With hard work, penny-pinching and a goal, Janie Garza and her friend Angie Moreno were able to open Advanced Barber College & Hair Design Inc. in Weslaco nearly 30 years ago.

Success hasn’t come easily. At age 14, Garza was kicked out of school for talking back to a school secretary. “The state required that my mom put me in school. The only school that would accept me was beauty school,” Garza said. She met Moreno at the school, and they talked about someday having a beauty shop together. After graduating, Garza had a difficult time as a hair dresser. “I was young and very small, and people thought I was 10 years old. They didn’t trust me to do their hair, so I quit.”

Fortunately, a customer, the wife of a developer, saw a future for Garza and came to her neighborhood looking for her. She convinced Garza to work with her while she and her husband built a strip mall. When completed, Garza worked as a beautician for the woman. “I soon learned that I liked to cut hair, not the other stuff,” Garza said. “I once saw someone cut hair using a technique I had not learned. I asked where he learned, and he said at barber school. I put myself through barber school in my early 20s. Then my goal was to have a barber college.”

Garza and Moreno remained friends and eventually opened a barber shop together. “We became very successful,” Garza said. “We could support our families and got in a good standing with banks.” At one time, they had three barber shops going at once. Still, Garza had her goal to open a barber college, and in 1988 they did.

“There are people with the talent, and people who have to learn it,” Garza said. “Angie has the talent. I had to learn it. What got me going was because I talked to my clients and treated them well. I think they kept coming back just to hear another story.”

Garza believes that a business has to produce, and that happens by giving good service. She incorporated that measure into the college, giving students good service. “I hardly advertise,” Garza said. “My students do that for me.”

The college has seven instructors and a support staff of six. Three classes run simultaneously with a student body currently at 190. Teaching emphasizes customer service and success. Both Garza and Moreno want students to avoid the difficulties they encountered starting out. Garza takes a personal interest in the students and insists that each has a goal. “I never wanted quantity; I want to have quality,” Garza said, adding that they had a branch in McAllen but closed it. “I need to know my students. I found I didn’t know the ones at the branch in McAllen.”

To read more of this story by Anita Westervelt, visit the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this website or pick up a copy of the June 2014 print edition of Valley Business Report.