By Nedra Rhone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There is a hair emergency happening at Muse Salon. At 9 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, co-owner/stylist Daniel Jones is hard at work fixing a color disaster. Five other clients are also awaiting his services, but Jones, thanks to the support of several assistants, is unflappable.

Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com David Jones, the owner of Muse salon, gives a dry layered haircut to Michelle Bergman of Alpharetta. Bravo's "Shear Genius" debuts on Tuesday without Jones, who declined a spot on the reality show in order to keep his focus on his growing business.

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Opening Muse Salon, a 34-chair salon in Alpharetta was something of a dream for Jones, but not one of those lifelong dreams. Yes, he came this close to appearing on Bravo's hairstylist reality series "Shear Genius," which debuted last week and airs each Wednesday, but he was so not the kid running around styling mom's hair. Growing up in a conservative Apostolic home in Easley, S.C., all the women wore their hair in buns, he said. Instead, it was his grandma's death that led him to his first career of choice -- as an undertaker.

"I always joke and say I still wear black," said Jones, dressed in black pants and a black shirt. When he was a young boy, he would line up his Hot Wheels cars and play funeral procession. At age 14, he volunteered at a nearby funeral home where he vacuumed flower petals and licked envelopes until he turned 16 and was hired. Three years later, he moved to Atlanta to study mortuary science at Gupton Jones School of Funeral Services, but he wasn't prepared for the long hours.

One week, after spending an entire night embalming, Jones decided it was time for something new. "I realized my dead people were looking really good," he said. He later spotted an ad in the newspaper for an apprenticeship at a salon in Marietta. The salon owner also owned the former Capelli Learning Center for Cosmetology where Jones studied before landing a gig at Carter Barnes.

"I got into hair because I heard you could make a lot of money," Jones said. He stayed in hair because he enjoyed making clients happy. "There is nothing like the energy you find in a hair salon," he said.

Almost five years ago, Jones and Jody Mason, his partner in business and life, decided to make a little salon energy of their own. Muse, a 6,000-square-foot facility, which was expanded about three years ago, includes 34 stylist chairs and a spa with three treatment rooms. The salon has a waiting list of more than two dozen stylists hoping to train in the Muse way. "ETF" or Earn The Right, encourages Muse stylists to work hard retaining clients and providing impeccable customer service, Jones said. In return, employees are treated to regular salon visits from top stylists, as well as trips to Europe to train with world renown stylists.

The salon has raised its national profile recently as a shooting location for "The Joneses" a soon-to-be-released film starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny. But when it came to his own shot at fame, Jones decided it wasn't for him. Last spring during a trip to Chicago, he happened upon auditions for Bravo's Shear Genius. "I had just said I need a reality show and there we were, walking and saw the sign for auditions. People make fun of me because everything I ask for I get," Jones said. He waited in line surrounded by stylists carrying mannequins and other hairstyling tools. When it was his turn to face the casting crew, he was empty-handed. They told him to come back when he had something to show them.

He ran to the hair show taking place nearby, bought a mannequin and cheap scissors and raced back only to learn they wanted him to cut an inverted bob, his signature cut. The mannequin's hair was ill–suited for the style, so Jones stopped a woman on the street, introduced himself and asked if he could cut her long hair into a bob. She agreed. He did the cut again and the judges decided he had skills.

By the time he reached the third interview and learned he would have to take six weeks off for filming, as well as sign a massive confidentiality agreement, fame had lost its lure. "I didn't want to leave my clients that long," Jones said. So he stayed put in Alpharetta and focused on growing his business, adding more than 40 new clients a week to the salon roster last year. This year, that goal is even higher, particularly since he has got his eye on a new salon space, but first, there's that color emergency to handle and Jones is off  – a flurry of black in a sea of golden blond and brown locks.