Local barber discusses passion, travel and making everything his 'playground'

Parked behind the quaint moss-colored Village Green Records store sits a beige RV – one Muncie man's home.

During the day, Algier Williamson cuts hair in a small room inside the store, and at night he retires to his RV with his dog, Diesel.

He prefers the small space over a permanent home.

“A lot of time when you move different places you have to pack, unpack, pack, unpack,” Williamson said. “You just never get that settled home feeling. But with this … I always have a place that feels like home no matter where I am at.”

When he first bought the RV about four months ago, the walls were white. Williamson sanded all of the doors and painted the walls teal – his favorite color.

Above his sink, hang rusty, teal-pressed tin squares that he cut out of sheets. Although he kept the original daybed in the RV, he ripped out the kitchen table and placed his “childhood couch” in his home.

“I could not let it go because the cushions are still in good condition,” Williamson said. “And it's orange so it's definitely retro, like for real retro ... Diesel likes it. Don't you, Diesel?”

Lines, shapes and angles

Williamson always loved creating things.

Growing up in Indianapolis, he used to pay his younger brother to let him cut his hair, just so he would have somebody to practice on.

After high school, Williamson came to Ball State for architecture. He studied in the program for two and a half years before deciding it wasn't for him. He knew he would constantly bring his work home if he continued with the career.

For the next three years, Williamson tried carpentry, a more hands-on option. After discovering he still didn't have the freedom he wanted, he chose barber school.

He worked at three different barber shops, before coming to Muncie to open his own.

“It's sweet because all the time I spent at Ball State as a student, all those architecture classes still came in handy,” Williamson said. “Even just cutting hair, it's a form of architecture. As I'm cutting her hair right now, there is different lines and shapes and angles that apply in the same manner as constructing a building.”

He still also loves to make a place his own. Pictures and posters cover the walls of his room-sized barbershop. He enjoys a good garage sale, and he prefers metal and wood over plastic.

“There's something about how something had a life before it got to me, and to be able to take that and just reuse it and make it new,” Williamson said. “Everything in here had a life before I had it.”

Traveler

When Williamson first came to Muncie to start cutting hair, he opened a shop behind TIS Bookstore, and then later in the store across from Scotty's Brewhouse.

After traveling west with friends and falling in love with the lifestyle, he decided to downsize.

He moved out of his shop and months later came back to Muncie with a truck.

Travis Harvey, owner of Village Green Records, said Williamson came to him in the middle of the night, asking if he could be a part of the store.

“I didn't quite know about the truck thing, but I wasn't surprised because it's Algier and he is quite an unorthodox character,” Harvey said.

Williamson cut hair outside in the truck until finally deciding to utilize a room in the store. The truck was lacking necessary amenities.

Now, his focus is on his RV.

He hopes to one day take his mobile home out west to cut hair there, and live in his “playground.” Specifically, he wants to cut hair at the University of Santa Barbara, right next to the beach.

“It's what I wake up thinking about …. It's nice knowing I have something to be excited about – living life and knowing that when I leave from this place, I know that I've found what makes me happy,” Williamson said.

Even though Muncie isn't his final destination, he tries to make everything his playground.

Until he bought his RV, Williamson had built a structure on top of his truck so he could sleep under the stars at night.

Now he'll take his RV to the river and just read a book.

“Something about an RV, it's like a treehouse, clubhouse on wheels,” Williamson said. “There's something about an RV. I don't care how old you get, it will make you a little kid.”

He chooses vehicles that enable him to “hang out places,” and doesn't worry about fuel economy or long distance.

Williamson also owns two bikes, including a fixed gear bike, for tricks. He loves taking Diesel for runs around campus.

“Oh man, that bike man. Something about it,” he said.

Although he dreams about moving west, Williamson is content. He enjoys living in a college town where students are excited and have goals.

“I've found what makes me happy, and it doesn't involve having the biggest bank account,” Williamson said.

Behind the clippers

Williamson doesn't advertise his service, relying solely on word of mouth. Yet his business doesn't seem affected by this missing piece.

Sibley Barlow, a senior painting major, has gone to Williamson for a haircut more than 10 times.

“I'm kind of particular about my hair, and he's never done anything wrong,” Barlow said.

She also said she feels less rushed.

Williamson dedicates an hour to each customer, something he said is unusual for barber shops. He said his friend who works at Walmart has to style hair within around 20 minutes.

“I'll comb through your hair for 20 minutes trying to figure out what we're gonna do,” Williamson said. “I'd be on probation or fired somewhere like that quick.”

He talks to those who wants to talk but has no problem cutting hair in silence. He likes to “travel” in his brain.

Harvey has known Williamson for about eight years. He said he sees a different side of Williamson, even though he is good at talking with his customers.

“There is a side of him that is very much aware of his public persona, but there is also a side of Algier that is significantly more withheld,” Harvey said. “It's not to say that he is not fun, or he is not boisterous, but there is a side of him that is very introspective and thought out and patient and quiet.”

At the end of the haircut, Williamson takes Barlow's money and hugs her goodbye.