Bria Reddick is a global educator for andis a member of the salon centric it takes a pro team.

She's a mother, a wife, a suite owner, and a philanthropist.

Today we're going to hear her story, how she got to where she is and all the lessons that she learned along the way.

Welcome back to the Hairdresser Strong show.

My name is Robert Hughes, and I am your host.

And today I'm with Bria Reddick.

How you doing today, Brea?

I'm doing well.

How are you?

So excited to be here with you today.

I am, too.

I'm good.

Thank you for asking.

So for all the people listening and watching, we had a chance to meet Bria at Beauty Gives Back.

And we had did a little mini interview asking, you know, why you're there.

And I got to hear a little bit about your story.

And from what I heard, I love the way you talked about the industry.

And I found you.

I, you know, certain people, certain speak a certain way that moves.

And so I'm excited to have you you on the show today to share your story.

So thank you so much.

No problem.

I'm excited to be here.

Awesome.

Okay, so why don't we just, like, jump right in and find out?

Like, did you do an apprenticeship?

Did you go to school?

How'd you break into the industry?

I actually, I went to school.

The barber college I went to was called Roffler Molar hairstyling College, located here in Marietta, Georgia.

I kind of got into it.

Not this.

This was kind of like a backup plan for me.

I'm originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, and I moved.

I had lost my job there, and because of the recession that was happening back in 2009.

And when I lost my job, I was talking to one of my friends, and she was like, why don't you go to barber school?

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, why don't you go to barber school?

So I was like, you know what?

This may be a good idea.

Had never picked up a pair of clippers before that.

Always loved the camaraderie in a barbershop.

When I would take my son at that time, he was six.

And so I would just love the kamari at the barbershop.

So I always like, okay, this could.

This may be something.

So I ended up moving down to Atlanta, actually.

And then I signed up for barber school and absolutely just fell in love with it.

Really realizing very quickly if I wanted to build up a clientele, I'm going to actually have to take this A little.

Seriously.

Right.

So I went to barber school full time and it was a blessing for me to be able to go full time because a lot of, you know, people don't get the opportunity to go full time.

A lot of people are working and going to barber school because they have families and whatnot.

At that time, I was living with my grandmother and so she was like, the only bill you have to pay is just like this water bill, which is like 50 bucks, you know what I'm saying?

And then she was like, you just focus on school.

So that for me was a huge blessing being a full time mom.

And at that time, and so went to school, started In August of 2009, graduated of October 2010, I started working in a barber shop though around, I say around, like the end of August.

I would go in after I would leave school and the bar.

The, the owner at the time, I wouldn't suggest this for people, but the owner at the time, he would allow me to cut, you know, because at that time, after 5:00, we know state board's not coming by just being honest, right?

We know.

We don't, we don't stay.

We don't stay.

War is not coming in the, in the shop after 5:00.

So he was like, hey, you can come in.

Just make sure it's after five.

And I would go to the barbershop from about lose, like from about five to nine some days.

And once I did graduate, then I started working in that barbershop full time.

So, yeah, that's how I got started in the industry.

Nice, nice.

So, so at the shop you were at, did they do any sort of like training or they just kind of gave you a client and said, go for it.

They gave me a client and said, go for it.

I have, I wish I could show pictures, but I.

When I first started out, my haircuts were terrible.

Terrible.

And that's why I tell my like, you know, people that I mentor and things like that, you know, practice makes permanent.

And so what you continue to do is what you're going to, you know, that's what is going to end up showing up.

Right?

And so I just continue just to practice.

I was constantly, always like on YouTube.

I was really big on YouTube because the barbers that I would see on Instagram, this is before Instagram is like how it is now.

You know, we talk in 2009, 2010, y'all, so, you know, it's a little different than how it looks now.

And so some of these barbers which.

That I looked up to.

I would really just study their work.

I was like, obsessed with it, right?

Because it's like, you know, I have to.

I see these different techniques.

And so I was constantly, like, at hair shows, I was constantly, like I said on YouTube, constantly just watching, getting different techniques.

So, yeah, they just kind of threw me in there.

I remember one time the.

Which is actually my best haircut now, which is a ball fade before.

It took me over, like, an hour and a half, I think, on my first ball fade in a barbershop.

I'm grateful that the client was very, very patient with me.

But it took me a while, like, because I would just continually put lines in the head and just see to put lines on the head.

Didn't understand exactly how to get them out at the time, but it was an amazing learning experience.

But, yeah, they kind of just threw me in there.

So.

Yeah, that's funny.

So, you know, there are.

There are a lot of students I talk to that they just want to, like, get with.

They just want to be behind the chair with a client in front of them.

And a lot of salon owners are like, well, they got to, like.

They got to, like, work on it.

You know, I gotta see them work on people.

Do some models or something first or.

So is it, you know, just to kind of bridge.

Bridge the two?

Is it like that in barber shops, or is it pretty standard to, like, go ahead and jump on in?

Like, what is a standard practice, to your knowledge?

Well, to my knowledge also, that shop that I started in, I did not leave up until about four years ago.

So I was there.

I've been.

I was at that shop that whole time.

And I also became the manager of that shop.

I had a staff of 12, so I would also hire and fire, fortunately, but we were all.

I would also hire.

And so something that we did do.

I do think the culture of a barbershop may be a little different than in a beauty salon.

And I think the reason being is because I'm not really sure on why that is.

I know that for.

With barbering, I'm just being transparent.

With barbers, we don't.

We're not like, hey, you need to cut a model first to be able to cut here.

That wasn't really what we did.

It was like, show me some pictures of your work.

And I can see that, you know, pretty much the basics, me being the manager there.

I would help them, though, if they had, you know, we would let the client know, though.

We were.

We were not throw the Client in there, I think it's more of us not throwing the client, you know what I'm saying?

With someone who, you know what I mean, that may not have their license, because, of course, you know, that can get some backlash with that.

You know, different things like that.

So we would inform the client, like, hey, if they were open to it, if they weren't, then, you know, they would maybe go.

Someone that's a little bit more seasoned.

But I definitely feel like it's a little different in the beauty salon compared to the barbershop, because we would.

If I could see the potential.

And a lot of times I did, I was like, oh, that's just a minor.

You know what I'm saying?

This is just literally you taking it to an.

Opening it.

Opening the two to get that line out, you know what I mean?

Little simple things compared to doing a whole full head of highlights, you know what I'm saying?

Working with chemicals.

So I think I definitely feel like it is a little.

It is a little different compared to, you know, the beauty salon bringing somebody and then a barbershop bringing somebody in.

Can I answer that?

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great.

Okay.

So.

All right.

So you said that you.

You worked there a long time and.

And you manage the salon like one.

Did you have ambitions in business?

Did you just kind of get offered?

Did you ask for the.

For the management?

Like, how did that happen?

So that happened because we had the manager that was there before he ended up going to another shop.

I definitely felt like it was really just the work ethic, I think that the owners saw because the owner asked me that I want to become a manager there.

And I definitely felt like that's.

That's huge.

Even though it's a barbershop and I was booth rent, you just never know who's watching.

You never know the opportunities that may come from that.

And so I really feel like the owner just saw something.

To me, maybe that at that time, I didn't see it myself because I didn't feel very strong in being a leader.

I did not feel like I was a leader at the time.

I definitely feel that that is something that you have to have a little bit.

A little bit of backbone for, because I don't like telling people really like what to do.

And I don't like people like.

You know, I like to.

I like to keep it just, you know, easy.

I don't like getting on people's bad side or whatever.

And then a lot of times with managing, you have to, like, I Said, you do the hiring, but you also have to do letting go at times.

Um, and so for me, it was something that I feel like the owner saw in me that I didn't see in myself at that time.

I kind of grew into that role, if that makes sense.

Um.

Um.

So, yeah, he had asked me about that, and I was like, okay, this is.

I can do this.

You know?

Um, at that time, it was super like, hey, make sure, you know, the shop is open, the shop is closed.

Um, making sure that.

Because at that time, we were very structured.

Like, we had to wear uniforms in this particular shop.

We had a cleanup list, meaning we had a barber.

You know, the barber's names, and they had to either clean, like, you know, sweep the floor bathrooms, you know, wash the towel.

Like, just different things like that.

And so it was more of that aspect of me just, like, really just, like I said, growing into that role.

But I was asked to do that, and it was definitely.

It told me what I did and what I did not want, though, actually.

And when I say that, it told me that after being on that side of it and the manager side of it, that for me, my ultimate goal.

A lot of people like, oh, do you want to own a barbershop?

I don't.

I don't have a desire to do that.

And that was.

But that's for me, you know what I'm saying?

A lot of people, they.

They love, you know, owning the barbershop and different things like that.

I think for me, though, I learned what it is that I wanted to do and what it is that I didn't want to do long term as well.

Okay, so that's good.

So what?

One question that I know one of our.

Our Cosmos students or.

Or.

Or.

Or newer stylists is probably asking, did you get paid for being the manager?

I did get paid because I didn't have to pay Boofran.

Oh, nice.

So, yeah, that's a pretty good deal.

Yeah, it was great.

I can't.

I can't lie, man.

It was great.

You know, everything I.

I didn't have to pay boof, so everything I making, I was taking home.

Nice.

So that was a.

That was a blessing.

Yeah.

It did not start off that way.

He was like, at first, I only had to pay 50 of my boof rent, and then we worked it to where I didn't have to pay anything.

So, yeah, so that was.

That was definitely a benefit from it.

Okay, cool.

So you got the experience, and you got a financial incentive.

So the experience.

This.

These Things you knew you didn't want to do and knew you did.

So can you elaborate on that?

Like, what did that help you?

Oh, and the other thing is, how long were you a manager for at that time?

I was there.

I got there in 2010.

I became a manager in 2014.

So 14, 2004.

I left there four years ago.

What was that?

2020.

Yeah.

So from 2014 and 2020, so six years.

Yeah.

So you had some serious managerial experience right there.

Okay, so what does that teach you that you liked or didn't like?

What I love about the barbershop, again, is the camaraderie.

What I don't like is I felt like I was doing more of babysitting later on.

When I first started, it was really cool because I feel like you have a team and we had meetings and so they knew the guidelines.

And so these are.

This is what you have to do.

Very simple stuff, Right?

But then also people are going to want to go against the grain.

And I think sometimes it's also a little harder sometimes because these people are also your friends, right?

You built these, you built these relationships with these people outside of work.

I hang out with some of these people.

So you have to draw a line sometimes, right?

And sometimes you have to tell your friends, like, hey, bro, like, why are you not paying your boof rent?

What's going on?

You know what I'm saying?

So sometimes I'm getting on them about stuff like that.

And then also you hire people and then they just leave, right?

Because when you're in a barber shop, you're paying booth rent.

That particular barber is paying booth rent.

They could choose to not pay their booth rent that week, leave.

And you kind of just.

Just to be honest, Sol.

Right.

So, you know, I thought for myself, I was like.

And then I moved to a suite and I'm like, hey, and when you're in a suite, you're under a contract, right?

People with suites, they're a little bit more serious.

You have to, you know, when you're in a suite, it's like you already have that clientele.

So for me, like I said, the long term goal is for me to own my own salon suites.

Over me owning a barber shop, I just felt like the things I was dealing with as a manager at the barbershop, as an owner, I would not want to deal with some of those things.

Whereas too, with the suite being in the suite, like I said, you have.

The person usually has clientele, they're signing an actual contract as far as them Being there for a year or more, you have.

You build a team as far as, like, maintenance and different things like that, they could just, like, send the email.

That's kind of.

That's how ours work.

So it was like, for me, I'm like, okay, I see the.

I love the camaraderie.

I love this over here.

But then at the same time, I felt like I was really outgrowing over here, because now I started getting brand deals, and then when I started getting brand deals, I can't do a live with 12 people behind me.

Right.

I can't do certain things, talk about products, and, you know, when I'm inside of a barbershop, the noise, the different things like that.

Whereas to now, it was like, I felt like somewhat like a shark in a fish tank.

It was like I was outgrowing that space.

And so when the brand deals and different things started happening, I was like, yeah, it just started to be like, I just wasn't enjoying going to the barbershop anymore.

And so that's why I end up moving over now into the suite side.

So, yeah, so that was a little bit on how that happened myself.

Gotcha.

Well, I feel like.

I feel like I'm not gonna derail too much of our conversation because I kind of want to go into.

I'd love to dig into this.

Like, you know, why?

I guess I'm just gonna do it.

Why?

Sweet.

Why does a suite, in your opinion, seem to, like.

Because in my head, you know, and I've never worked in a booth rent rental situation.

I mean, I.

I shouldn't say that.

I.

I work in an independent.

Like, a bunch of independent stylists working together, and it's challenging.

And.

And so, like, I feel you on that one, but.

Right, but.

And they're like, my.

Were my co workers, and now that.

And now I'm a manager.

And, like, that's tough.

Yeah, that's tough.

And because, like, I'm just trying to do a good job.

And I'm trying to make sure that the customer experience is solid across the board.

And our biggest issue is that, you know, different people kind of start slacking in different areas.

And after a while, the customer experience for everybody falls apart.

Because, like, if one person's doing one thing, another person's doing another thing, they're like, oh, that's not that big a deal.

Oh, that's not that big a deal.

Or, I did this because.

Because of this.

Doesn't that make sense to you?

And it's like, there are rules.

They're Black and white.

Yeah.

No, and that's something that literally, I think.

And I think that's another thing too.

You know, you have.

You're dealing with different personalities.

And I feel like, for me, I look at this as a career.

I don't look at this as a hustle, right?

And so I move that way, you know what I mean?

In my work, in my daily, like, I'm getting there.

7am you're every 30 minutes.

It's like, you know, clockwork.

And you have people in there, they just.

Oh, like, oh, this is just, you know, this is just a hustle.

This is for me to make quick money, like, you know, and so it's totally Two.

Totally different.

We're on two totally different levels, right?

And not.

I'm not saying I'm not better than anybody because not.

Not that when I say levels.

I'm just saying, like, you know, I'm looking at it from, like, I say, a career perspective.

I'm filing my taxes, right?

Because when Covid happened, you know, I'm gonna.

I am gonna say that when Covet happened, a lot of barbers really saw what that was like.

Are you really taking it seriously?

Because I was grateful that I was able to get unemployment, but I also found my taxes.

Do you get what I'm saying?

It's like, we people, like, they're like, oh, just the cash and doing it underneath the table and stuff.

But it's like, no, set yourself up for success.

So it's just like.

You're right.

It'd be like sometimes it's just like two totally different mind frames sometimes, and just how people look at it, you know, and how they move in their business.

And you can definitely clash sometimes, because sometimes I feel like you just.

You want more for them sometimes than people want for themselves.

You know what I mean?

Thousand percent.

So it's like, you know, it's like, I'm trying to help you as a man.

You know what I mean?

I'm trying to put you on to.

You know, I guess you could say I'm trying to put you on game, but it's like, you know, you have to want that too, and you can't make somebody want that for.

For themselves.

So.

But yeah, so I completely agree with you on that.

Yeah.

So I.

I have a question, though.

What do you think?

And I.

I don't know the answer to this, but, like, do the walls really make that big of a difference?

I guess is kind of where I'm going with that.

Like, at the end.

At the End of my point that I'm trying to.

I'm trying to get to.

I don't think I'm like, articulate.

I'm not going to be able to articulate as good.

But, like, comparing, like, booth rental to suites, like, do the walls that separate make that big of a difference?

Like, in terms of, like, what you'd have to deal with as that business owner?

I guess the personalities don't kind of clash as much.

I mean, I guess in the hallway they might, but, like.

Yeah, but I guess, I mean, I don't know.

What are your thoughts when I say that?

For me, are the walls that big of a difference?

Yes, the walls are that big of a difference.

I.

And I'm going to say that because it's like in my suite, I have a lot of the energy, right?

So what I.

So what I have in my suite in my space is different than what my neighbor may have in their space.

You know what I'm saying?

You're with Sweets.

It's you.

It's all of you.

It's your personality.

You're.

You're designing it the way that you want to, right?

You're doing all of that.

So it is very different compared to.

At a barbershop.

I'm playing music, but everybody's hearing it.

Do you get what I'm saying?

I have to be mindful.

I can play, you know, some hip hop when I have one of my clients in here, but I can't play that.

Maybe that same hip hop or that particular person if I'm in a barbershop being mindful because I got kids in here.

You get what I'm saying?

Or the tv, The TV is on and I may have it on sports in the barber shop.

Whereas to when I'm inside of my suite, I may not have the TV on at all.

I might just have music on.

You know what I'm saying?

It's a.

It is.

It's a huge difference.

Because I feel like in suites, you make it your own.

When you're in a barber shop, you're kind of going with the environment of what everybody else wants, right?

Or whatever that manager wants.

Because for me, I'll be mindful of the music, right?

I'm mindful of what's on on tv.

I've had issues where I had bet on because I was playing like a show like Martin, right?

And a parent didn't want that on, right?

Whereas too, if I go to my suite, the majority of time, I'm kind of adjusting to what whoever is Coming into my space.

Does that make sense?

So I, I definitely feel like it is, it is a difference because in a barbershop it is kind of whatever that manager or whatever that owner wants.

Whereas who in the suite is what you want because you're making it your own.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So managing the people get.

Becomes so much different because you don't have to deal with, you know, because I always notice in the salon there's always one person who feels like they should be busier.

Yeah.

And they start finding things to complain about and.

And then feels like it's a rotating like position, you know.

Yeah.

You know, it's so funny because you have that one.

You.

I think every barber shop or salon has that one person.

Right.

That.

That's going to give you probably that hard time that's gonna.

You know what I'm saying?

We.

We've.

I'm pretty sure.

Okay.

All right, so let's go now.

Let's go over to.

You said that you started getting.

Tell us about like what that it sounds like based on your story and correct me if I'm wrong, that you started getting brand deals while you were managing the barbershop.

Yes.

Tell us a little bit about like what that was, like how that happened, et cetera.

Absolutely.

So it started back and I was posting as a.

A product company called Baxter California and they were actually sold at Salon Centric.

And I ended up getting with the rep and I started stocking up products in my.

In the barbershop because also in barber shops, African American barber shops, to be just very particular.

They don't sell product.

That was something that was a lane that I saw that wasn't that no one was in.

And so I started selling product.

And when I started doing that, I also would post.

I post a lot on social media.

I would just hashtag the brand wasn't really, you know what I'm saying?

Just.

Just naturally just start hashtagging the brand.

And what happened was it was a little bit right after Covet, during actually during COVID I had.

I got a dm.

His name was Nathan and he was their head of education at the time.

And he reached out to me.

He was like, oh my God, I love the fact like you are using these products on all different types of hair.

Like, you know, this is amazing.

Like you're.

You're doing something that a lot of people aren't doing.

Like you're using on everybody.

And we love that.

Would you.

He.

He's like, can we do a call?

And I was like, Absolutely.

And he said, would you want to be on our team?

I didn't even know what that looked like at the time because I had never even had the opportunity.

I was just so excited because I was like, oh, my gosh.

Like, this is so dope.

Like, right?

And.

But it really started with me just taking the initiative.

Not anyone, like, saying this, not a brand person telling me this.

It was really just me taking the initiative to start using it and hashtagging it.

That's why I tell people all the time.

I tell, like, my mentees and stuff.

I'm like, hey, if there's a company or a brand or someone that you want to work with, show them before they even see that you actually use their tool, that you use their product.

Because that's what they're looking for, right?

That's exactly what they're looking for.

And so we, him and I, we had a conversation after that.

I ended up signing with them with Bachelor California, and then I ended up doing a live.

I ended up doing a live for Baxter California on a Facebook live for Salon Centric, though.

So it was through Salon center, but also with Baxter, and after that live.

The lady, the head of education for It Takes a Protein at that time, Maria, she had told me that they were looking for another barber to be on their team in January of 21, 2019.

No, 2020.

I'm sorry, 2020.

That they were looking to sign someone else.

And so I was like, absolutely.

And I didn't even know what that looked like.

But then I ended up doing.

Being on the It Takes a Protein, been with them since.

Since 2020.

And it's.

And they actually pay me monthly to post for them.

So that was another stream of income.

And then recently, last year, beginning of last year, I ended up signing with Andis.

The way I ended up getting with Andis was because John Mosley, he's also with Andy's, and he was actually on our It Takes a Pro team as well.

He was like, hey.

He was like, you ever thought about just, like, being on a clipper company?

Like, do y'all.

Do you use us?

And I was like, yeah.

And he was like, you have to meet Angie.

Small world, though.

I had already met Angie before COVID I was actually doing a contest here.

I was doing a hair replacement service, the hair replacement units for the.

With the.

With the synthetic hair that a lot of men are doing now with the hair replacement.

I.

I competed in this competition, and I was the only barber that was using Andis.

And she was there and it was so crazy because we had already talked through DM Covet happened and then we didn't talk.

And so when we did, you know, reconnect, she was like, oh my gosh.

Like, this was so meant to be.

Like, because we had already talked, we had already spoken like a year or so before.

And so it just kind of all came together.

So, yeah, that's how I ended up getting a brand deal.

Yeah.

Nice.

Nice.

Cool.

So.

So it sounds like, it sounds like you were kind of putting yourself out there into the world by participating in competitions and hosting and being in places and then reconnecting with people.

I love that when that's a part of the story, I get so excited because I feel like that's part of most stories, but they doesn't come out so explicit.

So that's awesome.

If a person who is listening or watching is thinking, well, I love this.

And it's like, I hear a lot of people and especially in school being like, I want to go straight into a suite after school.

My typical advice is, I don't think that's a good idea.

What do you think?

It's not.

Okay, I agree, I completely agree with you.

That is not a good idea.

And can you tell us why?

And I'm going to say that because if you are in a salon suite, there is no walk in traffic.

When you go to either a salon or if you go to a barber shop.

A lot of them, they will do commission that I, you have.

That's a, that's a fine line too, because commission depending on how much they're taking.

Right.

That could, you know, that can be a little.

Because I was, I did commission for a little bit and I didn't like it because I feel like they were, they were taking a nice bit when I first started.

So I kind of would have rather just do the cap of.

You're paying 150 a week.

This is what it is.

It's not based off of what you're bringing in.

Because let's say, hey, this particular day you may have a great week.

You bring in over 100 clients.

You paying way more than what that, what that booth rent is.

Right?

And so I would definitely say, yes, go to a, go to a barbershop, definitely build up your clientele first.

Get your clientele and then go to a suite.

You just, you're, you're taking a huge risk.

I think when you go to a suite, if you don't have clientele, because also a lot of, again, a lot of suites, you're Signing contracts.

And therefore, if you try to leave, you know what I mean?

You.

You may not be able to.

Or maybe, like, something with that.

It may be a little harder for you just to be able.

Just to leave.

Like.

And so I would definitely say, please, please, please, definitely go to a salon first.

Definitely go to a barbershop first.

Definitely build up that clientele first.

And then, you know, and make sure that that's solid.

Make sure that you are booked up.

Like, do not make that transition until you are.

I'm talking about so booked up.

Like, now you're having to raise your prices so that you're losing people.

Right.

Because a lot of times we'll think, like, oh, you know, but no one likes change, including clients.

I can move across the street.

Really?

I literally can move.

Like, I could move across the street and somebody won't come for the simple fact of they, like the camaraderie over here or they like the fact that people are very.

With change.

People don't like change.

So no matter where you go, you're going to probably lose somebody.

And I'm just being honest.

You're right.

And so definitely, definitely, definitely I'm gonna say definitely go to a barber shop or salon first before going to a suite.

So my.

Yeah, I.

Based on my understanding there, you're gonna lose, like, 20 to.

On.

Yeah.

On average.

And that's just from talking to people.

That's not like, you know, maybe there's an actual number.

Harder number than that.

I.

I was talking to someone.

They're like, Well, I kept 90%.

I was like, I don't think that we should, like, advise anyone on 90.

I think 80% retention is high.

But, like, I would say prepare to lose at minimum, 20, 25% minimum.

And I moved.

I moved one block, and I lost percent of my clients.

See, one block.

One block.

You know what I mean?

Exactly.

That's a walking block, not a big New York block.

Like.

Yes.

Like a tiny little block.

Yep.

People do not like change.

And it will be for the.

Some of the smallest reasons, but, yeah, for sure.

I say, if possible, go to a suite.

I mean, not a suite.

Go to a salon first or barbershop.

So I love how you said, though, go to, you know, when you get to the shop or the salon, make sure that you're so busy that in order to bring in more people, you have to raise your prices.

Some people fall off and make room for new people, and that is the earliest you should be going independent.

And I think.

I love that.

I've Never heard anyone say that.

And that's like such a good.

Nice.

I'm gonna steal that.

I'm gonna totally use that.

Yeah, let's talk to students, please.

And actually, I'm gonna say you said it, you know, so they can go check you out.

Yeah, for sure.

I appreciate it.

Okay, so.

All right, so this is good.

So, you know, in the, in the intro, we.

We introduced you as a mother, a wife, and a philanthropist on top of these things that we've talked about.

And so would you tell us, like, how many children do you have?

Anything about that you'd like to share?

And then you're.

And also anything about yourself that you, you know, whatever you're interested in to share.

And then all.

And then I would like to talk about what type of philanthropy you do and how you got into that.

Yeah, for sure.

I'm.

I want to share.

I'm.

I'm.

I'm 37, but my son, he's now 21.

I had my son when I was 16.

I'm saying this because a lot of times, it's just we have a lot of single moms.

We have a lot of moms out here in this career.

And I'm sharing that because anything you want, you can have it.

And I think that, you know, it is going to be rough.

It's not easy at times.

I did marry my wife.

We got married last year, February 15th.

So.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And so she has two kids, so I have two bonus babies.

So total, I have three children, if you want to count my dog, because dogs are kids, right?

But I have a dog as well.

But yeah, so I'm a mom and I.

And I definitely.

And, And a wife and a friend and just, just everything.

But I have to say balance, right?

Balance is definitely key in this industry and just being very intentional, you know, I think I'm really big on self care, really big on spending time with family.

Because sometimes we get so caught up in the.

Especially in the beginning, we're grinding, right?

We're trying to build that clientele, we're building all that up.

And so I felt like in the beginning I missed out on a lot.

My son, his name is Jeremiah.

He's now, he goes.

He's in college as well.

He goes to Morehouse.

So I'm super excited about that.

But he's a senior at Morehouse now.

He's doing amazing.

But something that I, I did.

I do feel like it's like in the beginning, while I was grinding, while I'm trying to build A career.

I did miss out on some things.

I did miss out on some, some, some things in the beginning.

But the reason I did get into this was so that I could be present later on in the beginning.

It was a sacrifice.

A little bit.

Not even a little bit.

It was a sacrifice.

It's not little, nothing little about it.

It was, it was definitely a sacrifice.

And I have, I thank God for my village, you know, my family that definitely helped me to get to where I am today, but it's definitely worth it.

And I know I see so many people right now.

I don't know if it's because of the economy, I don't know if just what's going on, but a lot of barbers and stylists are, some of them are leaving from behind a chair, you know, and I know that it can get rough, but I'm telling you, if you, whatever you put into it is what you're going to get out of it, you know.

And yeah, and so I'm just so grateful.

I'm grateful for my family.

I'm grateful for, you know, like I said, having the, the support that I do have moving into a city where it was just my grandmother here and then I believe it was like three years after I was here, she left.

So it was just me and my son here.

And I.

A firm believer that God puts people into your life.

You know what I'm saying?

Like friends that became family, clients that became family.

And, and, but just stick with it.

You know, it's not going to be easy.

You're going to go through things, right?

You're going to go through.

But I feel like if you have that determination, you have that consistency, you have those, you have integrity, right?

Because a lot of times I know that and what I've seen is in this particular industry is such a fulfilling industry, is so fulfilling.

And so yeah, I just say to stick with it.

But yeah, I just.

To give you a little background about myself like as far as my children and my wife and everything.

And so yeah, and as far as the philanthropy part, I have, I, It's a, it's a non profit called A Different Cut.

And what we do is, what we were doing was we would do haircuts for children with autism on the spectrum.

And we would do this quarterly, so four times out the year we would do a pop up at either my barbershop that I was at or another barbershop that may be in Atlanta.

We were trying to do it at different shops or different beauty salons each time we had a different set of people.

The reason we had a different set of people, of barbers and stylists each time was because we wanted them to be trained and to be able to go back into their barbershops and to, you know, tell the people that they work with on maybe how to handle children with autism, things to do.

It won't be such a, you know, like, they don't, you know, just such a weird thing because.

And the reason why, when I'm saying weird, I'm talking about how sometimes.

And these are just stories that I've heard from parents.

You know, you have autistic child that comes in, they may be moving around a lot.

They're, you know, they may, you know, be yelling out or just, you know what I'm saying?

Just different things.

And so barbers don't know how to handle it or styles don't know how to handle it because they're not used to it.

Right.

You're automatically just assuming that this child may be bad or, you know what I'm saying?

They're just not sitting still when all in all actuality, they are autistic.

Right.

And so it actually.

So we would have a nurse each time, we would have these events that would come in, teach the barbers an hour before, and then we would have the clients come in, and then we would do haircuts for hours at a time.

And it was such a fulfilling job because the people who I think were affected the most, of course, the children, they were getting their hair cut and we were introducing them to, you know, something that they maybe have never even done before.

But the parents, to see the parents crying or, you know, just so thankful that, you know that you're doing this.

Because a lot of times it's the parent that's nervous when they're taking their child into the barbershop.

It's the parent that is, you know, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry.

You know what I mean?

That's feeling a certain way because their, you know, their child is autistic and they're like, oh, my gosh.

Like, you know, they get the looks and different things like that.

So just creating that safe space.

We have people, like, donate iPads, you know, a lot of times, like, you know, to the organization as well.

Because a lot of times with autistic children, they like to, you know, do things with their hands, you know, being on the iPad, seeing certain things, hearing certain things.

And.

Yeah, so that was something that we.

That we did.

I'm looking to start that back up again because we had stopped during COVID but now just trying to get back out there and get that back going because it was such.

Just a positive thing.

We have so many people still, like, reach out to us, just, you know, asking, you know, where are you guys at?

You know, and I do still cut quite a few.

Quite a.

Quite a bit of autistic children, adults as well.

So.

Yeah, so that was one of the philanthropy part of it.

This is amazing.

Well, first of all, your personal story.

Thank you for sharing.

Oh, no problem.

I think that it'll be.

I mean, I consider it to be inspiring, and I'm sure other people will find value out of it.

And the philanthropy, it's really heartwarming.

And I love the fact that it's an education piece and I love the fact that you're thinking, like, no, don't come back next year.

Send a new person because they learn too.

I actually, that.

I.

I think that's so awesome.

And I can only imagine, you know, the parents right now, I'm just trying.

I'm imagining a parent and they're, you know, just like, probably, like, don't, you know, because some people are like, hey, what?

My kid's got autism?

And other people are like, I'm so sorry.

You know, he's exactly, you know.

Yeah.

So I can totally.

I totally get it.

This is amazing.

I.

This has been such a pleasure.

Talking.

Great time.

I could talk for you to you for days.

Yeah, it was.

It was.

This was great.

I found so good.

Easy to talk to you and your story is so good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for having me.

Absolutely.

Well, I think.

Is there any.

I mean, I feel like there's so many golden nuggets of valuable, inspirational pieces of information, but just to like, as we sign off, is there any, like, burning thing in your mind you want to share or.

Last pieces of advice to anybody who's out there thinking of, like, going out on their own, becoming a manager, getting into brands or starting a nonprofit or finding challenges with balance, you don't have to speak to everybody.

But whatever kind of sign off, last.

Words, one thing is definitely practice makes permanent.

And also, like, if you have a.

If you have a goal or a vision that you cannot stop thinking about, I don't.

I don't know what that may be.

Go after it because it is attainable.

Anything you think about that you want, you can have that.

And I'm a firm believer in that.

And you don't know how you're going to get It.

You don't know when the opportunity is going to get it.

But always move.

And when I tell you this, you never know who's watching.

And that is.

That is.

That is very true.

Always move with integrity.

Always move with character, good character, because you just never know who's watching you.

And I'm saying that because of brand deals.

I'm saying that because of opportunities.

I would have never thought that this would be my life.

Like when I first.

When I first signed up to go to hair School in 2009, what I'm living right now, you know, you can.

You can you see, like, little, you know, like, okay, yeah, I want to.

I want to do that.

Like, you'll say it and, oh, that'd be cool.

You know, like, hey, like, I was going to audit her shows.

I'm like, yo, I would love to be an educator one day.

I'm saying it, and I'm like, yes, I want to do it.

But when I tell you how you move, how you, like, in every way possible, just definitely just.

Just be mindful.

Also be mindful of how you move, but also, like, character.

Like having good character, having integrity, being able to communicate with people, being.

Because we are in a business of serving.

Let's not forget that.

Like, and I.

And I think sometimes, even now, it's just certain things that I may see on social media, and it's like, you know, we get this hottie or this prideful thing, you know, you are here to serve others, and.

And I think that that is something that needs to be.

That.

That is what.

That is what we're doing.

Barber shops, beauty shops have always been a staple in our communities.

Okay?

We are here to serve others.

And let's not forget that ever.

You know, no matter how big you get, no matter what stage you are on, never forget that you're here to serve other people.

You're here to make the world better in some type of way.

I don't know what that wave may be, because everybody's different, right?

We're all different.

We.

All of our callings are different.

But you are here to serve others.

And I think that that is.

That's huge.

And we don't need to forget that, especially in the world that we're living in today.

Okay?

So, like, you know, just being a good human.

You know what I mean?

Just a simple, like, you know, when somebody comes into the.

To the barbershop or the salon, that may not be your client, that client speak, right?

You is.

And I'm just real quick, because it's this guy.

His name is Pierre.

He's like that old head in a barbershop.

We had him in his shop.

He spoke to everybody.

I still have clients to this day that, like, oh, hey, how's he doing?

How's he doing?

Like, you know, because he just left a lasting impression on people when he greeted them.

He.

Some of these people, he has never touched their head because there were.

Some of them were my clients, a lot of my clients.

But how is he doing?

What?

He just left that positive, you know, that staple.

And like, that's who they.

That's people.

Remember that, you know?

So just be a Geuman.

We're in this business to serve.

Let's not forget that.

That's all.

That's all I'm gonna say.

That's what I'm so good.

That's what I'm gonna leave with.

So good.

Oh, my God.

So good.

Thank you.

That's an incredible way to sign off.

Thank you so much, man.

I appreciate you.

Absolutely.

I'll be in touch.

Okay?

Yeah, for sure.

I'll talk to you soon.

All right, See ya.

All right, see you.

Thank you.