Everybody knows that great cuts start with great barbers, but not everybody knows where to find them.

Chris and Lori Mattox are the owners of Distinguished Barber Studio, a barber shop based in Grand Junction.  

After serving in the military, Chris Mattox moved to Denver and got a job with Union Pacific. The transport company sent him to Grand Junction in 2011, where he met his wife, Lori Mattox. 

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Tired of dealing with railroad layoffs, he made a career jump that surprised everyone — even his wife. 

“I was sitting at home laid off one day and a commercial came on about a barber, and I promise it was the loudest commercial I ever heard in my life,” Chris Mattox said. “So I called my wife and told her I was resigning from the railroad and I was going to barber school.” 

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Chris was 45 when he decided to switch gears in his career, and Lori was working a job she said didn’t pay very well. 

“When he told me, ‘Hey, I want to go to school,’ I (said) ‘Okay, we’ll make it happen,'” Lori Mattox said. 

Chris and Lori opened their barber shop in Grand Junction in October 2017, and word quickly spread about their truly “distinguished” services. Soon enough, the couple was getting clients from as far as Eagle, Telluride and even Moab, Utah. 

“With people coming to the shop from so many places, (Chris) thought, ‘Man, we need to get another shop. And the more he thought of it, he’d say, ‘Okay, where do we go?'” Lori Mattox said. 

It was during this time that Chris Mattox said he found a new vision for his career: one that involved a barber chair, a renovated bus and the open road. 

“The bus was always what I wanted to do,” he said. “I gave the vision to my wife and her son and they did exactly what I wanted done.” 

Lori Mattox’s son (and Chris Mattox’s step son), Nick Grady, renovated the bus that would ultimately become the Distinguished Mobile Barber.

Grady’s electrician skills resulted in a modern, inviting mobile barber shop lined with decorations, colorful lights and comfortable seating for clients. The lights and electricity run on the solar panels Grady installed on the bus’s roof. 

The Distinguished Mobile Barber debuted in Rifle in February and made its first visit to Glenwood Springs in March. Their Grand Junction shop still runs the same as ever, with its five employees keeping its reputation high. 

In partnership with her husband, Lori Mattox keeps things running smoothly behind the scenes by answering calls from clients, restocking supplies, bookkeeping, cleaning, licensing and more. 

“I try to make it so that all he has to do is come up and cut hair,” she said. 

But what stands out more than the classy look of the bus is the classy feeling that accompanies a cut and a shave from Chris Mattox. 

“I’m a big man of faith. And I just really believe if I go toward something, I can achieve whatever, as long as I’m treating people right,” he said. 

Chris’s approach to barbering is inspired by the “old school” style of barbering, which Lori explained encouraged people to “take their time, lay back in a chair, get a hot towel (and) get a shave.” 

“When they come into our shop, they’re paying the same or less, even, and getting more treatment. That’s what draws them,” she continued. “The atmosphere that Chris makes in the shop, he makes it fun, there’s good music, it’s family-friendly.” 

But it’s more than just the quantity of services and a good price that makes the place worthy of its name. 

“I’ve been getting my hair cut my whole life, and the treatment that barbers give is second to none. And I think in the new wave, they’re lacking on that,” Chris Mattox said. “We really take our time to show people that we appreciate them. Barbering is barbering no matter where you’re at, but the way you treat the people, that’s the difference.” 

Lori Mattox said the experience can be therapeutic for men, in the same way that women can often fine comfort in talking with friends or stylists at salons while receiving a relaxing treatment.  

“Men don’t get that,” Lori Mattox said. “He’s like a therapist with people sitting in his chair. (There’s) all kinds of conversations — It can be, ‘I’m getting married,’ ‘I’m having a baby,’ or ‘I just got divorced,’ ‘I just lost a parent.’ The men can come in here and talk and let it out.” 

“I don’t just cut hair, I change lives,” Chris Mattox said. “They change mine too.” 

Despite arriving in Glenwood Springs less than a month ago, he said he’s already had more than 30 people visit his bus, many of whom have gone out and spread the word of the bus to their friends.

Chris Mattox said he’s seen all kinds of people enter his mobile barber shop, from children accompanying a parent to retired gentlemen. He’s even received visits from Glenwood Springs city council members, who have been in contact with the couple to help them find a permit that works for their situation. 

The City of Glenwood Springs has different temporary permit categories for mobile services, such as food trucks. Some are only 14-day permits, while others can last a few months before the business has to renew their permit. 

Lori Mattox explained that their mobile barber shop didn’t fit the requirements for any of the longer-term permits the city offered, and that Glenwood Springs City Council is currently working with them to expedite the process of creating a new permit category for them before their current permit term runs out. 

“Luckily they recognize that we are going to be good for Glenwood,” she said. “That was a blessing.” 

Chris Mattox said his goal is to bring another mobile barber shop to additional cities once he’s able to hire more barbers. The couple has also talked about someday opening a more permanent Distinguished Barber Studio location in downtown Glenwood, as well as one in Moab. 

The Distinguished Mobile Barber is currently stationed near the West Glenwood mall next to the roundabout and Exxon. The bus is open in Glenwood Springs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday, and in Rifle on Mondays and Wednesdays, though be sure to check their Facebook or Google page for updated schedules. The bus does not take appointments, only walk-ins. 

Cuts and shaves (all-inclusive) are $40 in Rifle, $50 in Glenwood Springs (due to mobile fees), with a $5 discount for children under 10 or seniors over 60.