Creating An Empire: Matthew Morris Gets Bigger

By Alan Gionet

DENVER (CBS4)- You can't stop a guy like Matthew Morris. His mixture of business sense, timing and genius have all come together to create an empire – and he's only 10 years into it.

Among the successful in Denver's growing business climate is a man who credits a lot of his success to Emily Griffith Technical College.

"Well I think they have a support system that is really awesome for people who have a drive and they just need a tool in order to see their dream through."

Morris is busy going from show to show in New York, Hollywood and Europe these days. He got national attention first with the reality TV show Shear Genius, but stands well-grounded on Broadway, in RiNo and is opening a new salon soon in the Tech Center.

He's also earning a reputation as a good boss, "Basically if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. So why not bring people with you and have some comrades you can share your success with?"

Among his star stylists is Amie Rau. Rau also went to Emily Griffith after growing up homeless part of the time. She heard about Matthew's success. Her teacher told her about a scholarship he was offering.

"And so I wrote an essay and the essay was just about opportunity and what opportunity means to me and my family," Rau said.

Now she is one of the stylists at the 90 chairs in Matthew Morris Salons. Pretty amazing for a guy who just needed a start.

"It was just opportunity after opportunity after opportunity, which was great," said Rau.

Matthew Morris is typically a ball of energy with a whole lot of sayings.

"Luck is what somebody has when they know what to do with an opportunity," Rau parroted.

"Basically if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together," said Morris. "So why not bring people with you and have some comrades you can share your success with?"

He's having a lot of fun.

"Things are good," he said.

Then he was off to create something new with someone. The school uses him as a great example. And it seems like he's only getting started.

Emily Griffith is celebrating 100 years with an exhibit on the fifth floor of the Denver Public Library until the end of the year. It tells the story of the school, the history of instruction in things like cosmetology and many other jobs.

Alan Gionet is anchor of the CBS4 Morning News and reports on a wide variety of issues and "Good Question" stories. He started at CBS4 in 1994. Follow Alan on Twitter @AlanGTV.