You can’t deny people are awesome. Who doesn’t like sitting down with good friends to ask them interesting, insightful, and funny questions? That’s what 11 Questions is about. I’ll be featuring some friends I look up to as well as people within the Orlando community I’ve always wanted to get to know.

THIS INTERVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED BY CARLSON ON HIS OWN BLOG.

Recently opened Eleanor’s Barbershop, located in Mills50 near the heart of Orlando, reminds me of my childhood. Growing up my dad would take me to this hole-in-the-wall barbershop minutes away from our house. It was humble, the staff was incredibly friendly (even to this awkward prepubescent kid), and the conversation flowed easily. Tito’s shop gives off a similar feel. You can tell he loves his craft and puts his heart and soul into it, without losing sight of what’s important in life (as you’ll read below). Because of all this, and their attention to detail, I’ve started getting my cuts at Eleanor’s. Stop by and be sure to leave a healthy tip. They deserve it.

If you could have an extra hour of free time every day, how would you use it?

Right now my daughter is all about my wife and wants nothing to do with me except for in the morning before I take her to daycare. So I think if I had an extra hour it’ll probably just be spent hanging out with her while she liked me for the day.

Favorite book, album, or musician who has impacted your life?

“Leave No Doubt” by Mindset. Mindset is one of the most important straight-edge bands of all time and front-to-back LND really nailed the feeling of seeing how shitty the world is around you but wanting to do better for it.

If you could mate two different species of animals what would they be?

If Griffins existed that would be so sick. I’d sell my car and just fly everywhere on my eagle/lion beast.

Who in your life has inspired you?

There are honestly way too many people, but if there’s someone who’s watched me grow up from a shithead hardcore kid into a shithead hardcore kid who owns a business it’s probably Little Joe, the owner of Primrose Tattoo. The way Joe teaches, preaches, and respects tattooing is how I always wanted to treat barbering. Both are trades rooted deep in tradition and history that should be preserved and passed down forever. And it’s nice to have someone with as much experience as he has to fall back on whenever I’m lost or need help.

ALL PHOTOS BY BRIAN CARLSON

What are you proud of?

I’m proud of opening a business that caters to people who may have felt left out a few years ago. When I first started being a barber there really weren’t many options, there were plenty of shops but they all sort of copied each other. It was either a really loud shop with 12 chairs or smaller, more masculine shops and plenty of people don’t feel comfortable in either. I felt that for how old Orlando was, it didn’t have a real old Florida barber shop that catered to anyone who wanted a real barber service. It’s very fulfilling to see people come on and say that’s what they had been looking for and they found it at EBS.

What rejuvenates you?

Going on date nights with my wife. Anyone with kids knows where I’m coming from. It’s nice to just hang out with her for a few hours without any distractions, it’s great having my parents in town so we have the ability to do them sort of frequently.

Is there anything you haven’t done yet that you feel compelled to do?

I think it’d be cool to do a kickboxing bout. I’ve been going to the jungle MMA for a few years now. I don’t think I’m some super tough ass-kicking type but it’d be cool to say I did it once and my coaches keep asking me to do one.

How do you balance your personal and professional life?

I’m still figuring that out, so far the best decision I’ve made was to change my work schedule. I worked almost every Sunday for about seven years, at one point I was working Fridays 2 p.m.-midnight and I’d hardly ever take extra days off. I figured if I wanted to open a business someday I sort of had to “suck it up” and work a ton, that gave me the financial freedom to open the shop on my own. I’m unlearning some of that now that my daughter is getting older and I don’t want to miss out on her growing up.

How do you hope to be remembered?

I’m not sure if I’ve done anything to be remembered nor have I thought to seek out that type of attention. To me, I’m still a small fish in a large ocean and everyone I’ve ever met that did something cool and thought of themselves as a bigger fish just turned into a bigger asshole. I just hope my daughter isn’t upset I used her name to open a business.

If you were to choose a different career what would it be?

If I could do anything I’d be a shoe cobbler for sure. That’s originally what I tried to do before going to barber school and I always think about how different things would’ve been if I went down that path instead. It is funny thinking about how I’d go from interacting with hundreds of people in a month to almost none if I did switch my career to that.

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