“Keep ‘em busy,” said Raul Borrego, a barber and owner of ‘So Blendy’.
He is trying to keep young boys busy by teaching them how to cut hair professionally.
“I’ve had kids come in here and tell me that they’d like to learn to cut hair,” said Borrego.
Borrego has been a barber for more than 15 years. Before that, he like many young teenagers, had no plan for his life
“I was kind of doing bad stuff and getting in trouble,” said Borrego.
At the age of 20, he graduated from barber college, got his life on track and opened up his own shop.
“It has always provided for me and my family and we’ve got to go on vacations and do what we like to do its better than being out in the street and doing whatever these kids are doing right now,” said Borrego.
Now he wants to turn his success in to a blessing for other boys on the same path he was once on.
“A different direction to go instead of living the street life,” said Borrego.
These feelings led to him write a post on his social media.
“I guess putting it out there helped them out to come out the box and say that they want to learn,” said Borrego.
The post reads like a challenge, asking young men to take up the burden of what it really means to “hustle”. And he’s already gotten responses.
“It’s gonna be helping out the youth, I’d love to learn how to cut hair,” said Damian Cantu.
Cantu is a 19 year old high school student, with a dream similar to Borrego’s.
“I’d like to open up my own shop and business one day,” said Borrego. “I look up to Raul.”
Borrego says he planning on hosting a workshop sometime after spring break.
“Get them in here show them a couple different haircuts and talk to them, get the barbecue pit going,” said Borrego.
It will be a weekend where the young men can come and shadow any of the barbers at So Blendy.
