Hey! Who are you Knotty Boy people anyway?

Knotty Boy Lock Shop and Salon: Becca | Kris | Christine

Becca

Once upon a time, in a hairschool very, very close by, a classic tale began to unfold…

Girl meets girl. Girl makes hilarious pun. Girls laugh uproariously. Girls get separated by teacher. A beautiful partnership is born!

Becca and Kris always wanted to work together, and since they paid ten grand to meet, it seemed like good business. Bound by their mutual love for all things off-the-cuff and general dislike of, y'know, ‘regular jobs’ they finally found their Shangri-la at the Knotty Boy Lock Shop & Salon – the best damn Lock Shop this side of…well, anywhere!

Becca’s skill at creating your dream look is legendary, and that ain’t for no reason! If you see a fancy-looking head passing you by, you can bet she's had a hand in it. When she isn’t purdying up the locals with cutting edge cuts, colours and lock services, she’s doing double duty as the bass player and back-up vocalist for Vancougar, a wicked four-piece taking the nation (and its boys) by storm. Check out their latest release 'Canadian Tuxedo' on Mint Records. Becca ALSO just happens to be the international superstar of our Knotty Boy Step-By-Step How to Make Dreadlocks Instructional video. Whatevs, she's kinda famous.

In the five minutes a week Becca isn’t doing the aforementioned, she enjoys cheeseburgers, puns, and the company of kitty cats.

Kris

Joining Becca in the Knotty Boy Cutting Crew (ok be honest, all you want to do right now is sing 'I just dieEEed in your arms toniiight!'. Us, too.) is the loverly Kris, who's spitfire wit and fun-loving personality will make you feel right at home in our little Shop.

Kris has done pretty much everything hair-related. No, seriously. Pink zebra stripes? Done. Flourescent synthetic dread mohawks? Last Tuesday. Black hair to blonde? Check. Prior to becoming a resident Locksmith and Colour Wizard at the Knotty Boy Shop, she was an honest-to-goodness old fashioned barber. Word is, she gives a hell of a close shave. Couple that with her official title of Scissor Ninja and you get one deadly combo for your hairdoin’ dollar! Though difficult to spot in the wild due to a dizzying array of hairstyles and a camouflaging wardrobe of almost entirely black, Kris can usually be found rocking out to her favourite bands at various lower echelon live venues in the city. With her precious daylight hours, Kris likes to get outta dodge with her puppy sidekick Jack Burton and – wait for it – go fishing. True story.

Christine

The legend continues….
Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson. Batman had Robin. Captain Kirk had Spock. We had a point…. Oh yes! It turns out that even the best of us need to take a load off sometimes, and so began the long and arduous search for a third Knotty Boy Lock Shop sidekick...

Enter the lovely ‘Stine! Fresh faced and newly dreaducated, she has graduated many levels from Helper Monkey to full on Flying Monkey (undoubtedly the highest level of monkeyhood), and we couldn’t be happier to have in her in our cuckoo’s nest!

Christine rocks some serious styles with cuts, colours and dreadlock services, but watching her work her strange magic with synthetic hair does regularily bring a single tear to our eye. (Editors note: Both Becca and Kris categorically deny being Wicked Witches.)

Adrianna

I guess its my turn... Yep, its me, Adrianna, disembodied 'voice' of this website and Director/Creative Developer/Numba-One-Chief-Rocka of the company we call Knotty Boy DreadStuff!

Back in 1998 – sweet sassy molassy that’s a long time ago - there was no such thing as a line of hair care products SPECIFIALLY for dreadlocks, and especially not all natural. I had no idea I was starting the world's first when I made that goopy jar of waxy delights for Andrew's young locks back when I was just 20 years old, but it worked so well that we put up a crappy one-page Angelfire website on the internet from a small place called Salt Spring Island, Canada, and suddenly kids all around the world loved it and kept buying more. Things snowballed from there over the years and I'm ecstatic to say it just keeps getting better and better. Honestly the BEST thing is, as we've grown we've been able to do more and more for others out there, too.

We're still a little company but that's the way we like it, and I get the feeling that that's the way most of you Knotty kids like it, too. (Kinda nice to call and talk to a real live person on the phone, huh? What novelty!) Some things have changed a lot around here since we first started but from all the feedback you give us, it sounds like we're still on the right track which is sooo great. Keep letting us know what you think and how we can improve! How the heck will we know if you don't tell us? Take five seconds to fill out our fabulous Knotty Boy Five-Second Survey and let us know your opinion on what we're doing right and how we can be even better for you.

Anyway, it's been a blast making this baby grow the way it has... I wouldn't trade this job for the world!

EMMA

Hailing from London, ENG-ER-LAND, and having ascending the Throne as Office Manager of the Good Ship Knotty, located waaay up in the crows nest, is our resident Viking Warrioress Knotty Emma!

When she's not doing battle with various accounting software and cracking the whip at reluctant galley slaves (read: us), Emma is busy puurrring into the phone with her enchanting English accent and making everything Knotty-related flow smoothly. We think she does it with her voice alone. Seriously. English people have it so easy!

A true Rennaissance punk, Emma has many hobbies including but not limited to creating delicious food to share with her shipmates, singing epic Meatloaf songs at karaoke, deconstructing Iron Maiden t-shirts...

... plotting with Kris (whilst camping and on piggyback, apparently) to trick Bruce Willis into marriage and making fangs of the forbidden fruit of all fruits - CHEEZIES!!

Also, Emma’s young son recently told his classmates that his Mummy is a pirate.

Kelley

Recently joining Emma's rough-n-tumble crew is Southern Belle Knotty Miss Kelley all the way from Nashville, Tennessee! (Sadly, mostly for Kelley, neither Neil Diamond nor Elvis Costello is currently working for Knotty Boy.)

Kelley has fit ever-so-nicely into her position as Wholesale Sales & Customer Service Manager. Feel free to give a very warm sun-shiney welcome when you call us and hear her lovely Southern accent on the phone. Watch out, you might die a little bit from cuteness!

Kelley also loves big, juicy secrets, sushi and The Scorpions. All pretty delicious, if we do say so ourselves!

*If you know of a store close to you that should carry Knotty Boy so you don't have to order online anymore, drop Miss Kelley a line with the store details: kelley@knottyboy.com When that store places its first order, she'll send you $50 worth of Knotty Boy gear of your choice, for free! See Job Ops for more details. *

Dan

Who is this international man of mystery? He’s Dan the Man in Asia-Land! Dan is our Number Cruncher Muncher and Sayer of Financial Whatfor, currently doing good deeds in Thailand but normally resides in Canada. How does he work for us, you ask? Well, this is the computer-era, people. He uses the internet! Got a money/number issue? Dan’s the *come on now, say it with us* MAN!

Josh

Josh!

Josh is our esteemed General Manager inspiring us with his ‘get-er-done’ work ethic. With more energy, smiles and corny jokes than you can shake a stick at, this sweetie is a force to be reckoned with as he has about a million great ideas for the future of Knotty Boy, and big plans for getting our products to all the ends of the earth. Welcome, Josh!

Michael

Meet Michael down at Zee Varehaus, our Distributor Sales & Packer/Shipper-in-Chief of your much-anticipated orders. (He also requested that we add 'Dark Lord of All Address-Finding Trickery' to his title - your wish is our command, sovereign master.) He’s doing fabulous stuff with packing tape for us these days, whilst battling the twin-headed dragon of Ship To and Where To. We let him out once a month for our Knotty staff breakfast, but then back into the dungeon he goes! All kidding aside, we couldn’t be more happy having such a reliable dude managing the Beast that is Shipping for us.

Apparently, Michael has also become a pirate.

Adam

Adam, musician and Michael's right-hand man as Warehouse Assistant, has dropped straight in from Terra Incognita (a place he calls Manitoba - we suspect it’s somewhere east of here). Knotty Boy couldn’t do better than such an intelligent and hardworking young man for packing and shipping your highly-anticipated Knotty Boy orders out!

bill

Zoe Dreadlock Stylist Extra Ordinare! This handsome devil is Bill, and was working as both our Systems Administrator and a key member of our sales team since 2002. He is also Adrianna’s dad! In April 2004 he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in his jawbone (highly unusual as it is a form of skin cancer) and was battling this very agressive cancer until Spring 2006. Through a move to India combined with diet change, conventional treatments, Ayervedic medicine and much prayer, the tumor has disappeared and no cancer has been found in his body. A true miracle, considering it was the fastest spreading cancer his oncologists had encountered in their careers. He now lives in Florida with his wife, Sandra, to continue with the Ayervedic treatments and focus on healing through positive thought and relaxation. By the modern wonders of telecommuting, Bill now works with Web Direct, our Knotty Boy UK distributor, and we are so happy for his current health. Please continue to send Bill your positive thoughts and prayers for his continued healing – and if you are interested in learning more about Ayervedic medicine or treatments for squamous cell carcinoma, feel free to find out more and contact him through his blog here: http://indialiving.blogspot.com/. He would love to hear from you!

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Andrew

On a heartbreaking note ... as you may know, Andrew Power, aka Jakob the Baker, aka Knotty Andrew, aka The Original Knotty Boy, with whom I (Adrianna) started Knotty Boy from the very beginning and who had been acting as our wonderful chief Knotty Kid email person, passed away from this world May 10, 2003 at 1am, after peacefully saying goodbye to his family. Andrew suffered for a very short time from a rare and deadly form of heart and lung cancer, and his passing was sudden. Thank you all so much for your prayers, emails and thoughts for him and his family thought this time - please continue to keep his family and friends in your hearts as they continue to pick up the pieces, and us here at Knotty Boy, too. He's resting now, and as hard as this is for all of us to understand, who knows what worse thing in his future he was perhaps being mercifully spared from in all of this. Maybe we'll know one day, when you'll all have the chance to meet this wonderful, amazing young man who's sense of humor, wisdom and faith was a bright spot in many a Knotty kid's day out there.

We all miss you so much, Andrew, but it won't be long before we see you again.

All our love, Adrianna and all the Knotty kids whose lives you touched in one way or another. xo

Andrew Power - rest in peace
May 10, 2003

Click here to read some of the many emails we've received from friends and the Knotty family in tribute to Andrew.

(updated August 2007)

We also couldn't go on without mentioning the extended Knotty Boy Family.

From our extensive and fabulous team of product manufacturers and developers, to our order packers, graphic designers, web-developers and maintainers, our amazing accounting team, retailers/distributors, screenprinters, tam-crocheters, peyote-sleeve makers ... AND how could we possibly forget you Knotty Kids out there that are always letting us know what you think and suggesting new products you would like to see! If you've ever sent us an email, pictures or artwork, filled out one of our survey forms or just bought some of our lovely stuff, you are most definitely a part of our Knotty Family, too! It's all love, ain't it?

And now you can even meet each other at our new MySpace page! Clicky here!

Thank you, one and all, for the support, help, dedication and love you put into this little company that has been nothing short of a success story from day one. Because of you, and a lot of strength from above, we've survived some of the toughest things we could go through and still come out on top. We most certainly couldn't have done any of this without you!

And just so's ya knows where we are ... the Knotty Boy DreadQuarters is now based in Vancouver , BC , Canada . Yeah, yeah, we miss Salt Spring Island somethin' fierce but the Dreadquarter-move was a smart business decision on our part, as we had REALLY outgrown what we could do from that little island. And I guess that's a good thing, right? So it was back to the big, bad (but more potential-filled) city for Knotty Boy. And now we gots nothing to do but grow, grow, grow! YAY!

For even more insight into what makes Knotty Boy tick, check out our Knotty Boy Values and Vision page here.