The 22 year old who is
from Patience Hill, has been a barber for the last four years. His entire
childhood was enjoyable because he engaged in a lot of outdoor activities such
as fishing and hunting. “If it wasn’t for that I would not be the person that I
am today.”
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Pic 1. Kyheem 'Kye' James
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He was
educated at both the Signal Hill Government Primary School and the Signal Hill
Secondary School. “At secondary school I liked Tech Ed and Physical
Education. However, my favourite
teacher, Ms. Juliet Mercer never really taught me; she was more of a mother
figure. She taught Social Studies but she always looked out for me and gave me
lots of good advice.”His full time barbering
career began in 2018. The business name
Undisputed Cutz Hair and Barber Salon came to life because of his involvement
in the sport of Spear Fishing and his group known as the Undisputed Spear
Fishing Team. In 2018 while he was a
member of the Signal Hill Police Youth Club, the Trinidad and Tobago Police
Service brought a professional barbering school from Trinidad to host
programmes in the Scarborough and Roxborough districts. The course was
scheduled for Sundays. He, however, only found out about the programme after it
started.
“I told the leader I have
to get in but she told me that it was closed off. However, I had the determination
within me to get in and I did. The tutor
of the programme Mr. Donald James said that at the end of the class
he would be selecting two top students and they would receive a chair and a
barbering kit. I immediately told myself, that chair is mine. Throughout the
class I was referred to as being very professional.”
James further stated, “On
the day of the graduation I felt very confident that I was getting the chair.
My confidence was fully boosted when I won the chair and from then I started to
put in the work full time to get as good as I am now.”
His main mission was to
become the best even though while he was in the programme, there was this one
guy who said to him, “You will never be as good as me.” However, while James
was being discouraged, there was another who gave his full support and would
always tell him, “Don’t study them, just do your thing.”
James revealed that he
chose barbering because he loves it. “I
love myself so much, I love to look good, so I love to just share that with
people, I give them the look that I would want for myself. As I like to say, it
is all about where perfection meets satisfaction. It is not just about making
the money. I give a lot of fresh cuts. I want to become the best at what I do
and I can feel the goodness coming.”
In addition to haircuts,
James offers eyebrows and eyelashes services. “I do eyebrows with tint; I start
with a normal fill in and then I add a concealer. I started off doing it one
way and then I eventually implemented my own way of doing it. I intend to offer
more services because I have plans to do so much more, but I am just not able
to do much yet.”
The proud father of a
daughter who is just about one and a half years old says he has varying daily
schedules. “Sometimes my day starts about 10am and ends at 8 pm while other days
it may start at 8am and end at 4pm.”
James has never gotten any
form of financial assistance but there were times when he got additional
opportunities to showcase his business. “One time the Division of Education
held an expo to highlight various businesses and I was able to be a part of
that.”
When James first started
off, he was based at his home and he did house calls. There then came an extra opportunity
to participate in more courses. “The tutor from the police service barbering
course; he messaged me about another course that was costing $4000. I didn’t
have the money but he chose to sponsor me. He also told me that when I come to do
the course to act like if I knew nothing about barbering. I was able to gain the skills of Levels 1 and
2 Barbering at the end of that course. After that I set out to rebrand myself.”
He explained that he
joined the barbering selected few at the Headmasters Dutch Fort location. The
first month for him was rent free and then he had to start paying $300 weekly
for his station. “Everyone liked me but there was this one guy who eventually
showed me his true colours. I remember one day a mother and son came and I
charged her my fee and she paid. My clientele were always impressed and I kept
getting continued business. I even collaborated with a friend named Maya who
was doing hair and we branded our corner, ‘The Wet-Wet Corner’. However, the
same barber who showed his true colours; he started spreading unkind rumours
about me and eventually I contacted the guy who I had done the courses with and
I told him I could no longer stay at Headmasters, and I left.”
Since January of this year
(2022), he has been stationed at Extreme Nails Beauty & Barber Salon,
located at the Port Mall in Scarborough. “It is here that I learned to do the
eyebrows and the eyelashes. I actually learned it all in one day and I can say
with full authority that I learned and mastered it.”
Video 1 - Kye gives a customer a 'fresh cut'
The barber who expresses
himself with utmost confidence states that in the next five years he wants to
have his own barber shop. “It is my dream to be the first mobile barber shop.
As a matter of fact I always walk with my own equipment everywhere I go,
because everything I have is cordless and portable.”
His barbering experience has
not always been a smooth one. He said there were times when he now started, he
used to have problems with his machines because they were faulty and caused the
duration of the haircuts to be longer but he learned to work around the
problems. This motivated him to get better tools so that he could cut the hair
of his clients faster and do better work.
He related some of his
best moments. “My true fulfilment comes from the moment when I finish cutting
someone’s hair and I see that satisfaction on their face. I could remember one
time, I charged a guy $60 for a haircut; he paid $100 and said keep the change.
My clients always say that I give them really good service. There is a lady
from Trinidad who after I gave her a haircut she said, you mean to tell me that
every time I have to get my hair cut I have to come from Trinidad.”
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Pic 2. 'Kye' James the proud barber
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Video 2 - Doing the eyebrows to make her smile
This young ambitious
barber who has been inspired by international barbers such as Vic Blends says
that if he were given the opportunity to become a celebrity barber he would not
let it pass by. “My dad always tells me, any opportunity you get in life, take
and make every use of it.”
For James, the period of
COVID was like a blessing in disguise. “I was able to cut more persons hair in
the village (Patience Hill). A lot of persons used to say they want to get the
neat-neats. I believe that nothing happens before its time and God created
those extra opportunities for me.”
I recognize that he is
very passionate about his trade. “You have to make up your mind to do it. You
might be good at it but if you don’t really love it, you won’t connect with the
clients. Going to the barber shop should be about getting the experience.”
He adds, “I depend on
people spreading the message about my superb services and my Instagram page is
living proof of my work because I usually post lot of videos and pictures.”
Video 3 -"Where perfection meets satisfaction"
James also declares that
he intends to use his barbering service to transform the minds of the young
people. He laments the fact that their thinking is "off" and that their mindset needs
to change.
His word of advice to
those who want to have a career in barbering is to “Put God first; if you don’t
do that, He is not going to create any opportunity. Barbering is a lot of work
and a lot of time has to be put in. Research needs to be done, and you have to
find new and faster methods to set the same results; commit to it and make sure
you love it. Go for your dreams.”
As the interview comes to
a close he says, “I know who I am and what I am about. For me it is nothing
less than changing each head at a time and changing the world one hair cut at a
time. There are other excellent barbers out there but there is only one me, one
Kye, the Undisputed and Trusted Barber.”
Thank you Kye for 'BLOGGIN WITH NEKI'
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