EYL #52 The Shop

An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy nom the United States

Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

All right, gush, welcome back, welcome back, e y l we on the road again.

That's a fact. That's a fact.

We in the Great Well. It's not even a state territory of Washington, DC, Nation's Capitol District of Columbia.

For sure.

We just we literally just finished an event that we had, our first of our weekend events. It was crazy, crazy man. Noah, it was like the Beatles. Man, It's like the Beatles and Michael Jordan. It's a whole vibe, man. So shout out to everybody from d m V and the whole whole country that came to the event.

Capitol Events a group. Man, shout to our boy.

No, it was a shot to Sharani. Man, shot to Sharani.

And so breaking news, breaking news. We are going to do this again in Atlanta, atl Edi year. We're gonna have a live podcast, we're gonna have a workshop, We're gonna yo, we can't play around with Atlanta. So so Atlanta's gonna be serious. That's gonna be January twenty fifth, January twenty sixth, So we're gonna be releasing information on that very very soon.

But you saw Atlanta guests, right, so you know how we how we do. When we come to Atlanta, it's going to be a whole ordeal.

No, no, it's going to be a vibe. It's gonna be a vibe. So all right.

This is an episode that we've been looking to do for a long time and it just kind of fell on all that because we didn't you know, we were blessed where people reach out to us now to interview to them and things that nature is. But we wanted to do an interview on the barbershop industry, right, But we didn't want to just do it with anybody. We wanted to do it with somebody that has a successful model, somebody that has scaled their business, and somebody that can.

Really teach the game.

Right, Yeah, Alicia, it's all about just dropping gyms and provided information. So yes, one of our are loyal ernest dm us and said, can you get him on the podcast? Gentleman, name is Wave Mendez. And once I looked at his page, I'm like yeah, and I d M him and he was like.

Yeah, let's do it so I'll get a background.

So Weight is interesting because he started off as as a barber by trade, right, and that's not any different from any other barber.

Right.

That's one thing in our community is there's a lot of people that cut here, right.

I think just cutting here was ancestry. Right. It's a long line of barbers yeah.

So he started off cutting here. But the thing I like about him is that he's expanded his business. So he's he's grown his business and now he has multiple locations. We'll talk about that, but what really really really.

Put him on the map and change the game is that.

So I'm gonna call it with the streets call it, and then Troy gonna call it with the technical term. So if if you're not familiar that the hottest thing in the streets right now is the is the man unit, and the man unit is man.

Yeah man, that's no disrespect to the Yeah man.

I don't want y'all zoom went in right now on my head.

Yeah.

So if you know that, it's a common misconception that I'm I'm bald.

I'm not bald.

I'm light skinning, I have a short haircut, I have a Caesar, I still grow hair.

It's emo.

I'm about to I'm about to grow my hair back. But but Troy, Troy is bald.

Always announced it that I think they can see it is what it is. I'm bald. No, I have a recession.

Yeah, deep deep deep recession.

So so sosion.

So what happened for years and especially you know black men, you know, just rocked the ball head. But recently a lot of men have been getting a second chance of life. And you know, you can have a hair piece and it's it's actually looks pretty dope, like I've seen it, and you can style it, you can cut it, you can put parts in it.

It's a whole it's a whole vibe.

And Wade was one of the first that really blew it up on social media and he became extremely successful. He's been a black and have probably been a bunch of different publications since HBO, BT n PR. They wrote a made over half a million dollars last year, runs a whole million dollar operations.

So we're going to talk about it. We're gonna get in depth and correct the name.

Now.

Yeah, so it is a man leave on the streets, but it's also known as a here unit or a cranial parathesis thesis.

That's it, right, pro thesis. I was close cranial prop thesis.

All right. So first and foremost song, thankfully known as a two pair thing. Thank you, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it man, my pleasure, my pleasure for being here. Thank you all for having me, for sure, So can we all right?

So can we talk about your journey because, like I said, the barber conversation is interesting because how I look at it in our communities is that there's like three businesses that black entrepreneurs want to start. Barbershop here, salon, right, clothing store some sorid fashion, and a restaurant. Ye, those are like the three like go to businesses. Right, And I always say that the only problem with the barbershop and the the restaurants and the clothing store is that

Well, I mean, you know, Barbara is running a family. My great grandfather had a barbershop. My grandfather could cut, my dad could cut, my uncle cut and it went to me.

I started cutting my hands on twelve.

So it was a situation where I tried different things, kind of got in the industry because it was my passion.

But I didn't know you could make bread with this. I didn't know you can make money.

With barbering like that because I never seen an example of somebody really making taking it seriously and really making money and trying to make some think some things happen. So it wasn't like something that I got into for the money. I got into it to the passion and for the impact that it has on people, you know what I mean. And I think that you know, once you when you when you focus on those things, money

Doing all what would the stigma be if you?

Yeah?

Yeah, yeah.

So there was that, and then she was like, I don't trust them girls. They're gonna be all, you know, trying to heat on you.

Yeah. Yeah.

So I was like I fell back. I was like, all right, I ain't gonna do it. But at the end of the day, I just kind of pray. I was like, all right, all right, guys, like I'm man of face. So I was like, all right, how I'm gonna make more money without killing myself?

And so did you own your shop at this point?

Yeah?

Yeah.

At this time, I had one shop.

I didn't have the second location yet, and so I ain't gonna lie. So the shop thing, you know, unless you're doing commission as a barber, you're really not making a whole lot of money off no barber shops, you know what I'm saying. I just I'll be honest about that.

So how do we go through?

Because I know, like you've studied here, like you you went to the ever kind of right, this is out of high school.

Right, Yeah, I went to college for year and a half and then I went to barber school.

Okay, And so what was the process of getting your first show. That that was the w loft.

Yeah, the air loft, so yeah, what's.

The process of even getting that all right? So actually I actually had an event earlier to day. I was talking telling Shamon's story. So I had I had went did a salon suite for two years. I outgrew that because it's like one little small room that you went by yourself. So I had some clients. It's like, man, you need to get your own shop because this room is cramping. You know, we crammed up in here. Ain't no waiting room in the hallway with the waiting room. So I went to the bank, got to nod uh.

Was that typical like if I wanted to open a barbershop, banks are like, no, we're not trying to give.

You loans most most times unless you have something to show for. At the time, I didn't. I didn't I didn't own a house or I didn't have it. I didn't really really I had no access. So so I said, I started saving money. But then I had it was like almost like I had two angels that came like, hey, man, what's it gonna take if you get a shot. They gave me twenty thousand dollars and from that point you investors like yeah, they they literally I felt like, God,

They like, they gone, what's one of the name Michael Fact? That is unheard of.

But I say that the same when you're following your passion and you and you're doing what your purpose, you know, following fulilling your purpose, there's always going to be provision that's made for you. You know what I'm saying, And like what this like you getting out there and going after it or things coming to you.

You can't be lazy though you gotta go after what you what you what you want.

But at the end of the day, you know, I tried to build a brand that's you know, respectable people you know, disrespect what I was doing. And they was like, man, they wanted to see me go go to the next level, you know what I mean. So that's that was that was the first thing to get that shot. But the hair unit stuff, man, that was an answer to a prayer. That was a young lady at the shop.

You know.

After after a while I got the shop or whatever, I had people in there, had a whole team and everything, and she came in there. It was like pulling our hair out the bag, like afro hair, and was adding it to she was she was a Lotician, so she was adding it to two people's locks and I was like, man, I don't even know they sold that type of hair. So from there it was like a light bulb went off and I was like, all right, we got to do this for guys.

That's that's losing their hair, you know.

And I didn't know it at the time, but it just started becoming the thing. And then it's like now I'm able to you know, make you know, a lot of money off of one person, and as opposed to that me cutting one cutting all day and I only made six seven hundred dollars. But I can make that off of one person. Now you know what I'm saying.

You say you said something that was interested if we could just go back to the barbershop conversation, and you said that unless you have a commission, you can't really make money in a barber shop right now, So there's there's two different types of business models of barber shops, right rent and commission.

Can you explain?

Well, the rent obviously, it's like you have five barbers and they're paying you share rent, like five hundred a month or something like that. What's the commission model?

A mission is you getting a piece of every person that walked through that door.

So every time I get cut, you actually get a cut.

I get a percentage of that of that.

Yes, So as a business owner for a barbershop, and a lot of people will be I want my own shop, want my own shop. Now, it's cool to have a shop just for the look.

That's what you just want.

You don't want to make no money, like you just wanted to pay for itself, all right, that's what you want, all right, Cool, But if you if you're really trying to profit as a business owner, you have to either have a big shop that has a lot of chairs in there a lot people are paying booth frint, or you got to have a commit a commission based model. Now, for my first two I did not do that. I did, you know boo frint, and so they paid for theirself. I told my boys all the time, I feel like

I send out.

Clients to you, you know what I'm saying. And so I take a energy of that and just building systems and building things. Uh, you know, I've just always been trying to just multiple multiple strange.

Man, you said you said something very interesting, right, So in the w uh the w hairloft, right at the time, you had a client of celebrity client that kind of changed away for you because what you're saying now it sounds like obviously you've branded yourself. Yeah, but you said a little mo yeah, played a big party, and you're realizing that man, Yeah, how did that happen?

So it's funny. I shout out with my boy Elliott man. I did a cut on him and she saw it, and uh, she was like, who cut your head? And I was still in barber school at the time. She was coming to barber school, you know, and it was crazy. Everybody's like, yo, what the little more at your at the barber.

School put it on me time. It's a little bit after No, it.

Was after uh, let's get married.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's yeah.

So that was still pretty much a hit for you know at the time, and so I'm low key starstruck because I ain't never celebrity.

At that point, I was like, Yo, this is crazy.

I was shaking it.

I'm like, oh man, because she was getting like a little taper in the back and the neck, and I think she wanted the design. So I started cutting her singers, the background dancers and all that stuff or whatever. And then we used to start traveling. She started introducing me. She I met baby Lil Wayne Diddy, like mad. People will start cutting wind Dixon through her and then from there it's just start growing.

Man legend and.

So yeah, then I start I got connected with somebody at BT and I started doing like a lot of the BT events and BT warars and stuff like that from that.

So all right, so the barbershop, right you were saying that. So for the units, it's anywhere from like two hundred.

To eight hundred, Yeah, but it could be a little more that depending on house.

The well look at it.

If you was like, yo, I could you still grow head?

Yeah, yeah, because you just want to you want to ball head.

My brother told me I'm important. He said dictate the look. Don't let the look dictate you.

Bro. He cut it. He cut it ball because he had no choice.

This is a professional, he's a specialist. You're not gonna do this. No.

But if because there's some people that have alopecia, they can't grow no head, they got starting alopecia, different types of things. And so if you're getting a custom unit, that's gonna be around about nine or so.

So that's me. You can't grow nothing. That's the whole choice.

Oh piece, yeah, so yeah, and then if you want dress, it just gets get up there.

But so, but for a bar so for a haircut, it was like, well, the average barber in New York twenty five dollars, right, that's average.

Kids.

So I always wondered.

I always wondered, Like you and you're standing up all day too, Yeah I got that, yeah, batting back. People don't even realize that. So you're standing up all day and you work on Saturdays, you work on Friday nights. You don't really have a good schedule as a barber, and you work nights a lot of times, and you're not really making that much money if you think about, like, even if you have fifteen. That's a lot because that's like you know, it's like fifteen hours times that time is twenty five.

That's not a lot of money.

Yeah, so you got to do that every day. Everybody's going to cut every single day.

Yeah, you So now you transition to the units, I cannot.

I want to say something real, all right, So before I was even doing units, I was I was cutting. I was doing carecuts pretty much for about thirty thirty five dollars ahead. Right, But and I told I was all the time, you have to promote yourself and bring yourself. I was already making six figures before I even started doing any units because.

I was cutting all day. I was putt I wasn't lazy.

Literally, I'll be in there from eight o'clock to one, two, three o'clock in the morning.

Now I'm saying I heard I heard this model the other day shout out at MG. He was saying that he got there's a special rate if you get it after eight o'clock.

You do what I mean like that, I would do something. I would do that sometimes.

So the twenty five dollar cut, if you got to come like on a not thirty at night, like that's going to cost you fifty yeah.

Yeah, but I also was heavy before of this too.

I know this.

I was also doing the Beijing Beijing huge in Atlanta.

Yeah yeah, Atlanta it was.

Yeah, but I'm saying it was. It was huge out here too. I had a lot of people was getting getting that. That's when when you embarrassing. And I had I had mad clients that that that would tip because I only do appointments, I wasn't doing walk in so they would give me twenty dollars tips and stuff like that.

They trust you.

I come to you every week. I trust what you're gonna tell me to buy for my head. Like so you got dry scalp or shampoo, moisturizing palms, different stuff like that, do rags, brushes? Yeah, people gonna buy from you because you ain't bothered. I feel like it's convenient.

Everybody I think that I've encountered as only looked at it as being a barber, like they never they're not here specialists.

Both knife and that.

It's like a lot of from our businessmen, Like what you said just makes so much sense, but it's not times people don't think about. It's like, if I'm already, if you're gonna come to me every single week to get your haircut, why are you gonna go to CVS to get shampoo? You might as well get your shampool and your conditioner and your hair grease for me. I buy a whole sale and I can make a profit

I actually got to the point, man, well, I was losing time with my family, Like I went through a divorce and that stuff. And part of that we will help break us up, was because I was always working.

You know what I'm saying.

My mother to this day has like she we working on it, but she she was very upset with me because I spent so much time working. I wasn't there for her when she went through cancer like she wanted me to. You know what, I'm saying, and so like it's I spent a lot of time grinding, but at the same time, like, Okay, I can't spend all day at the shop, especially when you're gonna have a family, you know, kids and all that stuff or whatever. So yeah, the whole making more off of each person.

Is all right.

So now we're gonna go into the next We're gonna talk about how you how you blew up and your transition to where you are now for sure, man, all right, so now we're gonna go into all right, so you found out about the units, right, how'd you find out about it?

Well from from the young lady.

But yeah, Britty, Yeah, shout out to Brittany man. She actually just she just went and got her bottle's license. She out here cutting down too. Hey, So no, but uh so what happened was, you know, she gave me some advice on some stuff. But then I had to go and take a little class with a dude in Atlanta named Nail Styles. So everybody couldn't get you know, everybody couldn't get the sowing thing.

So I went and did the quick wea.

Version with him, and then I went to another lady named Tony Love and learn her technique and different things like that. So it's like, but then I had to get back home and do a lot of trial and error, like you know. So at the end of the day, like I educated myself in different arenas for different things, and then I kind of created my own out of that, you know, And so that's how I kind of got introduced to that whole world.

Okay, so all right, but what really blew you up is that you you also a good marketer as well? Right, So at what point because you had like one hundred and forty thousand follows on Instagram? Yeah, I like that, So all right, so you start to at all right, so you start to implement it in your business. Can you talk about that, like the beginning stages, Like what

Consistency is everything, you know, and I think that, you know, when I first put it out there, Yeah, it was talked about. But at the same time, there was a lot of people like sliding in my dms, like Bro what's that?

What do I get that?

You know what I'm saying, The wizard, the wizard of anything you put, you present the people and keep it in their in their for in their in their sight. It becomes normalized after a while, you know what I'm saying. You keep you keep putting it in front of them. It's like, all right, you know it's not it's not so bad. And over time it just was like, all right, I'm gonna try it now. And so it's just something that just kind.

Of grew for.

But but and also the like trying to just promote and put quality work up, you know, so that I mean consistency and having quality is going to bring value to whatever you're doing.

Now, I love what you said because that's so true, and people don't fully understand it. It's like, as long as you're consistent, people will buy in.

Eventually. It happens all the time.

It's like even music, like you might not like a song, but you hear it enough and it's not that bad to you anymore. But food, you start to eat a food enough and it's like okay, and it's like people they always stay. They might laugh at it at first, but now it's not funny anymore because it's like your favorite celebrity got it.

Yeah, and it's like.

That's what I was gonna say, is like there's a certain connotation that comes with men that are doing this, but we've been seeing all women doing this for years.

Well, I'm glad you said that.

It's two point five billion dollars was spent last year on women's weaves, extensions and wigs for black women, just black women, Black women, So two point five billion. It might even be more than that, but it's a huge industry. So to see it now on the men's side, and they say, like almost I think sixty or seventy percent of black men experienced some form of hair loss after thirty something like that. So it's very common. It's common.

I mean I've got kids, man, I got people as young as twelve years old, like losing alopecia, you know, whatever, you know, different things, man, just happening.

It's a big thing.

So when did it take off for you, Like when did you really start to hit your stride?

I would say last year, Like the beginning of last year is eighteen, yeah, eighteen, it really it really took off to the next level. It was like a gradual you know, it was a gradual scale. But you know last year was probably when it really went off. What made it like really, I mean, I think the more reposts I got, like whether it was world Star or you know those those repost apps, I mean pages or whatever. Then then when Vice News, HBO and all that happened, it just went to that next level.

It was like, how did you get depressed? Like, how did you did you pay for that? Actually? No, actually I got a publishers after that.

But so from I guess the people from a Vice they were looking for, you know, some new stories.

I don't know how they got me.

I think one of my guys in New York, John Cotton, that said something to them. I'm not sure exactly who or how it happened, but they were doing a story on on the hair Units because they saw it on online and so me being one of the pint is for it, they hit me up and was like, hey, we.

Want to do this documentary on you.

Now, do you have to come up with a technique to actually get this done right? I'm sure like when you first tried, it was like, well that didn't work. How long was the process before you like, you know what, I've perfected this, ah, Man, I.

Mean I did.

I started about five years ago with this, so I mean I'm really just getting to last three two to three years. I'm actually just starting to get to the point where I'm super confident with it because there's still there were still a lot of unknowns. Even as I was progressing and getting more popular for it, there were still things. I'm like, you know, still trying to figure it out, you know what I'm saying. And as a barber,

You know, to keep growing.

And what you say is just not even just just in life in genera like any type of business, you always have to sharpen your tool. This is a business podcast, so it goes for anybody that's listening to. No matter what profession you're in, you can never be complacent, Yeah, because there's always new technology, there's always something new, and

So you teach classes? Yeah right, so can you talk about that? Yeah? Yeah, so I do. I do classes.

I started doing the classes probably about a year after I really started doing my first unit, because it was once I was I was posting on social media and people like, man, please teach me, teach me what you're doing, you know, and I do my classes because there was one particular person that was doing the units before me, and they were, uh, they were doing pretty well with them or whatever, but they would not teach me.

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An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from El Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States

Protected sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

And yeah, look, yeah, for whatever reason I asked twice they they carried me. Was like no, So I'd stopped doing the classes because I didn't want to. I didn't want people here me up and I'm curving them and like, nah, I'm not teaching you just because I'm trying to corner the market. And I'm like, man, you can't be blessed like that. So I'm like, man, anything I got, I'm gonna share it. And when you I was listening to

I feel like, you know.

But anyway, he was talking about if you have a talent, man, how many people have you cultivated? How many people have you trained to be better than you? If not like you, but better than you. You know what I'm saying, Like that, that shows you, That shows your impact, you know. I man, And I want to leave legacy, man, I don't want to just be out He's he was a good barber or he did good with them units, but now I want to leave some people back. That's going to keep

Like some of our guests. Man, that's a valuable lesson. And being an entrepreneur is how do you replicate yourself? Yeah, you got the quicker, you can do that, then the quicker you can scale well.

Also, we just had an episode we talked about multiple streams of income and we were saying that a lot of the misconception of a lot of people is that they think they need seven different occupations, are seven different businesses to create seven streams of income. But it's like we always say, you don't really need you just need one thing that you do really well and then branches off of that. So so it's like for you and

So that's it. That's always going to be the stream of income. And then you have.

Now you have multiple barbershops, so you get paid from barbers that and your shop. Right, So that's that's two streams of income. The barbershop, you're getting paid for the barbers you you actually cut here and put in the unit yourself, right. But now you teach classes. So that's four. You wrote a book, that's five.

Don't forget the products. Products that's six, because that's crazy.

Right like if you if you think about it, right, like you're actually putting the products in that you have to use to keep the upkeep on the units.

And then you actually the people that you train.

You said, you send clients to them sometimes then you get a commission off for that.

So that's seven streams.

Oh there's another one because you have relationships with brains. Yeahlationships with Walmart.

Yeah, there's another stream.

But it all comes back to one thing, you know what I mean.

Forgot about that?

Yeah, so can we talk about that? The brand partnerships? How did that come about?

Yeah?

Honestly, man, there was and this is about you know, just you being a brand people just I met people. There was one guy named Lamar he uh you know, he has those relationships with Walmart and he was like, bro, you know, I'm gonna connect you with these people. And they saw what I was doing and they was like, oh, we love them. You know, we love your presentation online.

And then so.

You you promote one product, other people other products and sponsors of seeing you online too, they're like, oh, we want you to help.

You know, people want to spend with people money.

But that's what I love about social media too. It's like before social media, celebrities were only musicians and actors and you know celebrities, yeah, athletes, things of that nature. But now you could be a celebrity barber, you could be a celebrity teacher, you could be a celebrity real estate broker.

You can even be a celebrity podcaster.

No it's not but no, but it's because it's like now brands will pay you to post on social media and you can do ad campaigns and it's like that would have never happened before the power of social media. So I always say social media is like the great equalizer and if you properly has a lot of power.

It does has a lot of power.

I know.

I know my brand is not It is only where it is because of God and social media. Honestly, like real, I mean you you can make a post and people all over the world can see the joint, like in a matter of minutes.

So it's like, man, like what better can you get?

Like you know what I'm saying.

One of the things you talk about, especially in Brandon, is changing the terminology of the haircare industry, right, so like and you know when we talk, it's like, yo, your weight got pushed back.

Right like like you you're.

Saying, like, yo is the area of recession even the CREATI piece, Like, is that a conscious effort that you made to change the stigma?

Yeah? I had to.

I have to because I mean people, and I tell people even in my classes, because your terminology and what you call something can turn personal off or it can put it oil.

It can be like oh yeah, that's cool, you know what I mean?

So I think you know how we how we represent things and how we talk about it is big.

You know.

Uh, we are visual people. We are people that you know.

Uh, the way you talk about something, you know, it gets in it gets in your in your in your soul, it gets in your spirit for real, and you know how we represent it, I think is everything.

You know.

No, that's not something that I learned early on. I'm a financial advisor, and like even early on we're going to different sales classes and stuff like that, I learned that language is extremely important.

It's extremely important.

So like a lot of times, like you'll say, like let's say one product is one hundred dollars, another product is fifty dollars, right, instead of saying this one is more expensive, it's richer, you.

Say it's richer. Rich people want to be rich.

By saying it's richer, it makes it seem like it has a higher quality, and now you're more enthused to pay for one hundred dollars instead of fifty. But if I said this is more expensive, of course you're gonna go with the cheap item. But naturally, training so it's very true. And that's another that's another business gym for people to understand. It's like, be careful how you speak, and be careful how you describe things, because like you can reer league to sell anything.

If you if you describe it correctly.

You know what I mean.

It's it's all about in the wording. So but one thing. We're gonna go into the next the last sement. But before we do, I wanted to ask you a question because I see this now a lot of barbers are following this trend where I looked on your your link tree and it's like you only work by appointments.

Right, that's all. I don't got time for walking man for the nonsense, right, So.

You're not trying to talk about who the best basketball player is? All business?

Nah, Yeah, I got things.

To worry about.

I'm glad.

I'm glad barbers really start to implement that, and I hope more do because it sets it sets a professional trend. Right, And can you talk about that like how because now even people, I'm sure they'll look at you different, they'll respect your talk because people come late, people, they do all kinds of stuff.

You know, I really see it as a benefit obviously being well, I got my own hand now, right. But having children and having to sit around and wait, Yeah, there's nothing like you got a four year old and you got to wait six people before you get a care.

We're done.

He's in your I only I only go Thursday night o'clock shout to my bubs. I can't play. I can't play a game. I don't have time to hear you lying on Saturday morning about.

He came before you. I used to do that.

It's like you lose track of who came first, and then it's just like a whole bunch of war stories.

It's like coming with one hundred dollars all, I'm gonna let you in front. Yeah.

So, so when did you realize that you had to structure and run your business like a business, not just like a side hustle type.

I'm not even gonna hold you, bro.

When I first started and got out of Borer School, I experienced where I was doing some walk ins and stuff like that, and I hated the fact that people was jangling keys because I'm you know, doing they was jittery because they waited too long and stuff that make.

My nerves back. I came.

It like, yeah, exactly, so I was like.

Man, you know what, I'm about to do this appointment thing.

It maybe I may have been out of barber school maybe two three months, and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna do the appointment thing, and I started just having people eat. I first started with the book because all these booking apps were out back then, and so I started with like, just the schedule book, y'all make your appointments.

That's not that's that or whatever. Then we did the I think disling was the next thing that I went on.

But it set it just helped so much. People was texting me like they could just go on the line online and just make their appointment. But then, you you know, at that time, it was a lot of people that was like, oh no, I ain't trying to do that, like I'm gonna just call you, let me just text you.

They ain't want to go through them.

Yeah.

So but now it's getting to the point where a lot of people, a lot of barbers are doing it, and it's just it sets you apart.

Man.

It's professional. You don't have to have people texting you all times of the night. People just going your on your website and just book whatever's open and they paid before him, and they paid they.

Put a credit card. Yeah yeah, put a card easier beforehand.

It tells you the tip and everything exactly.

You know what I'm saying.

And it's it's you know, professionalism is going to set you apart, you know, from being the regular you know barber from around the way and you going to that next level.

So it's like going to the dentist. You just don't randomly go to the dentist. You gotta make you gotta make a point.

Just sit around.

Yeah, if you do, you know, be sitting there for ten hours. I'll get to you when I get to you, all right. So in the last time, we're gonna talk about scaling and where we go from here Toune twenty.

Two Legacy Show.

All right, So where do we go from here? Like what's the scaling because that's another thing too.

It's like.

You've you've created multiple streams of income, you've elevated yourself, but not the next step in any business has to be how do you, like, how do you expand it?

Right?

Because it's never a thing where you can be complacent in business. So what's the what's the scaling model for you? Moving forward?

Well now it's more so like im like I'm doing the Atlanta location, you know, and building shops that you know, we're not doing the more bouffrint shops, but yeah, just building, having locations.

And commission commissions, commission shops.

Yeah, and also just building building the brand and not just being a Maryland thing, but different regions, different countries, different.

Did you choose Atlanta intentionally? I feel like that is like the hub of black haircares.

Right, So I went off of where my my big markets are. So Atlanta is a big one for me. New York is a big one for me, and then you know, I plan to go to l A, Houston, different different places like that. So being strategic and where I placed it, understanding my markets, you know what I mean.

So that's why Atlanta.

That's why you have the master class, right, So that's the one way that you're also scaling.

It says that you have over five hundred students. How does that work? Do they come to Atlanta, do they come to d C And well what happens?

So it depends. Most of my classes are in the DMV, but I do tours here and there. I'm working.

I'm working on my twenty twenty tour right now. I did one this year. In twenty nineteen. I went to Barbados, I went to Canada, I went to Man every pretty much I went. I was in Georgia, I was in New York, Ohio, Chicago, different places like.

That, you know what I mean.

And so just set the tour out, I mean, set the dayta out and people just like, you know, they sign up and then we're there Florida, the Florida as well.

What happened? So when we get there, what we're seeing? Are you like?

So I do a lecture and talk about you know, it's because it's different terms of different things.

Insurance options.

So people if somebody wanted to savings, you wanted to get one, you want to get one, but you want to use your insurance.

To get it.

I teach people how to accept insurance, how to do that, that type of thing.

Health insurance, Yeah wow, because it's health insurance.

Some people's playing covered. So everybody that's I have like halopecia, Yeah yeah you had, Yeah, because it's alopecia, alopecia cancer or something you know, like a sickness that caused you to lose What is alopecia.

So it's when people lose their hair. So it's different. It's different.

Yeah, it's hair loss, but it's like different types of alopecia. You have scarring alopecia where they leaves, scars alopecia areata was like in different spots spots, right, Yeah, so it's different, it's different types.

I wasn't even thinking about that, yeah, from a healthcare standpoint, like, yeah, yeah.

So I deal with that, and I actually do live models where I showed them how to put the piece on. Uh, make summer units. We make some of the units in class. Man, it covers a lot, man, and a lot of a lot of one day. In one day, it's like a sixty seven hour class. A lot of people be like, Man, that's the best class I ever I ever taken. So, I mean that's cool, you know for me.

And one of the things that these these units do obviously you know, it's a transformative.

Look. But the testimonials that I saw, Man, how to talk to us about that?

Man, No, it's it's literally you know, because I not only do men, but I also do women.

I'd be having brothers about to tear up, you know, I be like, man, I ain't seen my hair since I was.

Sixteen, like you know, and our wives even coming sending me messages. Man, you know, thank you because my husband had PTSD and was depressed for a long time. And now because he has hair, his confidences has gone up. And now he's taking me out on dates like you know, thank you because he cheats me better now, you know what I mean. Different stuff like that one lady h the other week. I think she had cancer or something. She didn't tell me exactly what it was going on,

I was like, bro, this is crazy.

Like she was like this is the most beautiful I ever felt in my life, you know what I mean, her daughter like like you know, like the heaven cry likely you know what I'm saying Like this, yeah, I'm like, oh man, you got it's crazy. But you know it's lives that are impacted, you know from this just from haven't hair. Man, the hair is a big thing a lot of people, you know what I'm saying. And so

Just came back from Israel's, like I was in China the other week. Like That's what I'm saying.

Is that something you had to learn because obviously you said in the past.

Yeah, for sure. For sure.

These last couple of years, man, I've been I've been learning that and I just stopped a little bit. But for this pretty much this whole year, I was taking the one week off every month, you know, just to kind of give my give myself that balance, you know, just to wusaw, whether it's taking a trip for a couple of days, come right back, like you know what I mean, Just go sit on the beach, relax, different things like that.

You know, let me ask you. So, all right, so how does the commission system work? Like it's like twenty percent for every single person that walks in the door.

It's whatever percentage you make it. Now, don't don't rape the people, man.

You can't. What's the fair what's a fair percentage?

It depends on the barb well, because it depends on how much your price levels are so safe things is like if and a lot of times, if you're gonna do commission, you need to provide the people with the products too. So if I say things, if I'm do fifty to fifty, I'm gonna provide you with the hair, I'm gonna provide you with the products that you need

Even what's the what's the one God? I forgot it.

But anyway, there's a lot of shops that do that, those change shops.

They all are like commission based. But that's how they're able to sustain it. Like what's the big one, Supercuts? Yeah, you got Supercuts.

God it's another joint I forgot about. But anyway, yeah, man, that's that's how they're able to keep those models going. And they have franchise now, they have different locations all over the world because they're doing that, you know, And it's just now. I will say a lot of barbers are, especially in our community, tend to shy away from commission because it's more responsibility on your end, now, you know, but as opposed to just coming and showing up collecting boufrint No.

But now you got to do some stuff.

You got to promote, you got to provide the product, and in some cases you got to pay their taxes for them because now their employees depending on how you set it up, you know what I mean.

But when you say provide the product, I mean it's your product.

Yeah, so whether I'm providing the hair, the adhesives that's needed for it.

But you have your own hair like you make it.

Is it like because I know some of them are some of them make myself, but yeah, I have. That's a whole that I use and stuff like that. But yeah, for sure I was.

I was there because like vendors. I know a lot of people get their hair from vendors. Now, you said the units cost between two hundred to six hundred.

Dollars, right, but average, yeah, average, right, But there's another course to the maintenance part of it.

Yeah, yeah, I think people don't.

Know about that.

So it depends on which unit you have. So there there's levels to it.

Man.

But if you got the.

The one to two month unit, you know, the maintenance could range from fifty towo one hundred dollars or so. But then if you're doing the three to four month unit, you got the maintenances. Usually I charged anywhere from two to two fifty so, and that you come every once a month or uh there's some people that just come once every two months.

That depends, you.

Know, and you're still getting cuts while you have it.

Right, yeah, yeah, you can still getting cuts.

Yeah, But so I'm at the point now I can't really cut everybody that comes and get the unit, so I send them to my barbers or I send them out to the people in my network because a lot of people fly in to come get this service. Says it's like like last week, I had people from Chicago, from South Carolina, Canada, different.

Places like that.

So that's why I try to build a network so big that I have people that I've taught in different states, in different cities.

So like supercuts and all that. I just thought about something. They're charging commission or even you you're charging commission, how do you track who's how many people coming in? Like you're not there every cameras, receptionists, a receptionist, okay, a lot of business. That's why it's more on your end that you got. It's more responsibility, that makes sense, receptionists. So now you're running like a real business. They checked,

Like you can't just be like, oh yeah, bro, I only cut five, but they cut in. Yeah, yeah, we.

Got the camera on you. Yeah.

Interesting, okay, And that's do you think that that's the business model moving forward for barbers to really.

Be successful, barbers shop owner owner be successful? Yes, and it's.

Good for people that's just starting off and they don't have a lot of clientele. Now, a lot of people are established, like a lot of barbers and stars that are established already. They ain't going to no commissioned situation because they feel like you're gonna take all their money. But somebody that's trying to build and uh and grow, you know, that's a perfect situation because you don't have

You know.

So can you go swimming with these units the three to four month young ones actually one of the one or two ones you can as well them two to four week units.

Nah, so you get what you paid for, Yeah, for sure.

But then it's like saying, this is the thing I try to tell you, even even because it looks like it's yours.

It's not.

The thing is if you keep up with the maintenance, you find. But there's some people that do not keep up with the maintenance. And so if it's if it's already lifting a little bit before you get in that water, I would say, just.

Let me, let me ask, just do it.

For barbers black barber specifically, is anyway because is any way for them to kind of make the money that you make without doing the units? Like, can you make that kind of money just being a regular barbershop owner?

No?

Probably not owner. Possibly yes, if you have like a lot of different locations.

Lations.

Yeah, but it's hard. You're just a barber.

No, you need to have a hot some type of hot ticket price it don something.

Yeah, yeah, you gotta it, can't be it gotta be more than forty dollars.

Yeah, you twenty five forty dollars that the hotel is not gonna be. Now, you can make six figures, but not multiple six figs.

Low six figures, yeah, seven hundred thousand. Yeah.

Okay, So this this is the way. This, this is the business model moving forward.

You gotta get into this.

You gotta get it. They gotta get into it.

They'll figure out. They gotta taket class.

They do. Hey, shameous blood.

We only try to help out. We only try to help alumni. So if y'all see me out there with a with a unit, I don't want you to laugh. Just know that way, did it?

All?

Right?

So, yeah, when you said previously I don't know where I thought about this question just came out of nowhere. But you said, you said previously that it was two business models. But there's a membership model. We can talk about that. The membership model. So people pay a.

Monthly membership to be a part of my network.

So you can either be a part of the network where I send you clients, or you can be a part of my mentorship. So it's two different prices for that. And then there's a fee when I actually send you a client. I get paid off the first visit. I don't take.

I don't try to be greedy.

I only pay you only pay me the first visit that I send you. Safe instance, I send you you know, you go to and they give me fifty percent of the service that one time.

But now that's your client forever, you know.

I mean it's a good test. I mean it's a test trial, right because what if I didn't like it? If you didn't like it, then isn't that their name is on thee Yeah? Facts, fact facts I've had. I've had that happen once so far.

Yeah to barbership.

I always have memberships like gyms, like can you be like I thought that's interesting.

There Without car wash, it was like, yeah.

I'm on a subscription for my car wash, but like I pay like forty dollars and I can go like anytime I want that, Yeah I have do they have? Like you pay five hundred dollars, but you can get as many haircuts as you want.

There are some people that do that. How you talk about that because they abuse it.

Yeah, I'm in there every other day, and it's like I don't know where I'm gonna be at the rest of the time, Like I don't even know like next week, I could get a car.

I gotta go somewhere.

I don't like now my clients and know what I do. Also, in order to sit, they pay a deposit. So if the service is six fifty, the client is paying like two sixty deposit before they even show up.

So I ain't gonna lie.

That does kind of lock me in, so I have to plan my life, yeah, ahead of time, Like what long is it?

How long does it take to get it done?

So it takes me about an hour to hour and a half each.

It's typical just because you're a massive.

Well because when I first started, it was like three hours. But now because I'm so used to doing it. Yeah, it's about an hour an hour and a half.

How many days and how many days a week do you cut? I mean, I mean not cut, but you can only cut one.

Day, only cut Fridays. But how many ways do you do? Units?

So sometimes on Mondays, but mostly just Tuesday, Wednesday.

Thursday, and Saturday.

Yeah okay, so I do about sixty seven people sometimes eight a day a day hmm.

So pretty much all day, pretty much.

So you're off traditional Sunday and Monday barber shop days off.

Yeah, Sunday, Sunday and most Mondays. Barbers take Mondays off. I never understood, like, no barber works for what you want.

You know, they got they gotta work Saturday, they out the weekend.

You just that makes Monday you need to need two days off?

Yeah?

All right, wait man, pleasure, pleasure, thank you for for dropping gyms on us. How can the people contact you? Information on you on your shops, information on the classes, all that social media handles and all.

All social media handles wave the barber uh waydebarber dot com is my website. All the information is always there for the classes or whatever I got going on. So yeah, Instagram is probably the probably if you don't be on the website, Instagram is probably the next page.

You know, Facebook, I'm working with my Facebook.

Yeah Facebook, man, I mean because I post two Facebook from Instagram. So ok, yeah, way the barber all social media social media outlets, excuse.

Me, choy housekeeping items.

Yeah, man.

Shout out to everybody on patreot dot com. We actually just ran into a bunch of our patrons at event man. Shout out to everybody that came through from Patreon and all our new members.

I actually spoke to a few of them today. Man.

That was dope because they've been connecting with us and now we get to see us in real president like, so glad you came to d m V. So shout out to them, as you know. That's our proud to pay program. We have five different tiers, so feel free to join at any Just know that at tier four and five you have access to e y L University. As you see that, we are wearing some new merch today.

So stay in tune for that and what else we got man.

Yeah, well Universe, I just want to double down that once again if you're not familiar. That's the educational portal that we have, and we do three live classes every single week with different presenters on different topics and it's a zoom class so you can interact with the presenters

I got it.

Our book tip is the success Factor twelve keys to help you win in life by you know that guy?

Yeah? None other then wave then that's yeah, yeah, there is.

I appreciate that.

No problem.

There you have it. There, you have it. Great. Highly I highly recommend it another stream. All right, guys, thank you for rocking with us. We'll see you next week please.

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