Richard, Edward, and John Harvey are entrepreneurs who decided a location between McKinney and Prosper was the perfect site for their first location of Diesel Barbershop, a new, fun barbershop that exudes an attitude of focus on the customers, who they truly believe “are always right’.
They will be building out and own nearly a dozen barbershops in North Texas and chose the location on 380 because they fell in love with the McKinney and Prosper area, saying it is more of a community than just a couple of towns. They are the area developers of the Diesel Barbershop franchise for North Texas, responsible for building and selling diesel Franchises from Lubbock to Longview up to the Red River.
Their current plans are to have 33 shops in DFW and a total north of 40 in North Texas. They have currently sold a dozen shops and have a few new entrepreneurs considering buying another 12-15 shops. Since late 2017, Diesel has opened shops in 7 states including Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Texas and Colorado.
Richard was born in Dallas and has lived in the Metroplex all 59 yrs. Married for 35 years, he has three adult kids and five grand kids. The brothers come from a family of entrepreneurs. Their father owned an independent insurance agency where Richard worked for 16 years before starting his own insurance and investment business, for which he currently has 8 locations in the DFW area. His children are also entrepreneurs with Haleigh owning a boutique luxury travel agency (recently featured in “Luxury Travel Advisors” as a top luxury travel designer in the business). Tate is a chemical engineer and owns a biomedical company. Emma, is living a dream as a touring, Nashville recording artist in an indie pop duo called “Sawyer”.
Edward, 56, is married to Sheree with five children between 15 and 22. Born and raised in Dallas, he graduated from Hillcrest High School and attended Western State College in Colorado. He played soccer with both schools as well as club teams. He was a professional musician in the 80’s, worked in corporate food service for 12 years, and then owned, built, managed, and was the executive chef at his own restaurant in 2000’s while also building other restaurants. He has also done commercial construction and traded stocks from home. Two of his children attend Texas Tech, one at Austin College, one a Junior at Dallas Lutheran, and one freshman at Jesuit Prep in Dallas. Edward loves great food (doesn’t have to be fancy), chef driven restaurants, travel and family dinners next to my beautiful wife.
John, the oldest has been married 15 years, with a son, a step-son, a step-daughter, and five grandkids. Spent >20 years in the automotive industry. John’s son is in management in the automobile industry. He loves to hunt and shoot and the family is extended with three dogs.
When asked why they wanted to get involved with this business, Richard stated, “Starting Diesel was a fun way to work with my brothers, build a business and give back to others. As a business, we will eventually have a couple of hundred employees that we can invest in and hopefully they can learn from the mistakes we have made in the past”. For John, with his varied experience, the customer service and vibe of the shop was right up his alley, with his construction experiencing helping during the process.
Indeed, when asked what the challenges have been, it ranged from the process of getting the business open and staffing to Richard’s comment, “Balance! I love what I do, and I sometimes forget to keep a healthy balance between work, family, friends and my faith.”
However, the challenges have easily been overcome by the results they have achieved. Acknowledging that they aren’t just in the barbershop business, but a people business, they are enjoying working with their staffs and the customers whom they have come to know well. They are excited to see a high volume of return business because the customer is the focus when there. As Edward says, “Diesel is about the experience you receive with an exceptional cut and service. You won’t hear gossip amongst barbers or cosmos. They should be giving you 100% of their attention. The Diesel Brand is a Culture”.
So, who are “The Diesel Brothers”? John says they are the Yen & Yang to one another. That seems to complement Edward’s description as three brothers who gained varied traits from their parents but who are all driven to be successful. And obviously they continue down that path with Diesel Barbershop. Richard proudly states, “Diesel was first released as a franchise in 2018. Our McKinney location was the first in the country and has remained the #1 diesel franchise in the country since we opened.”
The Harvey brothers are very thankful to those in the McKinney & Prosper area and have found it to be a community they really want to be involved in—and they say they are just getting started. Be sure and visit their shop at 3905 W University Dr or call them and make an appointment at (972) 872-8665. Come in, enjoy a free soda or craft beer and get a great cut or shave!