Danny "Daniel" MacLean (2004)

Daniel "Danny" MacLean, Class of 2004, now lives in Pennsylvania and runs not one but two successful businesses: a barbershop and a barbecue food truck.

MacLean was always interested in business and entrepreneurship. Attending JMPS and taking Economics from Mr. Batchelder further inspired him.

“I remember that Mr. Batchelder had opened a toy store and sold it. I always just thought that was the coolest thing that he built businesses and then sold them. The idea of having a business was really exciting to me.”

It’s no surprise then that Mr. Batchelder’s Economics class felt like a toy store to MacLean. He and another student, Seth Hermes (Class of 2004), also did an independent study class in Business.

“Mr. Batchelder gave us a wholesale catalog and we started a business selling bowling shirts for bowling teams,” MacLean says. 

But MacLean soon realized the problem with this: “It was a cool idea, but I don’t have a passion for bowling shirts…I didn’t realize how challenging running a business could be. I just wanted to have a business to not have to work for somebody. But if you’re going to run a business, you have to be passionate about what you do. You have to love it and that has to be all you think about, otherwise you’re going to fail.”

After high school MacLean started another business picking up dog poop, something for which he also lacked passion. What did he soon realize he had a passion for? Working as a barber. 

The Front Porch Barbershop

MacLean opened The Front Porch Barbershop in February 2015, just after graduating from the Fortis Institute in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is named for MacLean’s habit of cutting hair on his front porch during barber school. 

Years ago, MacLean says he had “read an article on The Art of Manliness blog about barbers and thought it was cool. I remember looking to my roommate saying, ‘It’d be cool to be a barber.’ He said, ‘Huh, yeah,’ and that’s where it ended.”

MacLean worked at Lowe’s, receiving trucks for eight years. During this time he also worked at Starbucks with the idea of starting his own coffee shop. Ultimately, he decided a coffee shop was too big an investment. Instead, he quit his job to start his dog poop-scooping business, Mercer County Minesweeper.

When it became clear that Mercer County Minesweeper wasn’t going to thrive, “barbering just popped back into my head,” he says. 

Barbering turned out to be as cool as MacLean had hoped. 

"I love going to work every day," MacLean says. "I meet so many people, and I get to make them look and feel great...If you're going to have a business, there's got to be passion."

Today The Front Porch Barbershop employs three people, including MacLean himself.  Next week he's meeting with another potential apprentice.

The Front Porch gets excellent reviews on Google. One customer writes, “I love the atmosphere, the conversation, and the haircut.” Another reviewer says, “Best place in town for men’s haircuts.”

For JMPS alumni or faculty who make it out to Greenville, Penn., MacLean offers a 50% discount.

The Naked Pig Barbecue Company

One business seems to lead naturally into another for MacLean. While looking for a grill for a Front Porch Barbershop event, he had a friend call to tell him about one on sale at Walmart. 

“I told him to just get it and I’d pay for it,” MacLean says. “It was a smoker though. So I decided to learn how to smoke meat and I loved it.” 

Originally from Tennessee, MacLean had experienced the barbecue culture firsthand as a kid, so it was a natural fit.

“Barbecuing came pretty easily to me,” MacLean says. “I am constantly learning new things. I’ve actually travelled all over to meet and learn from great pitmasters."

In 2018 MacLean and his wife Krystle opened The Naked Pig Barbecue Co, a “traditonal, old-fashioned, wood-smoked barbecue” food truck.

They cater weddings and other events, though they’ve decided to scale back their catering schedule this summer to spend more time together and on other pursuits. 

"Alas," MacLean says. "I don’t like the hours of the restaurant business, so we just do occasional food truck catering events."

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Recalling the start of JMPS

MacLean’s first day of his freshman year of high school was also the first day of James Madison Preparatory School: August 30, 2000.

MacLean had gone to D.W. Higgins Charter School for seventh and eighth grade and was all set to transfer to Dobson High School, which was “a giant school,” MacLean says. “It freaked me out.”

And then one day his school handed out brochures about JMPS. MacLean immediately wanted to attend.

“This was back when JMPS was just getting started,” MacLean recalls. “That was when Tempe Prep was still on our campus. In my interview,  Mr. B. and Mr. Batchelder introduced themselves as Dave and Steve…on the first day of school they had to say, ‘You should probably not call us by our first names.’ ”

MacLean remembers his first meeting with them, during which Mr. B. looked at the logo on MacLean's shirt and said, “Did they pay you to advertise for them? Did they pay you to wear that?”

MacLean says this always stuck in his mind and changed the way he thinks about things.

Influence of JMPS

MacLean recalls that JMPS was “not just about education but also character development. The quality of people who left that school weren’t just educated but good people who do good in their communities and want to do better for the larger community.” 

He recalls the teachers as having “poured into us more than just education.”

Although MacLean describes himself as more of a hands-on person than a classroom person, he still submitted an essay from English class to a contest by the Williams Institute for Ethics. His entry won.

Remembering Dr. Wengert

Like many students, MacLean recalls the deep impact that Dr. Wengert, or Doc, made on him.

“That man was a saint,” MacLean says. “I also hated science classes…I was always terrible in chemistry. In my senior year I took physics as an elective, not because I wanted to take physics but because it got me time in Doc’s class.” 

MacLean was flunking when Doc pulled him aside and asked him, “Why are you taking my class?” 

When MacLean explained his reasoning, Doc replied, “Why don’t you drop the class, and you can come hang out with me anytime?” 

After that MacLean would pop in at lunch or go talk to Dr. Wengert on his free period. 

“He was a good role model for me,” MacLean says. “He was always there to talk and give good advice about my personal life...I remember he always called you by your last name. He always called me 'Mr. MacLean.' And he always seemed so gruff, but he wasn’t.”

MacLean recalls one day when a new kid started talking back to Doc: “Doc didn’t even have to say anything because all of us at once just said, ‘No, you don’t disrespect Doc.’ ”

In 2006, Dr. Wengert passed away suddenly due to cancer. MacLean had just moved to Pennsylvania with his family and was unable to return for his celebration of life, but he remains forever grateful for the role Doc played in his life.

Advice for Today’s Students

MacLean has a bit of advice for current students: 

“College is good, but it’s over-emphasized. We need thinkers, yes, but we also need laborers, creators, et cetera. There’s no shame in learning a trade, or two, or ten,” MacLean says.

“I always used to think you were a bum if you didn’t have a degree. I didn’t want to be a low-life construction worker or something. But I grew out of that. And if I weren’t in business, I think I’d love being a construction worker!”