This Podcast Gets Under Your Skin (By Cutting Your Hair)

What in the world is Sips and Clips? Get to know a bit of the heart and soul behind this coffee, creativity, and conversation based podcast / community.

You don’t know a man until you’ve cut him. Buckle up, because you’re about to ascend on quite the journey. Perhaps a proper introduction is the ideal place for us to start.

My name is Ethan, pleased to make your digital acquaintance! I don’t know how you managed to find exactly this place of the vast interwebs, but here we are.

Simply stated, Sips and Clips is a podcast dedicated to creative people and great conversations. To hear the voices and stories behind local innovators and a resource to discover your new favorite brand, artist, or venture.

Every episode of our podcast is recorded at MacLaren Barbers out of Stockholm, Sweden while I give my guest a new haircut and they enjoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Though, to understand more about Sips and Clips, you should understand more about me first.

Originally I’m from Pittsburgh, PA, USA; but in the summer of 2018, I moved to Stockholm, Sweden with nothing but a few changes of clothes and some good friends by my side. Though I’ve always considered myself a very much creative individual, when I moved to Stockholm, some new nook in my brain became active.

I found myself surrounded by a plethora of artists, business owners, and people with a soft spot for creativity. You can feel it when you walk through the small city streets, a need to just do… something. Make something. 

Maybe too spacey for you, whatever. Nonetheless, here we are.

After growing up around parents that both worked in the hair industry, it eventually caught up to me. As a person who was starting to get tired of eating spaghetti every day to get by, interested in style, and needs to work closely with people to get any work done at all — it made sense for me to finally give into the barber in my bloodstream.

This lead to me spending some some time training as barber in England, then returning to Stockholm and landing a job at MacLaren Barbers. Working now as a barber in Södermalm, Stockholms most eclectic and innovative district, brought more than just a handful of front running creatives to my chair.

I also realized there’s something special about the conversations that occur between client and barber in shop, especially when you’re just getting to genuinely know one another. These talks were the driving factor to lead me to create Sips and Clips. What golden nuggets could we pick up if we just set a microphone in the front of the room? Would this be something people would be interested in listening in on?

Earlier I simply stated what Sips and Clips is about generally… but honestly I think who is to know exactly where we can go? I have an ever growing passion for storytelling, and I want to give room to anyone with a story to tell.

If that be an artist, a business owner, or something else entirely, their creative venture is welcome here. Above all, we aim to create a community that inspires creativity and innovation. I desire this for myself as well as you, it’s a classic case of “you are who you surround yourself with,” right?