Meet Luis Negrete

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Negrete.  

Luis, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was a freshmen in High School when I grew Interest in cutting hair; every day after school, I would watch a new haircut tutorial on youtube. I always thought to myself that there was no difference between the YouTubers & I, so if anyone else was doing it, I could as well. 

I worked in my dad’s Painting company to save up for my first pair of clippers, I remember the first day I got them, and I went in the bathroom to cut my own hair & made a huge mess but since the YouTubers made it seem so easy I was eager to try it myself, I messed up my hair so bad I had to wear a hat the following day at school… Haha. 

I grew up with 2 sisters & me being the only boy, I couldn’t find nobody to practice on but my dad. 

I was stuck in a rut since nobody would let me practice on them until My barber at that time took a picture of me pretending to be doing a haircut he did himself; it was a clean fade with a slick back; the next day, I showed all my boys that picture to try & finesse my way into getting their trust and still no one believed in me until my friend “Jr” was convinced by the picture, I told him I would give him a free haircut & he let me practice on him. 

The haircut was decent & I posted that haircut on all my social media promoting my barber services; I was only 14 years old, and at the time, I didn’t know it yet, but that right there was the beginning of where my career started. 

For 4 months straight I would keep trying to convince people at school to let me cut their hair for free; every single haircut within those 4 months were free. 

Once I started seeing 3-5 people weekly, I put the price at $3 & within weeks, I went up to $5 & the $8, people on social media saw my consistency, and I started gaining more clientele; it was during the summer of 2018 when I grew most of my clientele, which was all through social media & Word of Mouth. 

All of my cuts I would do in my parents’ front porch, so you could imagine how hot it would get. 

I went up to $10 and stayed there for a while; by this time, everyone in school knew I was a barber, even my Teachers; my Teachers would ask me to bring my clippers to cut their hair during class; that was a big moment for me since most of the school found out about that it helped my business a ton & I got the trust from many people at school it grew my clientele even bigger. 

My dad helped me build a small shed in the back of our home since I was starting to see a lot more clients, and since it was a more comfortable environment, I decided to go up to $15. I was very nervous for that price point because at that time only the Licensed barbers in my area were charging that price, Luckily business kept booming, and I kept gaining clientele. 

2020 the pandemic comes, and I had to make a choice between High school or Barber school; I knew if I wanted to keep expanding, I needed to get my barber’s License, so I spoke to my school counselor, and she helped get my remaining credits left through a small course & that helped me get in barber school a 16 years old. 

It took me 10 months to get my 1528 hours in barber school; during my time in school, I went up to $20-$25 since it was harder to access my services, I was so busy with both schools, but I was finally able to graduate high school June of 2021 and the following week I graduated from barber school. 

Summer 2021 I was 17 at the time, and since I was official now, I decided to bump my prices to $30 when I got to a barbershop, But I was so used to being a private barber that it felt wrong working for someone else’s barbershop paying $250 a week for a chair wasn’t worth it for me. 

I had some money saved up, and I spent all of it to build a bigger building where I cut hair now from. I love this shop, and so do all my clientele. 

Since the moment I left the barbershop, I went up in prices from $30 to $50 And then from $50 to $75 all in a span of 12 months. It took me 3 years to go from $3 – $25 and on my 4th year, I tripled my income with the help of my mentor @Dlucs_ He taught me the ins & outs of how to properly scale my business to higher price points without losing all of my clientele. 

Scaling my business was not easy; I lost a lot people on the way and had a lot of people talking behind my back all for trying to better myself and my future, It would cause anxiety at times and a lot of overthinking, but thankfully that has made me a stronger person today, I knew the challenge of scaling is far more worth it than it was to stay complacent at $30. My next goal is to go up to $100 a cut and become an exclusive barber for a group of clientele. I still have work to do to get there, but I know it will get done. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The hardest step when opening a business is making the choice of whether you want to open it or not. Of course, it is the toughest when you first open, but all it takes is getting your foot through the door to start figuring things out on the way. I truly believe that when you really want something you become obsessed with that one thing, and being obsessed will help you figure things out on your own or get you to help you need to get it done. 

My main struggle was finding clientele to practice on, but I was obsessed with being a good barber, so I had to figure out one way or another how to get the first person in the chair. 

Being well-known in High school & staying consistent with posting on my socials made the road a lot smoother. 

I did have to sacrifice a lot of time to socialize just so I could grow in my career, sometimes, I would feel all alone, but when you’re growing that’s how it’s supposed to feel, so when I came to peace with that fact, everything was more smooth. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a Professional barber that specializes in getting the right haircut for a customer’s head shape so it can last them the longest and grow the healthiest. I’m known as one of the best barbers in my city & the quality standards I set on all the haircuts I do. 

Something I’m very proud of is that I never given up after many setbacks and a lot of overthinking. I’m still here, and I plan to continue to achieve more, set high standards & help others do the same. 

One thing for sure that sets me apart from others is that I respect my clients’ time. If my client has a haircut appointment at 10 am, I’m ready at 9:55 am I notice a lot of barbers are not punctual or organized, and that has allowed me to win more clientele. 

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
It’s all Risky Every Big decision I have made has come with a risk behind it. 

– When I got my first client in the chair, I took the risk of messing up his hair up badly. 

– When I chose Barber School over High School, I risked not getting my high school diploma at all. 

– When I left the barbershop, I risked my clientele not following me to a new location. 

– When I Invested in a mentorship program, all I had was $200 left to my name. 

– When I opened my own Studio, I spent all the money I had saved up. 

There’s always a risk to any choice you make, but that made things interesting for me; it gave me thrill, adventure & excitement. I had to bet on myself every time. It helped me build a mindset of figuring things out on my own, and it made me believe in myself a lot more. 

I wouldn’t be able to live my life peacefully, thinking “What if would’ve done this?” Most people live their whole lives thinking “What If?” All because of the fear of taking a risk; if it wasn’t for the risks I’ve took I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. 

Pricing:

• $75 Haircut
• $85 Haircut & Beard

Contact Info:

• Website: https://getsquire.com/booking/book/luis-fades-selma-1/barber/luis-fades/services
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luisfades/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luisfades1

Image Credits
Francisco Araiza