GETTING TO KNOW YOUR LOCO PELOQUEROS

The year was 1996, I was a 20 year old drug addict, a father to a newborn daughter and it seemed like it was just yesterday that I had become a man.  Like so many others living around me in the land of milk and honey, somewhere just off West Los Angeles Avenue, in the City of Moorepark, California, I started to build the foundation of my life, the life that barbering built.  

I began as I suspect every barber does, patiently teaching myself the art of barbering by cutting my own hair.  Partially out of desperation but more importantly because of interest, I continued to study my craft and eventually graduated from my self imposed makeshift apprenticeship moving on to cutting the hair of the neighborhood fellas, family and friends.  By 1997 I had become pretty good, so good in fact that on Friday nights, in front of my grandmothers garage studio, cars filled the street as the neighborhood cats lined up for haircuts.  While “Strutting my Thang” by Ozone played in the background, I cut hair for a modest fee $5.00 & beer.   

    Working as a mason by day and barbering as often as I could, I continued to lay the path to my future often spending nights and weekends cutting hair in different neighborhoods across L.A.  Traveling to Santa Paula, Fillmore, Camarillo carrying my clippers in hand, neighborhoods across Simi Valley organized barber parties, calling for my services- chignon haircuts at a reasonable price.  Eventually my reputation as a good Chicano barber followed me from the streets into the trades.  On a Friday afternoons, job site lights were strung up and a makeshift bench was made for me to continue to hone my craft.  

    In 2004 I decided that despite my reputation for fine haircuts and my time devoted to becoming a mason, Los Angeles and the great state of California held no future for me.  And so the lights were strung up in a garage one last and final time for my final haircut in California…Or so I thought.

    In 2008 the combination of a hot brutal summer spent on an Arizona road crew and the guiding words of my wife, “you either get a contractors license or a barbers license, either way you need a career”, helped me find my way to the All American Barber Academy.  While there, I studied under some outstanding barbers, Russians to be exact. With their help I picked up my barber tools once again, and a few new intercontinental tricks of the trade and my barbers license. 

    Upon graduation I settled in and found my home at legendary The Straight Razor Barbershop.  While serving as the shop Manager, I learned firsthand the importance of great customer service while producing some the finest classic haircuts in the Valley of the Sun.  My time spent inside one of Phoenix’s busiest traditional barbershops allowed me to gain valuable insight and firsthand knowledge of what makes a barbershop and business successful.     

    In March of 2017 I opened the doors to Nippers Clippers Barbershop & Shave Parlor.  A west Phoenix barbershop with a collective lifetime of experience dedicated to the art and lifestyle of classic, old school barbering.  A shop representative of my culture and influences having an old school flavor mixed with the laid back feel of the California lifestyle.  

I am also a proud founding member of Chicano Barber, a collection of Mexican barbers untied by culture and fine craftsmanship, dedicated to promoting Chicano influenced barbers while recognizing and preserving our culture.  We proudly represent our collaboration with a raised brown fist, a symbol inspired by and in tribute to the struggle and solidarity of the Chicano people. 

Together, we actively participate and donate our time with Marvins Mission, a local Phoenix non profit organization,  where we cut the hair for the less fortunate, all the while understanding that each of us is perhaps just a few bad decisions away from a life less blessed.

In closing, I’d like to thank you my customers for your continued patronage, my beautiful wife and daughters for their never ending support and love and most importantly God almighty for the gift of life and this life, a life that barbering built.