Photo credit: Melanie L. Brown for Steed Media
Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started being a barber and school/shop owner.
My name is Larry Roberts Jr. of Larry’s Barber College 1, 2, and 3 [and I’m] currently working on having a fourth location. I made history by putting the first barber college inside of Cook County Jail, which I’ve been there for six years now. We’ve educated and graduated over 300 men and women inside of the Cook County Jail. We’ve done it as an alternative to violence. I came up with this idea and we don’t get paid to be there right now. I’ve been doing it free of charge for six years now.
Can prisoners use that license when they complete their sentence?
Absolutely, the only person who can’t get a license is a sex offender. I’ve had numerous students to get their barber license and to get their master instructor license who has a criminal background…So basically they just have to go through certain steps with the court systems and the legal systems to have their licenses in order to be released.
At what age did you start cutting hair?
I started cutting hair at the age of 13 years old. The way I started is that my parents built a house out in the suburbs and so at that time it was mostly Caucasian people so I couldn’t get back to the city to get my hair cut as often as I wanted to. I saved up money. I saved 20 bucks. I went to Walgreens, I bought a pair of Andis clippers that weren’t adjustable and that’s how I got my start and what I did was I told people you know if they let me cut their hair I charge $3. If I mess you up I pay you but if you let me cut your hair I guarantee you. I never had to pay anybody, so that’s how I got my start.
What barber school did you go to?
I went to McCoy’s Barber School when I was 17 years old, so I was still in high school. I was in my last year in high school and I went to McCoy’s Barber College. Everyday I would leave high school, I had a work study and then I would go to barber school while I was still in high school. I used to use my parent’s basement, so basically I had the suburbs sowed up. And had so many clients until I had to have one of my buddies Mike, he actually use to cut hair with me in mu basement and we serviced everybody in the suburbs.
What is the mission of a barber?
Our mission is to educate a new generation of barbers. The red, white and blue barber’s pole, it is very meaningful that hangs outside of the barber shops and some inside of the shop. The red stands for blood. The blue stands for veins. The white stands for bandages and the ball is called a bassinet that’s on top. Well, we were doctors and we were dentist back in the day. It was later on in the 1800s when they separated the professions and they made a doctor a doctor, dentist and barber which our professional name is a tonsure artist. They individualized each profession later in the 1800s.
In a lot of cases, when people come in the shop we are lawyers, we are marriage counselors, we are pastors for some, attorneys to others. You know in so many words basically we set out to make clients feel like they can after they leave us. We make them feel good, we make them smell good, we make them look good and we pretty much give them that extra push they need to go out there. You know for that good job interview, to have a great day at work or just to pretty much be able to carry themselves with their head hanging high after a good haircut and shave.
Name three ways that a barber stays informed of style and trends.
Three ways that a barber stays informed of styles and trends is of course social network. You got Facebook, you got Instagram, you got Periscope, you got YouTube. Well, of course that’s the Internet and then you have magazine, you have hair cutting posters, you have people who bring in pictures of certain things they need. You have hair shows.
Name two types of advice you give to your students.
So on the barber college part of my training I do life coach, I do mentorship in my school. It is part of my curriculum and some of the advice I give them is make sure your atmosphere is conducive to professionalism. It is very important that the client feels comfortable inside and outside of the barber shop. Another piece of advice I give my students is that look that you want to gain a new client. If you will, so in other words, keep yourself well groomed, you know keep your nails clean, keep a hair cut and a shave. Make sure your clothes are clean. Hygiene is very important. Don’t smell like weed or don’t drink. I love cologne, make sure you smell good.
What type of resource is your barbershop to your clients and community?
We don’t wait to back to school to do free haircuts. We do free haircuts on a monthly basis. We have grammar schools come out and we give grammar schools free haircuts on a regular basis. We let the public come out and get free hair cuts in a regular basis and also we do career fairs for the students who are interested in coming to the school. We just try to be mentor to people that come in and out the barber schools.
Name four of your most famous clients.
I’ll give you a few names of my famous clients: Ramzy Lewis — a client for 20 years; Judge Mathis, [I have] serviced him for about a year now for his television program. I’ve cut Mehki Phifer before, Gary Sheffield the baseball player, and many more..
What are the names of the students that you’re proud of?
Oh wow! I have some students I’ll name out. Mr. Ewing that we call Bosshog. We affectionately call him Bosshog and Bear. He actually graduated my school with his barbers’ and barbers’ teacher’s license and he’s actually one of my instructors right now. I’m proud of him, he has his own barbershop. Also, I have a number of students. If I start naming them I wouldn’t be able to name everybody, but the number of students who left Cook County Jail and they needed to finish their hours and they came like grown men and finish their hours. Some currently finishing their hours and you have some who have came and finished their hours and since then are working in barber shops and salons who I am very proud of.
What is the method, time and commitment required to become a licensed barber?
In order to become a licensed barber you have to do 1500 hours of barber school, which we have financial aid. If you have financial aid you have to do it in like a 13 or 14 month period in order to meet both Pell award years and get all of your Pell money which is free. If you don’t have financial aid you have to do 1500 hours according to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. You can’t complete barber school in less than 10 months, so that’s how long it takes.
Texturizers and different other enhancement products are important because …
OK, so texturizers are more important for people who want to get a soft look or get a curly look to their hair. And products oil sheen of course you know it helps put a shine to people’s hair. You have different grease if you will that pretty much helps to oil the scalp. You have spritz and color. Just things pretty much to enhance especially this day in time to enhance the hair or to hide different things with the hair so that’s just to name a few things.
Three favorite brands of barber products.
I like to use olive oil products. I like to use Cantu products. Cantu is like an oil sheen. Olive oil as you know has different shines and spritz that’s very very good. And then also as far as color some people pronounce it Beyging but the correct name is Bigen. As far as some of the hair coloring that we like to use so that’s just a few things, a name that I really like.
What are three most important things to know about being a new barber in the business?
I think some good information for a new barber is that a lot of times you have people that are interested in opening up their own shops as soon as they graduate from barber school and I don’t suggest that you do that. I suggest that you go and work with somebody. I think you should have like me you know when I use to cut full time. I started at 4:30 in the morning. I cut any where between 25 and 38 heads on a regular basis every day. The most heads I cut in one day was 48 heads. I think a new barber need to get a lot of reps up under their belt and I think that need to always stay open to learning. You can never know enough in this industry.
Two books that you would recommend anyone read.
Two books I would recommend first book I would recommend is the book that I am the author of and that I wrote called Suicide Is Not the Answer, which is a very good read. It has my life story in there and a lot of things that I went through being in business for almost 24 years now, cutting hair since I was 13, just the trials and tribulations, things that seemed to weigh me down. I think that’s a good read. Another book I would read is Purpose Driven Life. I think that is a very very good book because you have to make sure you know your purpose. Right now I don’t cut hair because you know because I want to pay the bills sorta speak. I cut hair because I love to cut hair.
