(light drum music)
(Electric razorn buzzing)
- I don't try to train what he knows outta him
I just try to add the stuff into what he already knows
because he's already gonna be the best in the profession.
I wanted to open a barber academy
so that I could put more people to work and make sure
that we are promoting education
and a standard of barber as a profession.
(electric razor buzzing)
It was just important for me to make sure
that we have a great business
that we can serve the community with.
- Thank you sir.
- To me, art is my passion.
To me, on a person's head, hair, it's like art.
You do a little masterpiece on 'em.
You make 'em look younger, you make 'em feel better,
I mean, I want to turn frowns into smiles. I like it.
(electric razors buzzing)
- When I was seven years old, my dad cut my hair,
and he sent me to school,
and I had patches all over my head.
So when I got in the classroom,
the teacher told me I had to take off the hat.
So when I took off my hat, everyone in class
started laughing at me.
I ran out of the class, and I went home crying,
and I told my dad that I'm never gonna let him
cut my hair again and he gave me a pair of clippers.
Two years later, I was cutting everybody hair
in the neighborhood.
So tragedy, and I triumphed from it. (laughs)
I'm checking to make sure he's confident
when he's behind that seat.
That his posture is good when he's behind that seat.
And when he's finished that haircut,
how did that haircut look?
I tried to become a drug dealer,
I mean, that didn't last very long.
Before eight months, I had a kingpin charge on me.
God delivered me from that,
and so that's really changed my life
because I had a opportunity to either go
to prison for 25 years, or go to barber school,
and that's how I ended up in barber school.
I had an easy choice.
Go to barber school or prison.
Barber school won. (laughs)
(Piano chords)
This is the mirror that I always display
to kind of tell you the story of my life.
In 2007, when I first started the school,
I came in, and I broke this mirror
and everybody always asks me why didn't I fix this mirror,
and I always say, "This mirror represents me."
Even though I'm not perfect, I'm still effective.
Every time I get in trouble,
or something's happened upstairs,
I come down, and I look at this mirror,
and it reminds me of the process.
Regardless of what's going on,
I can see you, you can see me through this mirror,
and that's what it's meant for.
Serve your purpose.
My family is the most important part of my life.
That's who I do it all for.
One of the requirements in my household was
you find out about God,
you can make your choice about Him after that,
and you get your barber's license.
And for me, as legacy,
if they have God,
and they have a way to provide opportunities
for themselves and others,
then you've got a good start for success.
- I was looking into all the barber shops,
barber schools of Tucson, and TO's,
in particular, Dunbar.
It said, there was a line in there that said,
"You can create your own ministry."
And that really spoke to me, so I was just like,
"I gotta go meet this guy."
Soon as I came here, that was enough for me.
I knew within the first five minutes.
- I consider myself retired now.
By the grace of God, I come to work because I want to,
not because I have to.
I have the best instructors in town.
My school have 40 or 50 students.
I always have a waiting list of 10 or 15 people
that's trying to come in.
So I couldn't see any different
than doing this and retiring.