Perhaps you've wondered when looking up my Barbershop on Google: where does that name come from? Maybe you then read the address: Hofbergen 23, and connected it to the house number. Yet, there's another story behind it. When this barber was born 28 years ago, he was expected to live no longer than 23 years.
Then I hear you think, he's lasted 5 years longer. That's right! Healthcare has developed significantly, and I've experienced it firsthand! Some of you might have noticed the change last January. In the first six months of my own business, I coughed quite a lot (not a Corona cough) and was often short of breath. That's due to my Cystic Fibrosis. In short: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is also known as mucoviscidosis. It's a hereditary and unfortunately incurable disease. Due to a DNA error, my body creates thick mucus, allowing bacteria and other nastiness to settle in. I suffer a lot from shortness of breath, coughing, and intestinal issues. When I started my business, my lung capacity was 24/25 percent. For a healthy person, it's between 80/100 percent. CF is a progressive disease. This means it gradually gets worse, no matter what you do: exercising well or adhering to therapy.
The 'advantage' of that slow deterioration is that you can get used to it. At some point, skiing is no longer possible. That's a shame, but you enjoy watching your family or friends have fun from the sidelines. Cycling becomes difficult, talking and walking at the same time becomes harder, but you find a way through everything. Fortunately, I've always been able to cut hair; it's physically demanding but gives me such a boost!
I had been hoping for the new medications for a long time. For the first time in the history of this disease, they wouldn't just treat the symptoms, but truly the cause. Making the faulty gene functional again. Last January, I finally received the medication I had waited so long for. It brought enormous improvement. From 24/25 percent, I'm now almost at 50%!
I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful childhood. I grew up carefree in the house next to the Barbershop. My mother prepared my 25 pills a day, my father took me to school. Sometimes it was a bit of a squeeze, but I never felt like a sick child. One moment, related to 23, I remember very well: those thick new desktop computers arrived at our elementary school. I was 9/10 years old, and I decided to Google what cystic fibrosis actually was. Then I saw, "expected age 23" displayed prominently, whereas at the time it was 30/40. This was probably an article about an early deceased 'CF-er'. That shocked me so much that I was even picked up from school. In puberty, I found it difficult. I didn't understand why I was the one who had this, and I strongly resisted it. The number 23 kept reappearing. We rented a cottage on Terschelling, cottage 23. My first car, 23 in the license plate. We had lived at Hofbergen 23 all that time. The number kept coming back everywhere around me. Was I supposed to do something with this?
Working and entrepreneurship were ingrained in me early on. So it wasn't a question of if, but when I would start my own business. Of course, for a chronically ill person who is out for at least 4 weeks each year besides the 'usual' flu or cold, that's not very wise. But it was and is my dream, my own company.
After 4 years of barbering experience, I started my own business. I learned the trade at the Barberstation in Arnhem. After that, I worked for the Hare Barbers in Amsterdam, at the barber in Breukelen, and of course 2 years in Vietnam at House of Barbaard. I went to Vietnam without mentioning that I had CF. I had experienced quite a bit of discrimination in the workplace and decided to take the plunge and not say I had an illness. That worked out so well for me. I was Sjoerd there, for the first time myself without illness. After six months, I told them anyway for a practical reason. I was still nebulizing regularly with a device there, and we were going camping at a festival, which was impossible in a tent. After telling them, CF became a part of me, a side issue. For the first time, I felt like Sjoerd and not a patient. That gave me the final push to start my business.
Corona came, and I couldn't do much. As long as it was an unknown virus, I had to stay indoors. I came out of my Corona isolation at the beginning of 2021. I could have applied for a job at a barber again, but I actually did the stupidest thing I could do (which I'm a fan of): I started my own business. My company, of course, had to be called: Twenty-Three Barbershop!
Twenty-Three stands for 1-on-1 attention, humor, and quality. A place for a story or just a beer and a good haircut. Everyone is always welcome, as often as they wish. You'll naturally get a good product, a haircut, a neat beard, or an order through the webshop. Only, I do everything my way. Just a little different from others, just like I am myself.
Twenty-Three is not my business. It is my dream.
