many people I thought were friends, I began my career as a barber and entrepreneur at New Tyler Barber College in North Little Rock Arkansas. I was the best decision of my life up to that point.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business and brand is built on creating a lifestyle experience above just providing a service. You can go anywhere to get your haircut or eat, or even shop. But no matter you go, the places that stand out most are those that provide the best customer experience while simultaneously providing the service or product you want. Customer service, building connections, and getting to know people is a lost art. I am always thinking of ways to make things more easy and convenient for my clients. Life is already stressful enough with work, kids, and bills. My job as a barber (in my opinion) is to not only provide them the best haircut of their life, but to also ensure that it does not create additional stress and anxiety.

I am most proud of the growth my business is experiencing. When I first got to Texas 7 years ago, I was new to the area and no one knew me. When my wife and I purchased our first home near the Mansfield area in 2016, I had the urge to get back into barbering because it truly is my passion. I always told myself that I would never work in another barbershop unless I owned. So keeping that in mind, I turned an upstairs bedroom into a little barbershop. That day I posted advertising my services as the neighborhood barber. This app allowed me to directly reach people that lived right next to me. Most of them are all busy professionals with children who either did not have time to sit and wait in a barbershop for hours at time, or just flat out hated the environment fo the typical barbershop. They were automatically intrigued by the fact that I was 2-5 minutes away from them, but they could also come at their convenience. This is where I began to build relationships with these families and they began referring me to their friends. The growth has been exponential, and I am very proud to say that.

I am most excited about the fact that I am just scratching the surface of what the future holds. As I stated previously, the Legendary Look brand is much more than just a barbershop. Legendary Look is a lifestyle brand that encompasses many other different businesses that ALL contribute to not only acknowledging that you are blessed and highly favored as a person, but you are able to create, live, and enjoy the life you have always envisioned for you and your family. Because there are still active discussions in regard to upcoming business ventures, I will only discuss Legendary Look Interiors. Legendary Look Interiors is the brainchild of my lovely wife, and it has grown beyond words. She has nurtured and protected her business so much so that she is on the brink of a major collaboration that will impact the entire DFW area. I won’t speak on it now, but you will definitely be hearing about it soon.

Nothing in life worth having is easy in my opinion. For example, I hear people all the time say that “love or loving someone should be easy”, and I don’t agree with that. You can love someone from a very basic and surface level and it never develops into anything else. There is absolutely no depth to it, no levels at all. But when you truly LOVE someone you know nearly everything about them. And not just that, but you have likely been through the toughest times of your life with that person and you both stuck together through it all. Thats the type of love that lasts. I think of my business in the same exact way. In order for me to be an impactful business owner, I have had to go through things. I have had to struggle to pay booth rent, or buy supplies, lose clients, clients leave me for another barber and come back, or give a bad haircut. I had to experience those things to grow and build my character as a business owner. When the pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020 I had to stop cutting hair completely for over a year. I overcame these challenges by looking at myself and no one else. I took ownership of those mistakes and asked myself “What can I do differently”. I had to learn to become a problem solver.

I’ve learned over the years that “What you go through, is what you GROW through”. Do the best that you can to learn from all the negative experiences of you life, and not allow them to keep you in a place of stagnation or fear. Don’t stay down or give up. Keep pressing forward and try to find something in life that you are passionate about and learn to love it. Then allow that love to blossom into a life changing experience and enjoy the ride.

The one thing that I want the world to know is that Legendary Look is an entire lifestyle brand. We create products and provide services that positively impact every aspect of your life. This is just the beginning.

And to anyone who takes the time to read this.. In whatever way you interpret these words. “Faith without works is dead.” Always be a person that has a clear goals, and maintain your faith knowing that it will happen as long as YOU put in the work.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a really funny question to me because I get asked this often. I honestly feel like there are so many places to eat and hang out in Dallas that its hard to decide. I really don’t go out very much because I’m always working, but when I get some free time and some friends are in town it would look like this.

Sunday

– Sunday Worship service somewhere. Most visitors want to go to the Potter’s House. So we would start there.

– Breakfast at Our Place Restaurant in Mansfield TX. (Great pancakes and omelettes)

– Then we have to go to Clean Getaway Carwash in Mansfield TX (So we can get the 5 day guarantee to use later in the week)

– Then we are doing going back home and throw some burgers and links on the grill for lunch and have drinks

– Then we end the night with dinner from South Dallas Cafe or Sweet Georgia Brown’s and Netflix

Monday

– We will start the day with with breakfast tacos from Rudys in Arlington

– A quick trip to Parks Mall and the Grand Prairie Outlets

– Then we are doing a mid-day movie at Studio Movie Grill

– Take a drive to through Arlington to see AT&T Stadium, Globe Life, and Texas Live

– Finish the day off back in the Highlands for dinner at Pluckers

Tuesday

– The day would start with breakfast at Bread Winners Cafe (Chicken n Waffles) then we would go downtown to see the sites and museums

– JFK Museum

– Holocaust Museum

– Perot Museum

– Dallas Aquarium

– Lunch at the Lockhart’s Smokehouse on Davis.

– Then we would walk across the street to Picoli’s for ice cream

– After lunch we head to Frisco to throw footballs around at The Star

– Then stop by the Galleria Mall and joy ride through Highland Park to see the beautiful homes

– Dinner at Pappadeaux

Wednesday

– Rest and recovery to start the weekend.

Thursday

– Breakfast at home

– Toyota Music Factory in Las Colinas

– Lunch at Midori Sushi (The Sushi Burrito is DELICIOUS)

– Polo Factory Outlet

– Texas Motor Speedway

– Buc-ee’s (Best gas station on Earth)

– Downtown Ft Worth

– Then we would head home and stop for dinner at Mr. Crabs in Arlington. If you ever go, be sure to get “Sloppy Sauce” when they ask you the flavor you prefer.

Friday

– Breakfast at Brunch 360 in Mansfield

– Back home

– Pregame at The Daquiri Shop in Grand Prairie. Get the chicken wings and a daquiri of your choice

– We would probably head back home to get dressed for dinner

– Dinner at Gloria’s in Addison.

– Friday night start in Deep Ellum, and ends on McKinney Ave

Saturday

– My guests would probably be spending most of the day to pack so we would stay in the house until around 12

– Lunch at Razzoos in Arlington. Then back home

– The night would start at Gator’s downtown for karaoke

– Then we would likely head to Texas Live to for food and drinks and if we are lucky its a fight night

I think that this would be sufficient for a week in Dallas. Nightlife and hot spots have likely changed since the las time I went out.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I attribute my success to God, my family, and life lessons.

My faith a personal in a way that I have always felt that God pre-destined my life to become more that the circumstances I was born into. I truly believe that he chose me to be the spark that would change my family tree and create a new legacy.

My parents, grandparents, my brothers, and my wife deserve to be acknowledged as well.

My parents provided me with a foundation of faith and morals that are not being observed or taught these day. Yes mam, no mam. Yes sir, no sir. Please and thank you. Treat people the way you want to be treated, and show respect to your elders. These are only a few of my most basic principles. They didn’t have much at all, but me and my brothers NEVER felt poor or without anything.

My grandmother for always praying over me, and allowing me to draw from her 70+ years of wisdom and kindness for the first 15 years of my life. Allowing me at a young age to ask questions with depth and meaning. My grandfather for always making it known “If you don’t work, you don’t eat” and loving in his own way.

My brothers for beating me up as a kid and taking my money so they could go out with their friends. For providing my parents with they blueprint to teenage boys so that I had enough freedom to actually have a good time in high school. For always providing me with that tough brotherly love that only my big brothers could.

My wife for meeting me at the lowest point of my life, and allowing me the grace to continually grow as a man, husband, and dad. For being my partner not only in life but in business. For being the only woman that is as ambitious, goal oriented, and driven as me and can actually back it up and make it look easy. For pushing me to be a better version of myself today than I was the day before.

Life….. For all of the good and bad. The very ugly lessons and experiences that you have taught me. The highest of the highs, and the lowest of the lows. For showing me how to problem solve and adapt when things go wrong. For teaching me to change the way I think, and the types of questions I ask myself. For teaching me to not ask WHY things happen, but instead how can I FIX them.

All credit for who I am belongs to them.

Website: www.thelegendarylook.com

Instagram: thelegendarylook

Other: www.legendarylookinteriors.com