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It's 2024 and life is evolving rapidly at the moment, so it appears. It's not my job to talk politics, but if you know who has the strings for Biden, please do message me. Barbering is no exception to this evolution, as we see many trends. There are social media influences with a fairly large following, amounting their income to be arising. If we come to think about how far the industry has changed in just the past 10-20 years, it really is mind-blowing. You know what else is? Ill tell you, the answer: Brain freeze.
Me: 3/5th the way through progress
Personal Story: A Style Awakening
My journey of becoming a licensed barber was something to remember for life. I can confidently say that I worked harder and had the busiest schedule of my lifetime. I think this came from both: the passion & drive to be great. I did not want to be the guy who was known for giving people bad haircuts. I can vividly remember watching 2-3 videos of different haircut tutorials every night. It got to the point were I couldn't watch them anymore because I felt like I was watching the same thing every time. This is around the time I realized that I should be more confident in my approach and from here I started to progress very fast, it seemed like things were just clicking. This is regarding Barbering, my health was plummeting. I have since been visiting doctors and working on business.
What did I actually learn from school?
This was the one question I heard about a lot and there is a common joke that Barber School is simply nothing more than pain & did I forget pain, plus a building to get a piece of paper! This is only a biased viewpoint and something I heard, which I love a good joke so I definitely laughed. I did learn things from school, do not get me wrong. It just isn't the 'things' you might be picturing. You see the highlights on social media most of the time. I ended up becoming friends with my mannequins, basically. Does that sum it up? Oh, and they usually forget to tell you that carpal tunnel is about 99% guaranteed to develop in the industry. Don't worry, you can get new wrist's. I'm only kidding, its worth it if you enjoy it. Pain is gain, but don't go in expecting to just grab clippers and cut hair. There are also state guidelines that must be followed before you perform services, depending on your state.
If I'm being honest, which I'm going to be then please no offense taken. We did have quite an excessive amount of guest speakers come in during my attendance. It was a fair mix, but some groups returned a lot, and the topics covered were just not appealing to me. I will say there were a few that had my attention and I can remember those pretty vividly. Those were perhaps the gems. I did however learn proper disinfection through practice and use of different tools, chemicals, and type of services. I swear the shampoo's bowls were like 3ft tall, so every client I was like a right angle trying to wash their hair. It's fine. Not, my back though.
A Tragedy No One Could Fully Expect
Let me run you through a little bit of my first day. I am attending to be a Barber, but in basics, I definitely spent more time with everything that barbers don't usually do. I'm not sure if this is school, or state specific. It was rather tiring, because you definitely want to use your clippers as a Barber. I spent about 3 months in Basics, and I used my clippers for maybe 3 mannequin haircuts, right before our examination to perform services. Thankfully, everyone did well and I believe everyone who tested passed. I cut my father & a student's friend who had some longer hair. I had to perform a hair color service and a men's style cut. Looking back, it was definitely not the greatest... But it wasn't the worst either so I made it. Panic attacks were constant. The beginning stages can be scary because you don't want to give a bad haircut, but you're still learning and can't move at the speed someone with the repetitions can.
Everyone is different though, and this could not be more true in the hair industry. My school had more females than males, as they offered other educational services that were tailored to the gender. I was able to get a look at how
Is it worth it?
This is honestly more self explanatory that it seems. It really just comes down to, you. Do you want to make this a career? If you do, then I would say yes it is, or some states offer apprenticeships. Since you need the license to legally cut hair and run a business, You don't really have much of an option. Especially if you want this to be your career, I would avoid cutting illegally for money. If you get caught it could revoke your ability to cut hair indefinitely meaning you can not go get a license. It can definitely be a grind, I was also working part time so finding energy, time, and a life balance was very hard. It is definitely doable though, and It could definitely pay off in dividends.
Confidence Through Fashion
I did gain quite a lot of confidence by learning to cut hair. There is something awesome about the end result when they look and are more than satisfied. I get to express art and my creativity, while providing a quality haircut to someone who values the service. I also used products and cut different textures of hair, so I became familiar with styling many haircuts. I could style straight hair or curly hair, and I took pride in trying to cut all hair textures. I became picky with who cuts my hair though, because I know what its like being behind the chair.
The Power of a Barber's Touch
When they say a haircut is men's makeup, this man definitely forgot his cap. The barber who cuts your hair is actually extremely important. This is my opinion, but I do have a fair bit of knowledge and hands on experience at this point. A knowledgeable and precise Barber is ideally what you want. Cutting the hair in the way it grows / lays naturally is very important. You have to realize that if you cut in straight lines regardless of the client that simply is not the best way to approach things. You don't just want a good haircut, you want a great haircut. You want to feel like the boss standing up from the chair. You also want to continue to look good as your haircut grows out. If your hair looks worse than normal after a haircut, & you've taken care of it then most likely they did not cut your hair in the way it grows so certain hair got left and this is usually pretty noticeable. If hair is not layered or textured it pretty much either sits heavy and thick or messy and starts to throw off your face shape. I mean your face is good, i hope. What I'm actually saying is similar to saying you want a squared or rounded haircut, those are shapes that must be carefully crafted based on the head shape, hair density, and much more.
What did I do in Barber School?
I had 2 theory classes per week. This was early in the morning before the cosmetologists had their theory. Theory is basically classroom / book work & prepping for chapter tests. There were 23 chapters in my book if I remember correctly. The book covers a lot of different areas though. There is a chapter for disinfection, barber related anatomy, some chemistry, learning color processing which requires using unique formulas for clients, the origins of barbering, and a bunch of other related subjects. This is mandatory through your period of being at school: in basics and when you 'graduate' and move down to the floor to perform client services. You would have busy days, and days where your mannequin or another student were the only way to get progress. It can be hard to stay motivated for the long duration, but sometimes the best things in life require patience, unfortunately. Just kidding, I don't want karma coming after me.
Allow me to present you with the requirements per my state / school: 267 haircuts, 300 styles, 200 shampoo's, 105 perms, 35 color applications, 50 facials, 50 scalp treatments, 50 razor shaves / beard trims, 75% or higher on all 23 tests, then 75% on a test over a combination of all 23 tests, to then take your full day physical exam performing what you learned, and if you pass that you get to finally pay the state to take a test! Then... only then, if you pass are you granted your license. You can retake it pretty frequently, but you have to pay every time, so think wisely there.
Outro
This is the end of blog for now. I did not cover everything, and I also tried to implement some mild humor along the way. Id love to hear suggestions, or your thoughts. In result, yes school is worth it if you want to be a barber. You're going to a career that is independent based often, so you will have to breach out and ask people, and go through the stages everyone else did. You got it though :) ! ~ Chasen
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