Episode 255
Building the Future + Lessons From a Serial Entrepreneur | Larry E. Roberts, Jr. | CEO, Larry's Barber College | Serial Entrepreneur
From cutting hair in his basement to building barbershops, colleges, and launching a credit union, Larry E. Roberts Jr. shares how grit, vision, and community-first leadership transformed his career—and how barbers and stylists can build sustainable wealth and impact too.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
🔅Start Early & Learn by Doing: Larry began cutting hair at age 13 and emphasizes the value of practical experience—even if it starts in your basement with $20 clippers.
🔅Licensing Is About Safety, Not Just Skill: Roberts highlights the importance of theory and licensing, not just for credibility, but to ensure health and safety in the profession.
🔅Build Before You Own: He warns new barbers and stylists not to rush into ownership. Without a strong client base and clear systems, you risk burnout and instability.
🔅Commission Over Booth for Beginners: Larry recommends commission-based setups for new professionals to guarantee income and learn operations before jumping into booth rental.
🔅Financial Literacy = Longevity: From paying taxes to planning retirement, barbers and stylists need financial systems to build wealth and security.
🔅Create Ecosystems, Not Just Businesses: Larry has built an integrated empire—including barbershops, schools, housing, transportation, a clothing line, and a credit union—to support beauty professionals from all angles.
🔅Think Long-Term: Whether launching a product, barbershop, or school, every move Larry made was part of a 10+ year vision.
🔅Pay It Forward: Larry uses his nonprofit to provide free services, open schools in jails and high schools, and offer housing and mentorship to those in need.
👉Follow Larry on Instagram
👉Follow Larry's Barber College on Instagram
The Hairdresser Strong Show is all about Salon Owners, Rising Stylists, and Seasoned Stylists sharing their experiences, successes, failures, and advice to inform, educate, and empower their Fellow Hairdresser. We won’t stop until we are all: Hairdresser Strong.
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Transcript
Larry Roberts Jr.
Speaker A:Is a serial entrepreneur, a 39 year industry veteran.
Speaker A:He is currently the President CEO of Larry's Barber College.
Speaker A:He's also a musician, a trade school owner, a clothing line owner, and he's starting a credit union, among other things, for beauty professionals.
Speaker A:Today we're going to learn his story, how he got to where he is and what he's got going on with this credit union, which I'm super excited to learn more about.
Speaker A:Welcome back to the Hairdresser Strong Show.
Speaker A:My name is Robert Hughes and I am your host.
Speaker A:And today I'm with Larry Roberts.
Speaker A:How you doing today, Larry?
Speaker B:Hey, what's up, Robert?
Speaker B:I'm doing great.
Speaker B:How about yourself, man?
Speaker A:I'm so good.
Speaker A:I'm so good.
Speaker A:I'm super excited.
Speaker A:Everybody that's listening and watching.
Speaker A:I met Larry at, at Beauty Gives Back.
Speaker A:He was one of the people sitting on a panel and he was talking and I got introduced.
Speaker A:Corey from Heritage was like, yo, you gotta meet Larry.
Speaker A:He's awesome.
Speaker A:You'll love him because and all these things, the entrepreneurship and he's starting a credit union.
Speaker A:And everybody who listens to this and watches this show knows I'm really big into the financial world in terms of like impro improving the financial health and the business health of hairdressers, barbers and beauty professionals.
Speaker A:So this, I'm super excited.
Speaker A:So thank you so much for being here.
Speaker B:Thank you for having me, Robert.
Speaker B:I appreciate it.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:So let's dive right in.
Speaker A:Let's start off with, so like, where.
Speaker A:How'd you get into like what was, how'd you decide to get into the industry?
Speaker A:Was it by accident?
Speaker A:Did you have a plan?
Speaker A:How old were you?
Speaker B:Well, to be honest with you, I started cutting hair when I was 13.
Speaker B:But the rate, the way that I started cutting hair was my parents built a house out in the suburb of Chicago when I was very young.
Speaker B:And needless to say, there was not nobody that looked like me that could cut my hair.
Speaker B:So I wasn't gonna let anybody else cut my hair.
Speaker B:And you know, later on down the line, people learned that barbering is an art and it's a science.
Speaker B:And I have great penmanship and I know how to draw as well.
Speaker B:So for me, it was pretty easy for me to pick up a pair of clippers that I went to Walgreens and bought for $19.99.
Speaker B:And I bought those one pair of clippers, man, and always tell people the rest is history.
Speaker B:So that's how I got into cutting hair.
Speaker B:And the way I convinced people into letting me cut their hair is, is that I convinced them that, hey, let me cut your hair.
Speaker B:If I mess up, I'll pay you three bucks, but if I do a good job, you got to pay me three bucks.
Speaker B:So I traveled around with my one pair of clippers, man, and, and you know, I was able to cut people hair and, and thank God I never had to pay anybody for messing up.
Speaker B:But that's a good thing.
Speaker B:And I tell people often as well.
Speaker B:One of the ways I was able to convince people is the fact that, you know, I think that your, your, your posture and your swag, if for lack of a better word, pretty much makes people know that, you know, if he keep his hair cut, you know, if he dress well, if he smell good, if his hygiene is on point, basically there's a pretty good chance that he may do a good job at giving me a service, man.
Speaker B:And, and I think that that's very important.
Speaker B:It's very critical and for people to even trust to sit in your chair.
Speaker B:So it goes a long way.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:So, so, like, early on, you're, you're breaking into the industry.
Speaker A:And so did you go to school or do an apprenticeship program?
Speaker A:How did you go from cutting hair with your, your, your, your clippers to being like a fully licensed barber?
Speaker B:Oh, that's a great question, man.
Speaker B:So my dad actually owned restaurants back in the day, so I used to work like 40, 50, 60 hours a week.
Speaker B:My dad owned a restaurant called Larry's Ribs.
Speaker B:So I was taught entrepreneurship and sweat equity at a young age, if you will.
Speaker B:But it wasn't until I actually put another chair in my basement, I had another guy from the suburbs where I was literally as a teenager, man, I had two chairs in my basement.
Speaker B:We were cutting.
Speaker B:We had the suburbs sold up.
Speaker B:We was cutting everybody's hair in the suburbs.
Speaker B:And I told my parents, you know what?
Speaker B:This is what I want to do.
Speaker B:And it went from the barbershop in the basement to when I was 17 years old, I went to barber school, and I went to barber school when I was a senior in high school because I had all of my credits, if you will, except for the main credits you still need to take as a senior.
Speaker B:And I got out of school every day at 12 o' clock and I would drive to school, but then also leave straight from school and go to barber school when I was a senior in high school, man.
Speaker B: , when barber school was only: Speaker A:Oh my gosh.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker B: Barber school was $: Speaker B:And oh, barber school is pretty steep right now, especially for those of us who has.
Speaker B:Have Title 4 funding.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But yeah, man, I did go to barber school and that's how everything started.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:So, so after school, how.
Speaker A:How long until you started breaking.
Speaker A:I mean, the entrepreneurship.
Speaker A:I could hear you and talking about having multiple chairs in your basement in.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker A:So tell us, like, this entrepreneurial journey.
Speaker A:Like, did you, did you do a barbershop first?
Speaker A:Did you go straight into education?
Speaker A:Did you win?
Speaker A:Like, what I want to.
Speaker A:What I want to understand is how you went from getting your license to opening up the school and like, what entrepreneurial endeavors you had along the way.
Speaker B:So, so let me say this, right, and this is just me being candid and very transparent, which is why it led me to wanting.
Speaker B:Wanting to open up a barber college and educating.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:So a lot of people don't know when I ask the question, what does the red, white and blue barber poll stand for?
Speaker B:You know, I've heard all kind of answers from, you know, America to the military.
Speaker B:I mean, I've heard all kind of answers, right?
Speaker B: ow the first haircut was done: Speaker B:So the red stand for blood, the blue stand for veins, the white stand for bandages, and a ball on the bottom is called a bassin.
Speaker B:People don't know that we were doctors and dentists back in the day.
Speaker B:We did minor surgeries, we did bloodletting.
Speaker B:So our professional name is a Tom Sorrow Artist.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So you have the doctor, the dentist, the tonsor artist, and all of our license come from the same place, which here in Illinois is Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.
Speaker B:So what we do is very, very important, man.
Speaker B:We have to learn about, you know, folliculitis.
Speaker B:We have to learn about bacteriology, electricity, light therapy, blood pathogens.
Speaker B:I could go on and on about things that could be detrimental to people, that if you don't have the proper license, you know, the health and the welfare of the clients is what the.
Speaker B:Is what the state care about.
Speaker B:They can care less about how good you know how to cut hair, how good you know how to do a relaxer.
Speaker B:You know, if you're doing a relaxer and not doing a strand test, and if you're doing a color and not doing a patch test, you know, you.
Speaker B:You can.
Speaker B:It can be Very detrimental to your client.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:But I went to barber school and got caught up into all of these clients I had.
Speaker B:And I didn't get my barber's license until 10 years after I graduated from barber school, believe it or not.
Speaker A:Whoa.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And I had a barbershop prematurely when I was 19.
Speaker B:I had my own barbershop that I used my own money and, you know, thank God I was able to survive it.
Speaker B:But cutting hair or doing hair inside of a shop without a license here in Illinois is considered a misdemeanor.
Speaker B:So I could have possibly went to jail had I.
Speaker B:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker B:And even though it's a misdemeanor, but you still don't want that on your record, which is why I said I need to go into education because people don't know the importance, which is, this is going to make sense when.
Speaker B:When we have more conversation down the line about the other things that I'm doing for our industry.
Speaker B:But if you don't have your license, man, you know, which now I have my master instructor license in over 22 states now because I'm preparing for where it is I want to go, man.
Speaker B:You know, like, license is very, very important, and getting the theory is very, very important as well.
Speaker B:Like, you know, it's great to be able to say pit arises versus dandruff.
Speaker B:You know, it's great to be able to say your hair is coming out versus alopecia or hereditary alopecia or alopecia areata, or, you know, instead of saying, you got a ringworm.
Speaker B:It's great to be able to say, hey, man, it's tinea, and so on and so forth.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:So a lot of that comes along with getting theory, having your license, and me feeling like I want to be able to educate people and let them know not to make the mistakes that I made and properly go through the measures.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:Because I always say you have to go through in order to get to.
Speaker B:But it's how you deal with what you go through that determines how you come out.
Speaker B:And we also have to be careful.
Speaker B:We don't allow our gift to take us to a place that our character cannot handle.
Speaker B:So a lot of times, if you put the cart before the horse, a lot of times your gift is great, but, you know, your character can't handle being on time, wearing, having uniformity, making sure that the atmosphere is conducive to professionalism, and all of these things.
Speaker B:So that's what led me from wanting to have a barbershop to opening up my own school.
Speaker B:And, you know, it's.
Speaker B:I think that is a very powerful tool.
Speaker A:So nice.
Speaker A:Dude, this is awesome.
Speaker A:And like, I totally love that you're separating different stuff that we get through education.
Speaker A:Like at the, at the school, you're like, I'm.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:Do you find that the students in school, without being like, taught it, come in with.
Speaker A:To school with the impression that they are going to learn everything they need to learn while they're in school and they'll be ready to go when they get out.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I call it YouTube School of.
Speaker B:Of barbering and styling.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So believe it or not, I already knew how to cut hair better than subpar when I went to barber school because again, I'm an artist, you know, I know how to draw well and I strive for excellence.
Speaker B:I'm not going to say perfectionist, but I strive for excellence.
Speaker B:So one thing that makes me a.
Speaker B:A great tonsoro artist is the fact that I pay attention to detail and I don't let anybody get out my chair without.
Speaker B:I guess I gotta use perfection without it being to the perfection I feel like it needs to be.
Speaker B:Whether it's carving, whether it's the lining, no matter what it is.
Speaker B:Like, you don't have to look in the mirror when you get done getting out of my chair, because I'm going to make sure it's everything that you needed it to be.
Speaker B:And I'm going to put my extra sauce on there to make sure that.
Speaker B:That there's more.
Speaker B:But still, 39 years later, consider myself a student behind a chair.
Speaker B:Every time I stand behind a chair, I want to learn more.
Speaker B:I want to be better.
Speaker B:You know, haircuts and things are repeating itself, like the Mohawk, it's not new.
Speaker B:Like the south of France.
Speaker B:It's not who new.
Speaker B:The crew cut, it's not new.
Speaker B:They call it the police.
Speaker B:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker B:Haircut, so to speak.
Speaker B:So I still remain a student behind the chair, if you will, versus trying to feel like I know it all.
Speaker B:Which is why, you know, when I come across students who come to school think that, oh, I just need to get my license.
Speaker B:No, always keep yourself opening, open to wanting to learn more and more and more, which is what I do.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I would.
Speaker B:I would say that, man.
Speaker B:So a lot of people nowadays, especially these new students, they put the cart before the horse and.
Speaker B:And a lot of them really can't cut hair, to be honest with you.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:I could take one pair of clippers.
Speaker B:Matter of fact, I can Take a pair of shears and a razor and cut a whole head, no matter what kind of hairstyle it is.
Speaker B:I can do the lining and everything with a razor.
Speaker B:I can, I can do the fade with, with a razor, some shears, you know, round sale hair over curly hair, no matter what it is.
Speaker B:I can also take one pair of clippers without no guards and cut a whole head, right.
Speaker B:And a comb because I understand hair.
Speaker B:So I use the opportunity in barber school to truly understand hair.
Speaker B:So that way I wouldn't differentiate round sale hair versus over curly hair.
Speaker B:And for the people who don't understand what that is, it's basically African American hair like mine versus Caucasian hair like, or European hair like yours, if you will, right?
Speaker B:So that's round sale hair versus over curly hair.
Speaker B:And there's really not hair is hair is what I, you know, is what I mount it to, right?
Speaker B:But for somebody who really don't understand hair like that, you know, it's almost like, oh, I can't cut the straight hair when it's really all the same.
Speaker B:You just have to approach it differently.
Speaker B:So with that being said, man, that's what barber school did for me.
Speaker B:Someone like me who already went in knowing how to cut hair already.
Speaker B:So I needed to get the theory behind it and so I can get my license.
Speaker B:Because when you go and take your barber exam, they don't care how good you can cut hair.
Speaker B:They don't care how good you can do designs, they don't care how good you can use a razor.
Speaker B:They want to know that you're protecting the health and welfare of your clients and so that it won't be, you know, detrimental, so to speak.
Speaker A:So totally.
Speaker A:So just one more question on this because this topic of the working with the students and considering setting them up for success is definitely like, at the core of what we, of most of what we do here at Hairdresser Strong.
Speaker A:And I think it's really important.
Speaker A:So what fallout have you seen, if any, from this mentality of, I, I'm gonna get everything I need by the time I graduate school and I'll be ready to go full time on my own, do my own thing?
Speaker B:That's, that's a great question.
Speaker B:So, you know, I often use this scenario and I kind of want to put, I want to do it to you.
Speaker B:So if you had pizza from last night, right.
Speaker B:And you want to eat it this morning, what are you going to do in order to eat that pizza this morning?
Speaker B:Tell me what you would do, Robert.
Speaker A:I would put it on piece of foil and sprinkle a little water.
Speaker A:And I'd put it in the mic, like the oven and like heat it up.
Speaker B:Then you go right there, right.
Speaker B:But this new generation, what are they going to do?
Speaker B:Most of them, they're going to pop it in a microwave.
Speaker B:Microwave, right.
Speaker A:Or buy a new pizza, a second pizza.
Speaker B:Or buy a new pizza.
Speaker B:Right, but let's go, let's go microwave.
Speaker B:But when you put it in the microwave, especially if you use the paper plate, you know, what do you have?
Speaker B:You have you know, a paper plate that pretty much, you have a paper plate that pretty much, let's just say, you know, the bread gets soggy, the cheese stick to the paper plate, it don't have the same crunch or the same bite on there, if you will, right?
Speaker B:But when you preheat the oven, put it in the oven, it may take a little longer, but it's going to have the same vibe that it did from the night before, right.
Speaker B:So I often use that because this new generation, unfortunately, even some of the older people, they want it right now.
Speaker B:It's like I'm in a rush to get it.
Speaker B:I come from the era, man, where I used to start at 4 in the morning, Robert, cutting hair.
Speaker B:Sometimes I will cut from four in the morning until one o' clock the next morning without sitting down one time.
Speaker B:And I would cut between 25 and 38 heads every day.
Speaker B:The most heads I ever cut in one day was 48 heads is what I cut in one day.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And that's when haircuts was 10, 15 and $20.
Speaker B: ars old, I was making between: Speaker B:With ten dollar haircuts.
Speaker B:These guys want to charge 50, 60, 70 for a head.
Speaker B:They not on time, they start work late, they're not professional, the atmosphere is horrible.
Speaker B:And, and, and you know, they want to charge all of this money, man, and I call it, they don't have a pot to piss in and a window to throw it out of when they get done.
Speaker B:And that's just the reality of it, man.
Speaker B:So you know, it's, it's different now, man.
Speaker B:And you want this fast, quick money, but you're not willing to do the work in order to get it to, to, to create longevity, to give you that, that, that bite on there and that crunch on there you had from the day before, you know, make it where it lasts versus when you put it in a microwave, man, it's only gonna be warm for a second, for a second.
Speaker B:But when you put it in the oven, the heat is gonna.
Speaker B:Is gonna stay on it.
Speaker B:If you walk away from it and come back, the heat is still going to be on there, man, and you're still gonna have the same effect from when it came straight out the pizza oven.
Speaker B:So this, this new generation, man, is different, which is why I'm trying to teach my students when they come in for orientation.
Speaker B:I try and do orientation with every student, you know, together at every school.
Speaker B:But it's like, man, I tell them, don't come here trying to be the best barber in one day in.
Speaker B: In: Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:Focus on, you know, the, the success of being a barber stylist and not the quick fix, if you will.
Speaker B:So, yo, hopefully that answers your question, man.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was good.
Speaker A:So, all right, so we got kind of the vibes on the, on the, like, the teaching and like, your story kind of leading up here.
Speaker A:I took us on a little side trip to talk about the.
Speaker A:The students and the state of things in terms of that.
Speaker A:So let's get back on to your.
Speaker A:Your story.
Speaker A:So you open up your school, your.
Speaker A:And we also introduced you here.
Speaker A:I got.
Speaker A:You got.
Speaker A:Here we go.
Speaker A:Musician and a clothing line.
Speaker A:Tell us about that.
Speaker B:Okay, so I play drums and keyboards professionally.
Speaker B:Travel the world doing it.
Speaker B:I still do it full time.
Speaker B:Kind of got that.
Speaker B:Inherited that from my dad.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:My dad played the organ for a lot of the gospel greats back in the day.
Speaker B:You know, he was with and around, you know, Thomas Dorsey, you know, it goes back as far as that.
Speaker B:James Cleveland, Albertina Walker, Douglas Miller.
Speaker B:I mean, my dad played for a lot of the greats back in the day.
Speaker B:Milton Bronson, Levon Whitley Corinthians.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So he traveled a lot as well.
Speaker B:So my musicianship comes from my dad.
Speaker B:And my nephew is not like one of my nephews.
Speaker B:My oldest nephew, Clemens Poindexter, he played drums for Khalid.
Speaker B:My youngest nephew, Jermaine Poindexter, played drums for LMA.
Speaker B:So Clem been with Khalid for the last 10 years.
Speaker B:Jermaine been with Ella May for the last eight years.
Speaker B:So you guys just look out for those guys.
Speaker B:Those are my nephews who play for them.
Speaker B:They travel the world as well.
Speaker B:So that kind of correlates into when I would go out the country on tour.
Speaker B:Guess who was the barber on tour?
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:So I was making money not only playing my instrument, but I was also making money cutting hair on tour.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So a lot of people come in town, such as the Justin Timberlakes or you know, Bobby Brown and all of them, they come in town, you know, they'll call me in order to come cut hair, you know, wherever they are, whether it's the United center or the Horseshoe, wherever that is.
Speaker B:You know, basically I'm able to service those people.
Speaker B:So there's a correlation in everything that I have going on.
Speaker B:So, you know, a musician and some people may say, man, you got a lot going on but there's a correlation behind it, right?
Speaker B:We, I, I love to dress, you know, I think I dress pretty dope, you know, my shoe gear, my cologne, all of this kind of stuff, man.
Speaker B:So with that it's almost like, why, why shouldn't I have a shoe and clothing line?
Speaker B:Because people are going to look at me, you know, so I can use it for my smocks, my capes, for my shirts, for comfortable shoes because we're standing up all day.
Speaker B:So that's kind of how my shoe and clothing line was, you know, how that came about along with my hair care product.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So who better than to talk about folliculitis, which is, you know, the bumps and ringworms and, and you know, most guys, you know, wash their face with soap, which you shouldn't do.
Speaker B:So you know, opening up the pores, closing the pores when you're shaving, you know, while we get hair bumps, the over curly hair versus the round sale hair.
Speaker B:So you know, with people that has dread.
Speaker B:So I, I talk about and I educate people on products.
Speaker B:So that's why I have the product line.
Speaker B:Then you have, you know, I have stores, I have shops inside of Walmart's, right.
Speaker B:Which is the biggest box store in the world.
Speaker B:So you know, Walmart, so when they get done with barber school or if they want to do internship, they can work for me inside of the Walmart, which is not a booth rental situation, it's a commission situation where they become W2 employees for my locations in Walmart.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So why does that make sense?
Speaker B:It goes back to me saying I'm setting them up to succeed.
Speaker B:Most people in the industry who pay bluefront, they're never going to be 100 with Uncle Sam about what I made this year in cash.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Nobody's gonna be.
Speaker B:With that being the case, it's almost like I want to get ahead of it because I talked to them about, you know, what are you going to retire to when you can't, when you can't cut hair or when you decide that I want to stop cutting Hair.
Speaker B:What did you invest in?
Speaker B:Did you do a 401k?
Speaker B:Did you start your own corporation?
Speaker B:Did you.
Speaker B:Were you paying taxes?
Speaker B:Were you paying into Social Security and Medicare and all of that kind of stuff?
Speaker B:So without using the word force, I want to say, you know, working inside of my Walmart, my Walmart locations, I forced them to become taxpaying citizens.
Speaker B:I forced them to be able to have Aflac if they can't work and they still can get paid or, you know, pay into a 401k.
Speaker B:So that way they decide, I can't stand up all day anymore and cut hair, I can't stand behind a chair.
Speaker B:You know, what can I do?
Speaker B:That's why I kind of pay it forward and kind of have them doing that.
Speaker B:And then I have a trade school, which is automotive, diesel, aviation, H Vac, appliance repair school, where it's a trade where a robot can't cut your hair, a robot can't fix your car, a robot can't, you know, fix your H Vac, and a robot can't fix your appliances.
Speaker B:So I kind of stayed within the realm of, of trade and vocational because a lot of people aren't really trying to go to college, which is not the worst thing in the world.
Speaker B: you know, I always say I'm in: Speaker B:So way back when, you know, I was studying up on business and corporations and how to start my own companies and not for profits and things to that degree, which I also have a non for profit, which that's how I run.
Speaker B:My school is inside of Cook County Jail here, which I've been in for 15 years now.
Speaker B:I'm the first person to ever open up a school inside of a county jail.
Speaker B:And I made history doing that.
Speaker B:And I do it totally complimentary, which is why, you know, ask people for donations to kind of go toward that.
Speaker B:I'm also an adjunct for the city colleges, which is still Barbara, and Cosmetology School, along with I'm in the middle school now and also opening up inside of some high schools, the CPS schools as well, man.
Speaker B:So there's a correlation between everything that I'm doing, which when people say that I'm doing too much or I'm doing a lot, it all works together hand in hand.
Speaker B:You know, if, if they, if they go to jail and they don't finish, if they, if they go to jail they can start my barber school in jail.
Speaker B:If they get out of jail before they finish, they can finish in the world with me.
Speaker B:When they finish barber school, they can go work for me inside of Walmart.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:If they need products, they can use my product.
Speaker B:If they decide, hey, I want to go to trade school or do this, they can go to my trade school.
Speaker B:So everything's worked together hand in hand, man, and I'm really excited about it, you know, so thanks, thanks for asking about that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, so it's just like you're creating this giant ecosystem and that is brilliant.
Speaker A:And so I, I have a couple of questions.
Speaker A:So can you tell me what this.
Speaker A:You said you're going into middle or high schools.
Speaker A:And what does that mean is like, can you explain, like, the high level overview of like, how that works and what that means?
Speaker B:Okay, so not only do I do career fairs in the high schools, but I have, you know, high schools are understanding now because back in the day.
Speaker B:So I'll be 52 this year.
Speaker B:And back when I was a teenager, they had barber school and cosmetology school and high schools as a vocational trade.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So they pretty much snatched it and took it away because.
Speaker B:But the enrollment is really, really low and in high schools now.
Speaker B:And so they're calling me and contacting me because it's like they want to do it again, but they really don't have a funding in order to do it.
Speaker B:So what it's allowing me to do, it's allowing me to put my name on it.
Speaker B:Like my name is on Cook County Jail.
Speaker B:My name is on the juvenile.
Speaker B:The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Which means that I then could, you know, ask for donations and ask for, you know, get grants and things to that degree, even though I haven't really gotten any grants like that.
Speaker B:But I believe that it's just a matter of time before I'm able to get grants and stuff like that to help me to fund those programs.
Speaker B:So when I say I'm in the schools, meaning that I literally have my barber school inside of these schools where they can pretty much start.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:But then the other side of that, if, if they don't finish in high school, then they can finish at my school on outside, basically we're just transferring the transcript.
Speaker B:And the difference between them, like they can go to my school at 16 years old as a vocational program, but the only problem is, is that they would either have to pay for it out of their pocket or they would have to wait until, you know, they turn 18 to be able to qualify for financial aid, which I have financial aid.
Speaker B:Like a regular title for university.
Speaker B:Title 4, like regular 4 university.
Speaker B:Also.
Speaker B:I am the only barber school who provide housing.
Speaker B:So I have people that, that comes from out of town that lives in my housing units and also have buses and, and vans where, you know, I have transportation as well for, for financial aid.
Speaker B:So that way, you know, I mean for, for my barber school.
Speaker B:So that way, you know, I can just kind of take care of every aspect of them wanting to come from out of town or even them being here, man.
Speaker B:And again, that's just me thinking forward.
Speaker B:Like, I don't want to give no excuse to anybody who wants to come to barber school, but feel like I can't even get there or I don't have anywhere to live because believe it or not, man, I deal with a lot of people who are homeless and you don't even know it.
Speaker B:They're living out of their cars or they're living from one friend's house or one family member's house to another.
Speaker B:So why not hook them up?
Speaker B:Because their financial aid has a housing allowance.
Speaker B:So why not hook them up to be able to stay on campus and go ahead.
Speaker A:So this is, I'm so curious.
Speaker A:So, so is this.
Speaker A:You said title four university.
Speaker A:So is that different than like your kind of average hair.
Speaker A:Hair trade?
Speaker A:Hair school is like they offer the.
Speaker A:So, so when you get financial aid and say like, I'm going to Robert's Beauty School, all right?
Speaker A:And I, it's.
Speaker A:I go in there and they're like, oh, you can get financial aid.
Speaker A:We're accredited.
Speaker A:And, and there's like, okay, great.
Speaker A:And they're like, it's $20,000.
Speaker A:And, and then it's like, are you saying that in that I can also apply to get.
Speaker A:Or a person can get.
Speaker A:How is that in addition to the tuition or does it depend on the tuition size?
Speaker B:It's an.
Speaker B:So it's an addition to.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So no matter what you charge in tuition, there's still a housing allowance within your tuition.
Speaker B:So beauty schools and barber schools is a clock hour school, unlike a four year university, where.
Speaker B:Right, so it's the same except for a four year university is it's semesters versus clock hours for a beauty or barber school.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:So with us they just have to meet both Pell award years.
Speaker B:And when they meet both Pale award years, because we are clocked hour school, you know, there's only so much money that they can exhaust for those two pale award years before a Four year university.
Speaker B:Of course, every year entails something different if they're in school for four years, so to speak.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:So you have a certain amount of money that, that we have for pale.
Speaker B:But then the other money is subsidized, unsubsidized loans and so on and so forth.
Speaker B:But the difference between somebody going to the bank to get a loan versus us being accredited and having title four means that they're guaranteed to get the loans just as long as their EFC is what it needs to be and the income and all of that kind of stuff through the family or themselves individually.
Speaker B:So that's the difference.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I, I love that.
Speaker B:So that's just me taking advantage of the situation was like, man, look, I don't want nobody not to come to school because, you know, they don't, they don't have anywhere to live or because they can't get back and forth to school.
Speaker B:And people thought I was crazy 15 years ago when I'm buying buses or I'm telling the banks, hey, I want to buy property so that way I can be able to have housing.
Speaker B:And boom, what did I do?
Speaker B:I did it on my own.
Speaker B:And making the financial institutions like, oh my God, how did you do that?
Speaker B:I'm like, I tried to tell you guys, but y' all wouldn't listen to me, right?
Speaker B:So, you know, I did it anyway, man.
Speaker B:And, you know, you got so many people who, you know, they get out of barber school or so many people that want to have their own barbershops and their own barber schools and beauty schools and they want to have sweets when, hey, go and serve first, man.
Speaker B:Go work up under somebody first.
Speaker B:Everybody want to have their own.
Speaker B:But, man, you know, from a spiritual aspect, man, it says in the Bible, man, that many are called, but few are chosen.
Speaker B:You know, everybody is not, it's not in your wheelhouse to own your own barbershop or beauty school or barber school or, you know, have your own suite.
Speaker B:It's not, it's not for everybody, man.
Speaker B:And I always tell people, if you don't have enough clientele to run your shop on your own, then I feel like you don't need to open up a shop because if you do, you're now depending on other operators to be able to handle your, your day to day, you know, and you don't want to have to depend on anybody else, man.
Speaker B:Then you set yourself up for people to take advantage of you as well, right?
Speaker B:Because they'll figure that you need us.
Speaker B:So if you need Us, we basically can do whatever we want to do.
Speaker B:So if you want to hold your shop to a certain standard, but you need these people to pay, pay you boof friend.
Speaker B:And help you to keep this shop open.
Speaker B:It's almost like you kind of let them get away whatever they want to get away with because otherwise you couldn't survive it.
Speaker B:You know, if they make any sense.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's like the roommates that you, you hate but you need to pay, help you pay the rent.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's good.
Speaker A:Okay, so.
Speaker A:All right, this is like so fascinating and I like the whole, the whole situation with the school stuff.
Speaker A:So what about the, so the school, the part where you're in the middle schools and the high schools, is that part of the non profit portion of your organization?
Speaker A:That's like from the same thing as the, as the correctional facilities are, are also.
Speaker A:Okay, cool, got it.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So it's a subsidiary of.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So I started the non for profit.
Speaker B:So that way, you know, because me like, like I hate the back to school haircut stuff, man.
Speaker B:I'm sorry.
Speaker B:I do because so many people reach out for this one day out of the year.
Speaker B:When I do this, I do free, free services every fourth Tuesday of the month.
Speaker B:That's just what I do.
Speaker B:You know, I solicit and allow, allow grammar schools to come in on a regular basis as often as they want to give to let them allow them to get their, their students free services whenever they'd like to.
Speaker B:Because I don't want to just wait until back to school in order to do this.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So the non for profit pretty much serves as that hub also to do the free services inside of the, the correctional facilities and inside of the middle schools and inside of the high schools because there's really no funding for that.
Speaker B:But you have people who, you know.
Speaker B:And it's also to help cut down on the recidivism as far as jail and juvenile is concerned along with, you know, helping to create alternatives to violence.
Speaker B:Which is why I went in and did that, man.
Speaker B:So I don't get paid to be there.
Speaker B:A lot of people think that I do, but I haven't gotten paid a penny to be inside of the, the correctional facility, man.
Speaker B:Which is, you know, is what I use my non for profit for.
Speaker A:So I mean this is, I mean, I mean that's like God's work, dude.
Speaker A:It's like, yeah, you know, you're going in, you're taking, you know, helping people find another way and then also not just let, let and be like, okay, you're, you're out now.
Speaker A:Good luck.
Speaker B:Right, right, right, right.
Speaker B:And then I also use my not for profit man for life coach, mentorship, mental health, substance abuse.
Speaker B:We have the GI Bill for the veterans, right?
Speaker B:So all of my schools have the GI Bill where, where they will, you know, pay the veterans tuition, they'll pay for them housing, they'll give them housing allowance, you know, all of that stuff, man, through the GI Bill.
Speaker B:And we work with the senior citizens as well, so we'll go to the senior homes and stuff like that, man.
Speaker B:You know, homeless people.
Speaker B:I just don't want nobody left behind, man.
Speaker B:And I think that, you know, we have to position ourselves to be able to do that, which is why I established the, the non for profit in order to be able to hopefully get some grants and stuff that will help then facilitate all of these programs that I've done.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:Okay, so this is an amazing, and we are, I mean, this story is incredible and I, I'm, I, I know that there's so much more conversation I want to have and so many more questions, but I, I would be remiss if I did not ask you about the credit union.
Speaker A:And you know, so I think as to, you know, to finish up this conversation, I think that's a great place to, to pull, to like kind of end it on.
Speaker A:So tell us about the credit union, your why behind it.
Speaker A:I mean, I feel like you've kind of alluded to it a little bit and what we've been talking about already.
Speaker A:But just could you give us, yeah, like, what's your why?
Speaker A:Where are you at in the process?
Speaker A:I'm like, you know, I'll have questions along the way, I'm sure.
Speaker B:Okay, that's a great question.
Speaker B:So my why behind the credit union?
Speaker B:You know, unfortunately, being a African American, you know, it's more difficult for us to, you know, go to the banks and say, hey, you know, I need to get a loan for $100,000 or $50,000 and so on and so forth.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And I'm like, there has to be a solution as to why or as to how to, to gain funding in order to be able to facilitate, you know, my objectives or my dreams or my goals and stuff like that.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:But along with that, I didn't understand back in the day why it was taking me so long to get, you know, where I'm getting and where I'm going now.
Speaker B:But even though, you know, I'VE always been a good steward of finances, and I've always been a, you know, a hard worker.
Speaker B:And the sweat equity, you know, what I've learned from my dad always say, you know, he's my hero, man, because I watched him.
Speaker B:But there were days where, you know, instead of paying a rent, you know, I bought rims for my truck when I was 19, 20 years old, and, you know, putting sounds in my car, but I wasn't paying the utilities.
Speaker B:You know, I would pay them, but I just knew that I would be able to make the money.
Speaker B:But I kind of, you know, didn't have everything aligned, man.
Speaker B:So where I'm going right now, I just really believe, you know, God wanted to position me better to be able to handle where I'm going, so that way I wouldn't screw it up, which is why it took so long, right?
Speaker B:So the credit union basically is.
Speaker B:Is in order to.
Speaker B:To have products for the people not only in the music industry, but for the hair care industry.
Speaker B:Because again, we don't have any exit strategies.
Speaker B:We don't have any end game is what I call it, right?
Speaker B:So me understanding why it was difficult then, not just being African American and it being a little bit more difficult to get the certain loans and stuff I needed, but also, you know, my paperwork wasn't aligned the way the paperwork needed to be aligned.
Speaker B:And why is that?
Speaker B:It was because of the fact that I made cash money.
Speaker B:I might have made a hundred thousand dollars, but I.
Speaker B:I didn't have the paperwork to show that I made a hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So not really understanding that.
Speaker B:More so than, you know, the fact that, man, you know, like for, for instance, you know, I'm great, Bill.
Speaker B:I think I believe that on First Barber School, that's ready to build the school from the ground up, right?
Speaker B:I've already been approved for it.
Speaker B:I'm building it, so.
Speaker B:And I told the banks, I said, hey, you know, I could do this, but they're looking at me.
Speaker B:You just cut hair, right?
Speaker B:I said, no, it's more than just cutting hair.
Speaker B:But they took the time to understand what I did.
Speaker B:They took the time to ask the questions.
Speaker B:They took the time to, you know, make sure that everything was aligned, that needed to be aligned for them to approve a multimillion dollar deal for me to be able to build a school from the ground up, right?
Speaker B:And it was like, okay, you got your stuff together, right?
Speaker B:So with that being said, a credit union for the music industry and for the hair care industry, which will be a federal credit Union which will encompass the United States.
Speaker B:With that being said, they'll have somebody who understand their industry and will be able to take the time and say, hey, Robert, you know, you want to get a loan, Open up a barber school.
Speaker B:But through my experience, this is what it'll take.
Speaker B:So, you know, get this together and then you can come back or, hey, I want to buy a car, I want to buy a house.
Speaker B:Okay, well, you can come to my credit union that you have your money in and let me help you and show you how you need to get prepared versus just saying shunning you off.
Speaker B:No, man, we can't give you no loan and all.
Speaker B:You don't need to open up no barbershop or no, you don't need to open up no barber school.
Speaker B:I'm able to help facilitate that because I'm able to educate you on what you need to do.
Speaker B:You know, go to the barbershops and salons, you know, start your own corporation, set yourself up like this, make sure your credit is in order from this aspect.
Speaker B:And then when you get these things together, then come on back and then we can loan you the money along with, hey, set up a 401k plan, set up some Aflac, set up something that when you can't cut hair and when you can't do hair anymore, then you can go into being an instructor or you can go into, you know, your 401k and all of these investments and things that the products that I'll have available through the credit union, man.
Speaker B:So that's why I wanted to open up a credit union, so that people that deserve yeses cannot.
Speaker B:There won't be so many no's, if you will.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B: he beginning of the summer of: Speaker B:I can take donations for the credit union right now, but I'm not able to open up accounts because I'm not at that phase yet.
Speaker B:But I'm.
Speaker B:I'm up on the last phase of opening up the credit union and then we'll be able to take, you know, open up accounts and stuff like that, man.
Speaker B:So I'm really excited about LBC Federal Credit Union.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That this is exciting.
Speaker A:So tell me a little bit, like just, you know, I'm sure there's a lot, but like, what type of stuff that goes into opening a credit union that have been, let's just say your top, your biggest Challenges so far with or, or not challenges.
Speaker A:Let's just say the biggest challenges is a good word.
Speaker B:Challenges, a great word, right?
Speaker B:It's a great word because in essence, opening up a credit union is not just somebody saying, hey, Larry is opening up a credit union.
Speaker B:So let me open up my own credit union.
Speaker B:I've been working on this for some years, man.
Speaker B:And it was really pretty much, you know, tying up the loose ends and, and, you know, getting surveys done and, and having, you know, different organizations saying, hey, you know, we want to be a part of your credit union.
Speaker B:And you know, it was a lot of that.
Speaker B:They want to know how much money can you put in, you know, who, who are your partners, all of these things.
Speaker B:And you.
Speaker B:And people have to believe in you enough to be willing to give you letters of support.
Speaker B:Like big organizations or churches, you know, from the music aspect or, or barbers or barber schools or hair schools, cosmetology schools and barbershops and things to that degree.
Speaker B:I had to get support letters.
Speaker B:I had to get, you know, just, just financials, like how much money are you putting in and get people to do surveys, right?
Speaker B:So if people don't believe in you and if they don't feel like, hey, you know, this is worth doing, you're not going to get these support letters to even get from phase one to phase two and so on and so forth.
Speaker B:So there was a lot of challenges, man, you know, just really getting people to follow through with the support letters and organizations and they have to give their bylaws and all of this kind of stuff.
Speaker B:So you're asking, you know, major corporations to give you their bylaws or to give you support letters, right, for something that could come back and bite them in a butt, if you will, you know, so there definitely were some challenges, but I believe that the challenges only came to make me stronger and to make sure that I can withstand, you know, the things that will be coming, you know, later on in the future, man.
Speaker B:And basically, you know, I like to often tell people that, you know, people think that we're only so good, you know, we're just as only so good as working with our hands, man, when at the end of the day, you know, I have a lot of education behind, you know, it might not have been me going to a four year university in college, but, you know, I'm very knowledgeable, I'm very intelligent.
Speaker B:Not only in the hair care industry, but I'm very intelligent and knowledgeable in business.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:I understand the, you know, the LLCs the different LLCs and the C Corps and the S Corps and the 501C3s and things to that degree which I educated myself on.
Speaker B:And I know how to talk around any type of round table.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So it can be a professional round table, it can be a roundtable in the hood.
Speaker B:You know, I have a balance.
Speaker B:You know, I've cut the NBA ball players, football players from the NFL, major league baseball players, people in Hollywood, people in the music industry.
Speaker B:So I've had opportunity to be on many platforms, I've had the opportunity to service very high end clients, if you will.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So I feel like I, I've encompassed or I've, I've landed on, you know, in many circles that, that people who, you know, they're the new, they're the new generation where they want it right now.
Speaker B:But man, I put some work in.
Speaker B:I put some work in.
Speaker B:So people see me now, but they don't know out of 33 years of being in business, you know, I just now start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker B:The last 10 years, right.
Speaker B:Because of where I'm going, because of where I want to go and what I want to do.
Speaker B:You know, it's not just as easy as, okay, I went to barber school for a year, so now I deserve to open up my own barbershop or I went to barber school, I've had a barber shop for one year, so now I deserve to be able to open up a barber school.
Speaker B:And I'm only 22 years old.
Speaker B:Like, come on, man, you got to put some skin in the game in order to be able to get to your next.
Speaker B:That's why I always talk about we have to be careful.
Speaker B:We don't allow our gift to take us a place that our character can't handle.
Speaker B:Man, you know, you got to go through it, but it's how you deal with what you go through it that determines how you come out on the other side.
Speaker A:So, yeah, that's just so good.
Speaker A:This, this has been a pleasure hearing about everything you're, you're doing.
Speaker A:I'm excited.
Speaker A:The credit union, is there anything else that's coming up that we should be watching, looking out for or maybe like some like last words to wrap it up as we kind of come up on our time here.
Speaker A:But it's just in general, I would say that this has been a real pleasure and so insightful and I'm sure there are so many people that are going to get value out of this because the show is really like, for People who have that entrepreneurial spirit.
Speaker A:And so this has been so good.
Speaker A:But yeah, like I want to give you like, you know, you have.
Speaker B:So I've written a couple books, man.
Speaker B:You can find me on Amazon.
Speaker B:First book was Suicide is Not the Answer.
Speaker B:The second book was out of the Ashes I Rise.
Speaker B:So I did write a couple books.
Speaker B:I've been on like, man, probably most TV, you know, most mainstream TV channels.
Speaker B:I just did something for ABC 7.
Speaker B:So that documentary slash, whatever else they're talking about they're going to do will be out for Black History Month which will be in February where, you know, I'm talking about, you know, black hair, so to speak.
Speaker B:So that was pretty good.
Speaker B:I'm working on reality shows as well.
Speaker B:I want to do that eventually.
Speaker B:Something I've been working on for some years, man.
Speaker B:So I would say stay tuned for, you know, I'm going to open up inside of another Walmart and I'm, I'm just non stop, man.
Speaker B:You know, I'm non stop.
Speaker B:I'm trying to do things but this is not for myself gratitude more so for to make sure the people, you know, I believe in help the people who help you.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And this is more so for the people who, who are wanting to go to the next level.
Speaker B:And you know, some people are like rocket boosters.
Speaker B:I often talk about, I talked about in my meeting today.
Speaker B:A rocket booster is designed so that way it can take you up so far but then it drop off so the rocket could keep going to the higher height.
Speaker B:As long as the rocket booster is still on, it can't really, you know, get up because that rocket, rocket booster, so to speak, hanging, it's kind of low fruit hanging them down.
Speaker B:And you're gonna have that, you know, the rocket boosters are going to fall off, man.
Speaker B:But I believe in, you know, higher and slow and firing fast unfortunately man.
Speaker B:And I believe and you know, I'm not just your typical average barber school or you know, the company, so to speak, man.
Speaker B:We have regular weekly meetings.
Speaker B:I call them power that be meetings.
Speaker B:I have a creative ops team, you know, somebody to govern and run my emails and my social media and you know, my instructors have weekly meetings.
Speaker B:We have stand down.
Speaker B:So I just do things, man, so people can know we are high echelon, that we are corporate America, man.
Speaker B:We not just ah, they just cut hair.
Speaker B:You're going to stop looking at me as ah, he just cut hair.
Speaker B:More so than I'm a professional.
Speaker B:I'm a Tom Sorrel artist, man.
Speaker B:But our Postures need to look the part and they need to be, you know, we need to look like who we say we are, man.
Speaker B:And that's what I try and do, you know, unfortunately, you know, in our demographic and when our ethnicity, you know, a lot of us, man, are, are looked down upon or deemed as.
Speaker B:That's where they're kicking in that, you know.
Speaker B:And Robert, honestly, and this is not to pass judgment on anybody else, man, but, you know, I don't have the stories of, you know, drinking and smoking and using drugs, you know, you know, I've never done none of that stuff, man.
Speaker B:You know, that's my choice, right?
Speaker B:You know, I'm, I'm, I'm that athlete, man.
Speaker B:I still play basketball and baseball and football and softball and squash and racquetball and, you know, I can, at 52 years old, I can give you 50 push ups, man.
Speaker B:So I talk about health, you know, I, I'm example for health.
Speaker B:I'm, I'm, I'm example for, you know, hey, this is the way I choose to live my life, man, because I want to live long, I want to live healthy, and I want to be an example for the people who sit in my chair, man.
Speaker B:So if nothing else, people can gravitate from, you know, me not doing those things.
Speaker B:It's more so than, man, you know, I just don't want to be a statistic out there where, you know, this took me down, man, or I can't come in and service you today because I'm sick off this, that and the other man.
Speaker B:So I just try and be an example, man, the best positive example that I can be.
Speaker B:You know, I love God, you know, I don't care, man, what faith you are, what religion, you know you want to be, man.
Speaker B:I just feel like as a people, I want to love everybody, you know, race, color, creed, whatever the case may be, man.
Speaker B:I think that we're all brothers and sisters, man, and we should be able to get along and, and walk this race, man, and run this race together, man.
Speaker B:So, you know, man, it's not about the battle, man, but it's about, it's about winning a war, you know, And I think together, you know, we can win a war, man.
Speaker A:So, man, I love this.
Speaker A:This has been so good.
Speaker A:I want to thank you so much for your time, and I really hope to have you on again in the future.
Speaker A:And I'm really going to keep an eye out and watch and anytime that you're doing anything and you want to get the word out, please we will definitely share it with our folks as well.
Speaker B:Thank you, Robert.
Speaker B:I appreciate you having me on, man.
Speaker B:It was a pleasure.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:All right, Will.
Speaker A:Until next time.
Speaker A:Take care.
Speaker B:You too, man.
Speaker B:Later.
