A story about how and why I decided to become a barber.
I was just having a conversation with my fellow barber college class mate who goes by the name Jay, who approached me after hearing about the 3WP brand from one of the other students and we had a discussion about how for barbering as a career the sky really is the limit. I personally really agree with the statement. I was telling Jay about how I use to go to my barber Mathew S. aka Eagle Eye The Barber as a teenager. This was during the time when I just became independent enough to travel to the shop on my own. During this time the average haircut was roughly $10.00 USD and barbers would get me in and out of the chair within 15 minutes. That is until I began going to Eagle Eye!
It was tough for me to start my 360 wave journey because the OG who cut my hair at the local shop ended up vanishing and one day I needed a haircut and the only guy in the shop was a hispanic barber. I didn’t have a problem letting him cut my hair, but at the end my nearly completed 360 wave pattern was gone! Now I don’t add ethnicity to down Mexican barbers because I know many hermanos cut well!
I just use that story to express the struggle of finding a barber that has experience cutting the hairstyle I was going for and many guys can end up going around from chair to chair until finding a barber that fits them and their hairstyle goals. There no initial problem with going from chair to chair because I’m sure most barbers are competent and can give out good cuts regardless of who sits in the chair (I can hear many imaginary barbers and guys with bad experiences begging to differ and would love to mention how there are a lot of trash barbers out there). I hear them, but I personally have only had one handful of barbers since 2009, literally five different barbers.
I found myself in lemeirt park where I happen to sit in the Eagle Eye chair. I’m not sure how long he had been cutting but one day I remember sitting in the chair for so long I got tired however when he handed me the mirror it was the best haircut of my six-teen year life. I had no complaints with that result. I continued to go back for the rest of the year until the OG who ran the shop ended up announcing that the shop would be closing. Shortly after that my barber had stopped cutting hair, for what I imagine was due to the difficulty in finding another shop with the same culture and environment.
IDK, But I ended up going across the street and found a barber that was pretty good. I was leaving the shop with a crispy line up and good cut. Then I got home one day to look closer at my haircut to notice my line-up was crooked and as a 360 waver trying to progress with daily mirror brush work it killed me to see the crooked line. I thought what kind of professional would let me walk out like that. One side slighly push back un-even.
I continued to go to that same guy because I figured it was an accident except I told him to be more careful and not to mess up the cut this time. The cuts eventually got better again with some hits and misses.
Little did I know I would grow up to enter the men’s grooming business and start a hair care products line to sell hair brushes , du-rags, pomades, shampoos, conditioners, etc. So from 2009 when I first independently begin to get my haircut to 2012 when I was inspired to put my personal wave journey on YouTube after watching videos by WAVE GOD 19, TED 360 JONES, SIR CRUSE, SOUL SEEKA, ETC.. They was really spinning and I thought I was 360. I was just getting started as evidenced by the early 360 Wave Process videos that came online in 2012.
I ran into the OG Barber who had to shut the shop down after recognizing him at the mall. I ended up getting a cut by him because he used to cut my hair on days Eagle Eye was not in the shop and from there for about a year, I struggled to find a consistent barber that I liked and even cut my own hair for a while. Then I ran into Eagle Eye while getting food one day and was shocked since I have not heard or seen him since the OG shop shut down and he had stopped cutting hair. He let me know that he’s back cutting hair and from there it’s history!
Back to the convo with my fellow classmate Jay, we had talked about how despite there being a lot of barbers out there, it really is difficult to find a good consistent barber. Now that I’m older I realize life does get in the way some time while a man (or woman) is trying to run a personal barbing business. All that aside professionalism comes to mind.
Jay, at age 29 pointed out that he wish he began barber college sooner and I agreed that I also should have started sooner! Then he pointed out that timing is everything which is also true because a part of me realizes that I had a lot of maturing to do and if say I became a real barber let’s say five year ago, I can honestly say I do not think that I would have been a good barber. Not to say I would have trash cutting skills but my priorities are what I’m mentally looking at. And so now I find myself in barber college super motivated. Again, little did I know that I would ever end up desiring to be a barber but after many life experiences I can say that I do feel a passion for the craft!
If it were not for my business in the hair industry, I may have not chosen this route. To me it just aligns perfectly and the fact that I’m slowly finding my passion for cutting hair makes me proud to soon be able to call my self a barber! Learning the history of barbering and the small, yet large nuances of the industry are all coming together and building my interest for the career and later this year after passing the state board test that our instructors mention often I be proud to say that I’m a licensed barber!
When I first started releasing physical hair products I enjoyed slightly changing my logo to match that product’s color and even altering the logo if that fit better for the new product. I created this variation to celebrate this new addition to the 360 Wave Process Business.
I first began cutting my own hair and then while at university some friends asked me if I could cut their cut before partying and since I had the clippers and liners I said why not. I did decent cuts that they liked and even tipped me for the time. This happened over time and even after I graduated friends of friends would ask me if I could cut their hair.
I was surprised because I was not a barber nor was I barber minded. I still ended up cutting their hair using the experience I gained from cutting my own hair I was able to give good decent cut that they were happy with. Then I realized I always wanted to do the best job and make sure the cut was the best and that is when I became barber minded and started thinking about actually doing it as a profession.
I continued with my YouTube and growing my product line while never actually doing what it takes to become a respectable professional barber until now and the moment could never be more right in my opinion. I will soon proudly offer barbering full haircut services such as taper, fades, line-ups under the brand name I worked so diligently to build and I couldn’t be more happy about that.
Sooner or later local wavers will be able to book appointments with me to get a haircut. I have experience cutting and am looking to fine tune my skills before I’m officially a licensed professional. Any local wavers interested in becoming a client of mine I welcome you to sign up for my email list and also to book an appointment here through my website soon.
