Monument Valley gets a barber closer to home

By Yee Ha’ólníi Doo
 

MONUMENT VALLEY, Utah

Starwin Holiday was 15 or 16 when he asked his father to buy him a set of hair clippers.

His father had been cutting Holiday’s hair and his brother’s hair at home, usually giving them a bowl cut or a buzz cut. They were getting ready for high school and wanted something with more style.

The clippers his father brought home came with a VHS cassette showing how to cut hair. It became Holiday’s first instruction.

“I would watch that thing all night trying to perfect what was on there,” Holiday said.

He began cutting friends’ hair in high school and continued in college as more people learned he could do it. He did not charge them.

Years later, Holiday is back in Monument Valley, where his business, Fourth World Barbershop & Salon LLC, had its grand opening April 21. Holiday also goes by “Star The Barber.”
The shop is inside Yee Ha’ólníi Doo’s Tsé Bii’ Ndzisgaii Community Center at the Welcome Center Artisan Market.

Holiday is Tł’ízíłání and born for Bit’ahnii. His maternal grandfather is Tódích’íi’nii and his paternal grandfather is Kinłichíi’nii.

He had gone to college to study psychology and sociology. During summers, he stayed with his sister in Cedar City, Utah, and worked construction with her husband. Building houses interested him more than school, and he eventually pursued construction work in other Utah communities.

He continued cutting hair wherever he went, often for free, and improved
his skills with each haircut. By the time he reached Logan, Utah, he was cutting hair more regularly.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Holiday was laid off and began using haircutting to bring in money for his family.

“You should just go to school for this,” Holiday recalled his wife telling him. “I mean, you always enjoy doing it anyway.”

Holiday enrolled at a Paul Mitchell beauty school and attended for about a year and a half. He initially wanted a barber license, but the program required him to complete cosmetology training.

He learned men’s and women’s haircuts, hair coloring, perms and nail services. Holiday said he now holds cosmetology and barbering licenses.

He later joined Boneyard Barbering in Logan, where he spent a little more than two years developing his haircutting and cosmetology skills before returning to Monument Valley.

“I kind of brought all that knowledge back over to the reservation,” Holiday said.

Building Fourth World

Fourth World offers services for men, women and children, including haircuts, shampoo services, braiding, hair coloring and custom hair designs. Holiday said haircuts are $35 for everyone.

Holiday also owns S&S Pro Construction LLC and holds a general contractor license in Utah.

His older sister, Samantha Holiday, the director of the Tsé Bii’ Ndzisgaii Community Center, had been working on the barbershop project before his return.

She said the barbershop developed through a two-year partnership among Yee Ha’ólníi Doo, USDA Rural Development and ashTEC to support small-business development at the community center.

A USDA Rural Business Development Grant helped pay for supplies and business-development work at the center. Samantha Holiday said the work also included helping prospective entrepreneurs understand how to register businesses with Utah and San Juan County, which could make them eligible for other funding.

Samantha Holiday said the shop has a four-year rent abatement period with no fixed monthly rent.

Instead, occupancy costs are based on a percentage of monthly net sales. Utilities, internet and general maintenance are included in the startup agreement, she said.

The plan also called for Starwin Holiday to eventually provide hands-on cosmetology training once the necessary approvals were completed.

“So it’s going to be a barbershop slash cosmetology school,” Samantha Holiday said.

People interested in cosmetology generally would have to leave the area to attend school, she said. The proposed local program would offer another route through supervised training and required hours with a licensed cosmetologist.

“If there’s an individual here who is thinking about that as a career, they can always do this part-time,” Samantha Holiday said. “They put in their hours, and we do have a licensed cosmetologist who is willing to work with them and he’s local to the area.”

The school portion is not open yet because registration and accreditation are still pending.

“It is a process to get it registered and up and going and accredited here,” she said.

“Samantha has been working hard with partners to nurture this USDA Grant project,” said Mary Francis, the interim executive director of Yee Ha’ólníi Doo. “I appreciate how everything has come together.

“When Yee Ha’ólníi Doo’s Tsé Bii’ Ndzisgaii Community Center envisioned services Monument Valley could benefit from, a barbershop was not on our list. But I realize it is essential to any person that walks through the barbershop door,” she added. “A haircut, a new set of nails and a self-care routine can make one feel great about themselves. I’m excited for TBNCC, MV, and Starwin on this new venture.”

Growing the business

The barbershop began taking part in community events soon after opening. Its prom event April 23 and 24 included haircuts and free hot dogs. The shop later ran promotions tied to graduation and the start of the school year.

Samantha Holiday said Fourth World plans to make the back-to-school event an annual offering and provide free or reduced-price haircuts for youth and elders.

Holiday is now trying to hire another barber because his construction business also keeps him busy.

Holiday has watched other businesses open in the area and eventually disappear. He does not want the barbershop to do the same.

“I just kind of appreciate that people would spread around the word,” Holiday said. “That way we’d have a local business that’s always here prospering.

“We’ve got to keep this up and going,” he added.

Appointments can be made at 435-308-9091. Holiday is on Instagram at @star.thebarber. He is working on a Facebook page and website for Fourth World Barbershop & Salon.

This article was published in the Sept. 17, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.

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