the bootlegged story: how amanda nevel built a barbershop on tradition, community, and trust

Bootlegged Barber Co. was founded in 2017 by Amanda Nevel, a barber who built her shop on three principles: tradition, community, and quality. The name came from a customer's offhand remark about a woman working in what was still considered a man's trade. The mission came from the gaps Amanda saw in her own industry, and a conviction that customers deserve top-shelf service and barbers deserve a livable wage. Nine years later, that founding story still shapes everything we do, so we're retelling it here.

where the name comes from

When Amanda began exclusively barbering, being a woman in the trade was genuinely uncommon. Barbering had long been treated as a man's industry, and she felt it. Then one day a customer sized up the situation and told her, "look at you coming in and trying to bootleg the industry."

It was meant as a wisecrack. Amanda took it as a name. Bootlegging, after all, is what you call it when somebody does the work without waiting for permission. She wasn't sneaking into barbering. She was claiming a seat at a chair that women had earned long before her.

Because here's the part of the story most people don't know: during World War I and World War II, many family-owned barbershops in America were run by women. When husbands were drafted, wives picked up the shears and kept the family shop open, kept the neighborhood groomed, and kept the lights on until the men came home. A woman behind the chair isn't a break from barbering tradition. It is barbering tradition. Bootlegged wears that history in its name.

built to fix what was broken

Amanda didn't open a shop just to cut hair. She opened one to address the gaps she had experienced firsthand in the industry, on both sides of the chair.

For customers, that meant a shop where quality is the system, not the exception. Consultation before clippers. Straight razors, hot towels, and clipper-over-comb technique done properly. Getting it right every time, because a barbershop should be a place you find once and stop looking.

For barbers, it meant something the industry too often skips: a livable wage. From day one, Bootlegged was built so that the people doing the craft could actually build a life on it. That commitment still shows up in how we operate today, from competitive commission splits to barbers keeping 100 percent of their tips, along with real training, mentorship, and support. When barbers can stay in one shop and grow, clients get the same trusted face in the mirror year after year. Everybody wins.

herriman: the second chapter

In November 2021, Bootlegged opened its Herriman shop. It was a milestone twice over: our second location, and the first franchised site, proof that the Bootlegged way of doing things could be taught, trusted, and handed to a new team without losing what makes it work.

The grand opening carried more weight than most. Shortly before the launch, Amanda's father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He couldn't be there in person, so he attended the way he could, over FaceTime, watching the doors open on the shop his daughter's work had made possible. He passed away shortly after.

We tell that part of the story carefully, because it isn't a marketing beat. It's a reminder of what a barbershop is actually for. Barbering is one of the oldest professions in the land, and at its root it has always been about caring for people. Some of the people we care about most never sit in the chair.

what we stand for today

Walk into either of our shops, Herriman at 5257 Anthem Peak Ln or Sandy at 49 W 10600 S, and you'll see three words on the wall of everything we do: tradition, community, top shelf.

Tradition means honoring the centuries-old craft. Hot towels, straight razor finishes, a proper consultation before a blade ever touches your head.

Community means a traditional barbershop has always been more than grooming. It's a place for conversation, for regulars, for kids getting their first real haircut next to grandfathers getting their five hundredth. We work hard to create a shop where everyone feels comfortable, welcome, and walks out looking sharp.

Top shelf means our mission, stated plainly: to be the best in the barbershop industry in all that we do. Expect top-shelf service every time, rooted in the centuries-old traditions of our craft. High quality, every service, every time.

This isn't a volume shop. It's the kind of place you find once and stop looking. Walk-ins are welcome at both locations, and online booking is always open. Come see what Amanda built.