Sport Clips Haircuts Testimonial: Omaha, NE & Council Bluffs, IA

Before becoming a Sport Clips Haircuts franchisee, Angie Roberts worked as a marketing director while her husband built a career in medical sales. “He kind of always just had aspirations of eventually getting out of corporate America,” Angie said. “He traveled a lot, and it was mostly about having control over his schedule and being able to work for ourselves.”

That desire for independence pushed them to start exploring franchise opportunities. “We wanted to be able to spend time with our kids and be in control of our schedules,” she said.

The couple began with three licenses and opened their first store in 2007. “We opened our very first store and then had the opportunity to purchase two existing stores,” Angie said. “So then we had three, and the rest of the seven locations we built from the ground up.”

Building Confidence One Store at a Time

Angie remembers those early years as a learning curve but also a turning point. “In the beginning, it’s obviously a lot more of a time commitment,” she said. “But the longer you’re in it, the more flexibility comes with that.”

Finding the right people was key. “It takes a little bit to get the right people in the right places,” she said. “Once you start doing that and getting a handle on the business, you kind of have to let go a little bit and let the managers run the stores.”

When they first began researching opportunities, Sport Clips quickly stood out. “My husband was looking at family entertainment, but the investment was so large,” Angie said. “We liked that Sport Clips already had the business model and that it was less of a risk.”

She also saw franchising as a way to work on the business, not in it. “We both have sales and marketing backgrounds, and we weren’t really looking to buy ourselves a job,” she said. “We wanted to be able to work on the business, and that’s what drew us to Sport Clips.”

Finding the Right Fit

From the start, Sport Clips felt like the right match. “Once we met the support team, their culture and values just lined up with ours,” Angie said. “Gordon, the founder, was at our Discovery Day and was very down to earth. Everything aligned with our morals and values.”

That alignment has carried through nearly two decades later. Angie and her husband now own ten stores across Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Their number one location is not even in the biggest market. “Our number one store is Council Bluffs, which we would have never dreamed,” she said. “It’s in a very large shopping area, but the town itself isn’t big. It’s really how you run your store.”

Balancing Growth and Family

Angie never lost sight of why they started. “We didn’t do this to not make money, but we always stayed true to our first and foremost reason,” she said. “It was to allow us to spend time with our kids and our family and have flexibility.”

Her husband stayed in his corporate job for several years while Angie managed the business. “It took a couple years,” she said. “For the first five years I did it alone. Once we knew we could survive without our personal jobs, he joined me full time.”

Today, their organization runs with a small, well-defined structure. “We split things down the middle,” she said. “He handles HR and maintenance, and I focus on recruiting, marketing, accounting and payroll.” They also have a Director of Operations, a Director of Communications and managers at each store.

After nearly 18 years, the business gives them the balance they once hoped for. “I definitely don’t work 40 hours a week,” Angie said. “It’s probably 20. There’s always something I could be doing, but the flexibility is there.”

Staying True to the Why

When asked what she’s learned, Angie keeps it simple: success comes from remembering why you started. “The reward has always been worth the risk,” she said. “It’s really hard to leave something that’s been so good for us and that we know so well.”

As for what’s next, expansion isn’t off the table. “We just sent our last one off to college,” Angie said. “Now that we don’t have any kids at home, we’d consider more opportunities, especially existing stores.”

Looking back, Angie says the journey has not only met but exceeded what she imagined. “It hasn’t just been about the money,” she said. “It’s about being able to live a healthy lifestyle and have the flexibility to be with our family. That’s what we wanted from the beginning, and we’ve stayed true to that.”