#95: How to land Celebrity & Pro-Athlete Clients without Cutting Corners; Mark Baysinger, Celebrity & Pro-Athlete Barber

How did it happen? I'd say, you know, hard work, I think opportunity looks a lot like hard work, right? But also being smart about how you go about that hard work when it comes to learning through your mistakes and actually going through the fire to be able to, when you get to that moment of being able to have that opportunity, I think you're ready for it because you've been practicing every day with the championship mindset. And I believe the championship mindset is really genuinely every day trying to show up and living your purpose.
And impact is one life. Every day is, I think, you know, you're living your mission and that's what it's all about to me.
What's up, guys? Welcome to another episode of the Founder Podcast. Today, we are doing a special episode we got mr mark basinger here on the on the podcast welcome my man appreciate you for having me so it's going to be a little bit different of a look mark is a celebrity barber this guy knows all the people he's been in the nfl mlb nhl we're talking all the leagues.
He's been working down on sets down in L.A., right-hand man of Russell Wilson for a long time. For a long time.
I mean, this guy turned Russell Wilson into ugly, into GQ. I wouldn't say that.
I didn't say that. I said it.
I said it. I said it.
So super excited to have you on the set today. Mark is also a native to here in eastern Washington.
Yes, sir. Grew up in Sunnyside.
Sunnyside. Sunnyside.
Man, so I come from a door-to-door background. That's actually where I got my start selling products door-to-door.
Really? Yeah, and did a lot of work out in Sunnyside. What kind of door to door? I did pest control, home security, automation.
Wow. I'll tell you what, Sunnyside for home security, you know, we knock on people's doors and it was like, it wasn't, hey, have you ever been broken into? It was like, when was the last time you got broken into? Right, right, right.
I try to talk to people in Seattle where I'm from. I'm like, you have no idea where I come from so oh man oh man some of my favorite memories yeah so made it made a lot of money out in the valley i could see i could see the market would be hot that's for sure yeah but that's amazing that's amazing so um when it comes to getting into what you're doing now like how did you make that evolution to becoming what you're becoming and as successful as you're doing it yeah man I think the background to any successful job business hustle whatever you're doing is sales right like you got to know how to go and present yourself be able to get somebody else to view life from your standpoint that's essentially what sales is right like you have something and you look at it you're like yeah i either got this great product service solution you got a problem let me help you identify how this will actually help solve your problems finding the white space yeah finding the white space and so you know anybody that can go out and knock on doors for a living right they can go and do anything that they want right it's funny i don't tell many people this but right out of high school i saw an ad it said $2,500 a month guaranteed they didn't tell me what the job was it's a cutco well a week's long worth of sales training they pull out the vacuum day six i said whoa kirby and guess what i was killing them for a minute.
And at the end of the day, I'll never forget it. People buy from who they like, right? And at the end of the day, I let the vacuum do the talking and I just made their house look really dirty by pulling more dirt pads.
And guess what? About a hundred dirt pads in, they're asking you, so how much does that cost? And uh yeah i think you know you follow a recipe but really when you're passionate not to build rapport for sure in an authentic genuine way and you really care i think uh the sales game is good to people that that actually uh live by that i love it i love it and like i said anybody that knows how to go door to door, sell some sort of product.

I mean, they usually make something of themselves.

Right, right, right.

No, I always say that gave me a firm grip of if you can sell a $2,000 vacuum to people that don't want it,

and they end up buying it just because you end up building that rapport,

and you end up, you know, and the vacuum speaks for itself.

And next thing you know, they want to support you. Yeah, yeah.
And then it taught me a lot about just like, if you can do that, you can do anything. I love it.
Well, sweet, man. So I know we got the clips here.
We do. We want to see a little bit of your work while we have a little barbershop talk.
Yeah. You ready to do that? Let's jump on in, baby.
All right, let's get it. Let's get it.
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Let's go. Thanks for letting me grace you with my skill set of trying to make you look better than what you already are.
It's going to be hard to do, right? I mean, dude, with how good you made Russell look, I'm excited to see what you can do with it. That's funny.
So, dude, tell me a little bit more about your story. So you're from a small town, Sunnyside, right? How does a kid go from Sunnyside to, I with you know professionals athletes everywhere you know you're you're traveling with russell you're cutting yeah julio rodriguez's hair you got a shop in t-mobile park is that right oh it's no longer called t-mobile park yeah yeah and that's t-mobile but it's a barbershop for the players uh that is uh yeah it's a really dope barbershop that they've allowed me to uh be in there for the last eight years which i'm very very very grateful for but yeah to have those type of opportunities with uh if you would have told me that as a kid when i first started that i'd be cutting in a major major league ballpark on game day with some of the best or the greatest ballplayers in the world.

But more importantly, some of the greatest people I've ever met is I would have said you're crazy, you know, but it's happened and I'm very grateful for it.

So bridge the gap for us. How does that happen?

I mean, there's a lot of small town kids out there that just don't realize that they can even get outside of their own town you know right right right right how did it happen i say uh you know i think hard hard work uh i think opportunity looks a lot like hard work right but also being smart about how you go about that hard work when it comes to learning from your mistakes and and actually going through the fire to be able to when you get to that moment of being able to have that opportunity. I think you're ready for it because you've been practicing every day with the championship mindset.
And I believe the championship mindset is really genuinely every day trying to show up and live in your purpose and impact is one life uh every day is i think you're you know you live in your mission and that's what it's all about to me so who instilled that in you uh my mom my i would say my mother my grandparents my grandparents were um you know amazing amazing people pioneers uh my father also he was a was really, really big when it comes to just how to speak to people, just how to respect everyone, but just be a people person at the highest level, something that he always, always ingrained in me. And so as a small kid, we go to Seattle and my mom, she'd be like, where's Marky? And all of a of a sudden they go across the street and i'm talking to some homeless guy sitting on the bench with them you know i think i was doing that like three or four or five years old you know what i mean so it's always been somewhere i've loved people and i love just to get to know people you know i mean so you always had that gift of gab the ability just to go and get to know pretty much? Oh, for sure.
For sure. I always pride myself when it comes to barbershops, right? There's a lot of Latin barbershops or hipster barbershops.
And I call myself the Anthony Bourdain from the barber industry because all walks of life, I think food and hair are two commonalities that most people eat, people eat most people get haircuts right and so you're able to use that as a as a a a bridge to be able to get to know all cultures all walks of life and it's something that i genuinely love about what i do is being able to connect with all walks of life so at what age did you start cutting hair i started I? I started cutting hair when I was 12 years old. Okay.
I picked up the clippers, went to a three-way mirror, and the rest is history is what I like to say. Were you able to perform a fade on yourself? Yes.
Wow, that's pretty impressive. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
No, it was really my dad used to cut my hair. Okay.
And they had a contemporary christian music ministry and they were always practicing and it got to the age about 12 years old where you know at basketball games you know you want to like go for for the game tomorrow my dad didn't have time to cut it every week and so i grabbed the clippers and i was like man let me let me see how i can do and honestly uh the first haircut i ever did on myself i was i was like man i could do this and so i kind of just took it on from there and but i never really thought i'd ever do it as for a living yeah it wasn't something that when barbers weren't very not to say they weren't cool but there was a lot of old barbers that were kind of dying off and a lot of people were going to salons at the time yeah and so you know you tell your dad you're going to beauty school, he about had a heart attack. And yeah, it was really cool to one day.
Is that what they call it, beauty school? It wasn't like barber school? At the time it was beauty school because there wasn't a lot of people going to barber school. So yeah, I'll never forget, I told him about the beauty school and he was like, what? He's like, you don't want to do that, son.
And I was like, oh, man.

But now he's proud.

So he's like, you're going to be hanging with a bunch of women

and probably guys that want to be women.

Right, right, right, right.

At the end of the day, he's proud.

I'll never forget when I started cutting the Seahawks.

It was our family.

We grew up with Seahawks family, right?

Okay.

And so, you know, it wasn't when I didn't get on right away.

I was working in the industry for 10 years. And finally, the year they won the Super Bowl, up with seahawks family right okay and so you know it wasn't when i i didn't get on right away i was

working in the industry for 10 years um and finally the year they won the super bowl uh by the grace of god i was the team barber in new york for the super bowl right so you gotta bridge that gap like how do you just become the team barber in 2013. um tell us about how about how that all went down.

There's obviously

some point, some big

shifting moment where you got the

intro or the connection. How did

that all come to be?

Great question. Honest 3,

again, by the grace of God, but really

to tell you in a short story,

Instagram

came out, right? Brandon Browner just got signed by the Seattle Seahawks played in the CFL and they have the Tri-City Fever here right so I'm cutting some of the Tri-City Fever player here and I'll never forget the day it was the day my grandmother passed and I'm walking in to go basically you know they're around theary and and she's probably two hours away from passing away and i get this notification on my instagram where it's like brenner brown leaves it where he's talking about a picture of me and evander holifield that i just took in vegas i don't know him like that i just took a picture of him yeah and he was like it's my favorite fighter but he didn't really mean much to me at time. My ground was passing away, and I just kind of forgot about it.
And then fast forward, two weeks later, I'm cutting here for the Tri-City Fever. And he comments again, and he's basically saying hello to one of his teammates that he had in the CFO.
And so I'm like, wow, this guy's actually watching my page like this? Like, that's crazy. Like, entire social media was just being kind of introduced to the world.
You know what I mean? Right. And so then they come on a 12-man tour, and he hits me up on Instagram and says, hey, man, I want a haircut.
And pretty much the rest is history. By the grace of God, Earl Thomas was actually cutting dreadlocks off at that time.
And I came up here to cut Brandon, up here I mean Seattle, and the same day I cut Brandon, he's like, yo Earl wants a barber, you mind if I give him your number? And I will never forget that day like it was yesterday. So you telling me you're the guy that cut off his dreads? I'm not, I did not cut off his dreads.
He cut off his dreads right before he got to camp, but I'm the one that gave him his first real taper. I shouldn't say his first.
He's had it when he was in high school, of course. Post dreadlock, and he almost won the defensive MVP, which he should have won the defensive MVP by the way.
They won the Super Bowl. I was in New York.
Actually, Earl flew me to New York to basically cut him for the Super Bowl. And, yeah, the rest is history.
I was at the team hotel the night before the game, and I was cutting Percy Harv and Bobby Wagner. It was just surreal because I grew up as a little boy.
Honestly, like, lovely. Oh, yeah.
I really so. It's not quite like Jeter loving the Yankees and then being the greatest Yankee, but, like, you know, as for a kid from a small town, kids from the same side of Washington, it was something that to this day I'm forever grateful for.
That's awesome. And so then you parlay that in, so you become, you end up being the team barber.
How do you go from there to opening up a shop in T-Mobile? Is it just one connection after another? Well, to be, so I would say that, you know, Felix Hernandez was a huge, huge part in bringing me into the MLB as far as being the team barber.

Once I became the CRS barber, Russell's kind of four-prime

year-round barber,

you get to know a lot of great people.

By the

grace of God,

thank you, Felix, for the

end of time.

I love that guy forever

for the way he stuck his neck out from me and he believed me. And I feel the same way.
Guys like Sam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, for sure, the whole Thomas family. They let me live with them.
And when I was living in Tri-Cities here, I was traveling back and forth. Ended up cutting about 35, 40 players to 53.
And Earl was basically, basically Earl said, man, you can just stay here, bro, and like cut all week to guys. And so I was cutting out the Seahawks facility pretty much three or four days a week.
And Earl gave me a place to live and treat me like family. And they treated my whole entire family like family.
And without him giving me that opportunity, I can't really say I would have been able to like flourish the way I did. And so, you know, if somebody opened up their home like that and actually trust you and love you like that, that it forever, forever means the world to me.
You know, so, I mean, obviously there's a lot of people out there that cut there. You got, you know, sports clips.
You got, you know, cheap end to being a celebrity barber what what would you say that like has set you apart and really made it memorable for these guys where they want to keep using you and referring them referring you to their friends like what about the experience or what about your mentality has really led to that i would say honest to god uh iron sharp and iron right and so being around the guys like the wrestles and the girls and the jams and um the julio like they show you what what it looks like to be a pro to actually push not to compete against any other barbers but my my my my prayer is i don't want to leave anything on the table and what i mean by that is what separates me i feel is simply just genuinely connecting with them first and foremost but i believe my superpower truly like i'm good but but but but but he's really good yeah and what i mean by that is like the gifts of the Holy Spirit and just being able to fellowship with people

from a genuine way.

Some people don't want to be talked to like that spirit.

It doesn't offend me either, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

And I think it's like my prayer every day when I wake up

is like, Lord, I don't know what you need.

I don't know what Chris needs today,

but like flow through me and be, you know,

let me be a vessel of you in a way

that I could never do on my own.

And I think that type of connection and that brotherhood is really what it's all about first let it be right you know what i mean and that's really what i think separates me from i think there's a lot of barbers out there like that but that's really my true i think superpower and why i've been able to do what i do and so i know Offset before we started recording you talked a little bit about how you really helped with the mentality of some of these players like you were almost like a coach or somebody that actually helped get the best out of them. Can you dive into that a little bit more? I wouldn't say that I gotta be very careful right because like at the end of the day these guys are great on their own right but i think just having a small opportunity i don't it's not just players honestly it's it's everyday people that come and sit in my chair i say well i can leave with you from a mindful and purposeful conversation and connection could last way longer than any haircut i could ever do it absolutely and i think that at the end of the day, it might be the smallest of things when it comes to, you know, watching a guy like Cam and Earl, every time, what it looks like to be a true professional to me oftentimes is like, those guys, every time I was either done with the haircut or starting it, they had the massage table being broken down.
They had the iPad in their hands stood in film and it's just like small stories like that that i think sometimes are dope to see how it impacts young players of like you know because people look up to guys like that right yeah for sure like being a true professional on that level bobby wagner is a client of mine to 12 plus years even when he was in la this last year I still flexed him down there once a week to cut his hair because guys like him have truly appreciated what I do for them as well and when it comes to like a connection that a true brotherhood it's something that honestly means more to me than you know anything that I've ever been be able to be a part of because the process of seeing them go from like not babies, but rookie year to all of them. It's pretty special.
So, I mean, yeah, to your point, you've seen these guys emerge and, you know, the thing that separates professional athletes, they have like crazy mindset, work ethic, some, a lot of natural talent or whatnot what what would you say like some of the best lessons that you learned hanging around these type of guys um i would say rhythm of a team i think uh the best in the world leave nothing you chance what i mean by that is if you're gonna diet you're gonna work going to drill, they also care about their appearance. They care about looking sharp and they're checking every box.
And I think when you manifest at the highest level is whenever you feel, you know, the best self. Right.
And so looking good and feeling good to me is a mental health thing. It's not a vanity thing.
Right. And I think at the end of the day, the greatest in the world that I've worked around, they're getting their hair cut consistently.
same time every week. It's not a vanity thing right and i think at the end of the day the greatest in the world that i've worked around they're getting the haircut consistently same time every week it's not midnight one day week they skip two weeks like so they do it they're doing it once a week not everybody but what i'm saying is the greatest in the world they have a written routine where it's a if they get a haircut every thursday it's going to be the same time every thursday unless they have treatment or treatment or something comes up.
So like their, their schedule is so regimented. Does that make sense? Yeah.
Um, it inspires me. You know what I mean? At a very high level to like want to emulate that and be the Michael Jordan of my craft as well.
You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, that kind of goes along the principle that I've always believed is like you one, you got to make the choice.
Nobody likes to be forced into anything. Right.
Like you've got to create the schedule, but then you've got to choose to enslave yourself to your regimen. Right.
Right. And so and it's and it's never like you never deviate from that, no matter how much you feel like not doing it, right? Whether it's the workout or the haircut or the pregame routine or whatever it may be, right? Like you create that and then you just figure out how to be your own, be a slave to yourself, right? You're your own master.
Right, right, right. I think think like I pay very close attention to what hat I'm wearing and in any particular setting I'm in because I love production and I love but also when I'm here to barber I'm here to buzz right and I think like at the end of the day I feel like keeping these clippers in my hand and still staying sharp I couldn't just pick up the clippers every once in a while, say I'm a celebrity barber, you only do a couple cuts.
I wouldn't be as sharp as I need to be, right? Right. So getting in that shop and still grinding it out when I felt like I would have been retired from barber long ago is something that you have to check in every day.
Yeah, yeah. And I think when you check in every day and you don't try to pick and choose when it's going to benefit and when it's not but you just keep showing up and that compound interest that happens over years of doing that is where you see people start to rise when it comes to who the michael jordans of each industry are because there's a michael jordan of every industry right and who are the linchpins of each industry right i think we all can learn things from each other and i think it's cool that through podcasts like this like whether it be just you know a morning routine or a small hack that's changed your life i think it's cool that other people can be impacted like that and be able to adapt that to their life to make a change to you know where they're trying to go in lives love it love over the years, obviously, you've cut a lot of different people's hair.

Who would you say is the most memorable or somebody that you just truly enjoy being around

every time that he's in your seat or she's in your seat?

Oh, man, there's a lot, man.

I don't want to disrespect anyone.

There's too many. But Reggie Jackson is somebody that when he would come into town right the yankees would come into town about four years in a row he would come in and just his energy you know he's iconic right and to be able to sit there and you know trade even just like have him telling your story just even his energy alone of being around him

it's something that i will forever cherish um there's tons of guys that um i will forever ever ever ever cherish but one thing i will say is this i can be in any locker room i think championship locker rooms are infectious right and no wins like my one right but the locker room i was able to come into when it comes to the seahawks and the lov and the years they were winning super bowls when i tell you if you can be in that locker room everything else is candy land oh because it was the dopest i can imagine like looking back on it is like i i'm so grateful that i got to witness just a small piece of it man because it is so special and it will never be created ever again and it was something that will live on for history forever you know you know it's it's interesting the uh the culture is is really the the way that you would describe the so you mentioned the lob for those that don't know what that is that's the Legion of Boom. The greatest secondary part of the greatest defense ever.
That's right. That's right.
They got the camp chancellor, the Earl Thomas, Brandon Browner. Right.
Bobby Wagner. Bobby Wagner.
Good group. Cliff Averill and Michael Bennett were coming off the bench.
Let's just put it that way. That defense 2012.

That was solid.

Anyhow, I'm sorry.

No, you're good, man.

I get pumped.

Those are my guys.

Yeah, yeah.

Those were some exciting years to be a Seahawks fan after so many years of just pounding your head against bricks.

Right, right, right.

But, yeah, it actually, I think it speaks a lot.

Did you get to know Pete Carroll very much?

You know what's funny that you say that is I always tell people, like, you know,

I love you. But, yeah, it actually, I think it speaks a lot.
Did you get to know Pete Carroll very much? You know what's funny that you say that is I always tell people, like, you know, I've cut the Kraken head coach, Dave. I've cut, you know, Mr.
Service. But Pete, I've heard his wife could have said, so first off, you don't even try to test that.
But at the end of the day, Pete was, like, such an iconic. I was, like, a little, like, when I say I cut my teeth in the league, it was with the Seahawks.
So Pete to me was like such an iconic i was like a little like when i said i cut my teeth in the league it was with the seahawks so pete to me was like this i didn't even look his way out because i was so almost intimidated by his aura and i respected him so much that i just wanted to like stay out the way but the crazy part is i didn't get a chance to meet him in that way but i had michael gervais on on the Mark Talks and some of the things he said to me man it meant the world to me because he said you weren't just a barber like that just was cutting on the side like you brought like an energy and it meant the world to me because when you're in it you don't know you know well the cool thing is obviously you were a contributor to some of that culture right like you were helping these guys feel good you good. You know, when guys feel good, they play good.
But yeah, just speaking of Pete, you know, I think Pete is like one of the greatest coaches of all time from a standpoint of just being able to create incredible culture, right? In the locker room, on the sideline, on the game field. And, you know, definitely everything on purpose and by design.
it wasn't just happening because it was. And he's coached championship teams across various leagues, right? Like down at USC and then for the Seahawks and doing it with a multitude and plethora of different types of talents.
Right, he knows how to get the best set of people. And he knows how to put them in their strengths as far as, you know how to identify their strengths and then put them in position so that they play to their strengths, I think.
But the coolest part of Pete that I witnessed was watching guys like Eric Spolster come to the building to come just follow him around or Steve Kerr. And I remember seeing these coaches as I'm cutting hair there and I'm like man the way that he's mentoring all these guys he was the first one with music on at practice now everybody's doing it like his Pete Carroll's a legend forever when it comes to that I think he was the first one at USC before even professional sports had social media.
I think he might have been one of the first ones that had a program on social media. He's just always been revolutionary when it comes to building culture and trying new things in a way that I think is a legend forever.
He's a Hall of Fame coach, you know. So thank you for all you did for Seattle because we would have had to share with us about, you know, you, John, Mr.
Snyder. Like, that's a special, special group.
We were spoiled for a long time. So the new coach came through the barbershop recently.
I think he's a great dude, too. So I'm excited, right? But change is hard because, you know, Pete was special.
Right. So tell us about the new coach.
You had a chance to hang with him a little bit yeah he's a really nice guy man really nice guy i think he's excellent i was like i don't know that's above my pay grade so i won't speak on him like that but as far as the person that he is i think he's a great dude and yeah he's just a very uh he's just a very very uh just really nice really really his energy is great it was amazing i was like man if uh i was excited i'm excited i'm excited so you can uh defer on this question but uh i think the listeners would be interested to know what uh what do you charge an athlete to get his haircut see those are things i can't really talk about because i don't want to i have a a day rate so if you want to find me out of state yeah some people would be like that's a haircut that well I'm not paying for that asset but you're paying for me to be away from my shop for the experience and so and the experience right but also you know like the fees for also that but at the end of the day I think what it comes down to is privacy and being able to trust somebody in your own intimate spaces got it and I think that's what people really pay for is the trust and knowing that they feel comfortable you know you've been in their most intimate spaces for years with them yeah and to bring a new guy into that is especially with the assets and the type of people I work with it's not something something they like to do a lot, you know? Right, right. So, outside of that number, what's the biggest tip you've ever received from any of these guys? Oh, man.
I've made more money working on set, if you put it that way. Okay, what does that mean? So, I do a lot of commercials and production sets, whether it be like, you know, for or for you know the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards but I've been blessed to work with the uh Saudi royal family at one time wow and uh not I shouldn't say with them I should say for uh the jetliners that we were working on but yeah um they flew all their celebrities from Dubai over Yeah, yeah, and it's a little different,'s a little different.
Yeah, I just got back from Dubai last week. How was that? Oh man, it was sweet.
Have you made it over there? Never. Oh my goodness, you gotta get over there.
Really? What did you like most? It's pretty wild. It quickly became my favorite city in the world and I've done a lot of travel.
Favorite city in the world? In the world. How many times have you been there? That was the first time.
Wow. Yeah, I said it quickly ran right up to the top.
Wow, that's pretty cool. You know, it's pretty awesome.
I'm a religious person myself. Definitely don't align with the religion that's practiced over there, but the thing I really enjoyed is just being around people that are so devoted to what they believe.
I think that was pretty solid. And then just super clean.
I mean, you got cranes everywhere. New buildings popping up every place.
We were just talking about Bellevue. That's what I'm at.
I'm going to cut you off. You're good.
i think bellevue is going to be like the dubai of the united states when it comes to new tech and rolling out that i'm telling you there's no place in the u.s that is gonna be like dubai what made it different what you like about i mean dubai dubai makes miami and anywhere else look like little leagues you know it's just like everything is extremely advanced clean well kept you know cutting edge brand new everything's within built within the last 20 years you can go out to the Palm Island and feel like you're in Hawaii and then drive 20 minutes and be downtown next to the Burj Khalifa you, with a fountain that's twice the size of the Bellagio fountain. You know, with this amazing, incredible mall that has back patios of four stories of restaurants all backed up into it.
I'm sold. Dude, I mean, the mall itself, I think it had like 30 different shoe stores.
Wow. I mean, I got new Jordans on drop where they were sold out the same day in the U.S.
Are you going back there soon? I need to. So when you go out there, go check out Chaps Barbershop.
Okay. Chaps Barbershop.
Is that a guy you know? It's a barbershop that, as far as the customer experience and just how they, you know, they're not just branding, but overall just the way that they present, I think, the whole customer experience from like the shaves to it's next level. Okay.
And honestly, I was inspired by actually some of their shop design. All right.
And so that's what caught my eye was the shop design was incredible. And you've just seen photos of this place.
I've only seen photos. I've seen videos, obviously.
But I know like soccer stars that are in Dubai, different people that they've cut over there. So I've known athletes to go in there as well.
Yeah. That's really what caught my eye again.
I was like, oh, wow, they're actually in there. They're actually cutting celebrities in there.
That's dope. That's nice.
Yeah. Yeah.
So if you get a chance, go check them out. I love it.
Yeah, if you're wanting to head over there and get any introductions to celebrities, I got some good connections there. Oh, amazing.
Yeah, so my buddy, he's like top three developer in Dubai. Oh, wow.
Yeah, they do about $25 billion in new construction a year. Wow.
It's pretty wild. Wow.
That's amazing. What's his name? His name is Adol Sajan.
Love it. Yeah.
How did you meet him? So, him and I are buddies from a Harvard program that we're a part of. And so, yeah, I do this thing called OPM, stands for Owner's Present Management, where for three years we go and live at Harvard three weeks a year.
And it's with other business owners and business guys that are doing crazy things in the world. And you live and study and do what's called case study, where you study different businesses and kind of debate how you would go about different strategy.
Really? really yeah it's pretty fun it's amazing yeah that's amazing that's amazing i love that what are some of the as far as like you guys just kind of like cross-palmate ideas and help each other or is it more of just like a uh a place where you kind of get more knowledge about kind of expanding your work yeah it's a little bit of everything so essentially the way it's structured is we do three to four case studies a day for three weeks and it's Monday through Saturday and what that is is you got these 13 page studies written up on businesses with like real-world problems that they're facing and and so then you get together in class with and they section us off there's 160 in our group but we do 80 people at a time and we get together and we discuss the ideas and debate back and forth on how you would handle that particular situation from a marketing standpoint culture negotiations and so and then you got these world-class professors that are kind of leading the discussion. Yeah, man, it's a...
How long have you been doing that? What's that? How long have you been doing that? So, I've been doing it two years, and I, so each fall I go there, and I live there for three months, or sorry, not three months, three weeks. Three months would be wild.
be wild live there for three weeks on campus

and they feed us and take care of us and it's just kind of the whole executive treatment that's amazing yeah why or how does that work yeah you gotta apply to be in and they have different qualifications you know i think uh out of our group about 25 of our whole group are billionaires and so doing crazy things in the in the world and got guys like uh will.im i don't know if you know who will is yeah he's uh he's part of my group there you go yeah me and uh me and will were we're actually rooming together uh this this next fall. That's amazing.
I hear, when I say I hear, I love whether it be him or Akon for a while, like there's people that are out here that are like really pushing in places that a lot of people don't even know they're pushing. You know what I mean? Yeah, Will is a crazy entrepreneur.
You know, most people know him as a lyrical genius or, you know, as as a musician but a lot of people don't realize that he was actually the the founder of beats and and he brought on dre to to come on and and will push the the software development of beats that ended up selling to apple for 3.2 billion no doubt yeah come on and uh right now he's's got a pretty sweet software that he's rolling out. He just did a collab with Mercedes.
No doubt. And his software is on every new Mercedes built in this whole like musical experience.
But he also has a project management software for producers, musicians Build with AI? Yeah, Build with AI yeah, it's called FYI. It's funny you say that because I often ask, how have we dotted up our greatest athletes and we got sports science, but we've never dotted up our greatest artists other than a master class? Yeah That's crazy.
Yeah. And it's the fact that we have a tractor of movements, if Da Vinci or if these greatest artists like Beethoven was alive, we wouldn't be like, so tell us how you thought about doing that.
We would actually be standing there every movement to make sure we capture it forever. Why haven't we done that, you think? Why haven't we done it? I don't know.
It's a deep question. I know I went off the side right there.
I'm a little bit of a nerd. I love it.
I love it. I think we're going to see a lot of crazy things happen in the next few years with AI and the ability to study and track and just take big data and process it and be able to do things like what you're talking about, study every single move and really document us.
Right now you got, of course, ChadGBT. Have you messed around with customized GBTs? Kidron? Well, I have a startup that I kind of mentioned a little bit, but it really is based around we're collecting collecting data now right and so a part of my booking system there's questionnaires but like to really close that loop like kind of like rider driver when it comes to uber feedback loop right yeah being able to have the barbers that ever come back and then I bring anecdotes into it but really customizing things is really where it's about I think it's crazy because you know these these gbt's that you can train now right you know i i have a gbt that i'm training right now with my podcast and the different content that i create and uh and so it learns the way that i think and the way that i write and i enunciate things and whatnot right and uh you know it makes you wonder like what would that look like for our our future generations like hey i want to study from grandpa you know like uh be able to go in and just know everything like you actually consult with grandpa long after he's gone 100 well like that it's like cutting hair right okay like um doing that for exactly um i think like i think in the same way when it comes to like cutting hair and how we capture how do we capture our movements how do we capture like what makes it on the mark and then like you said and later on in life being able to when we're long gone be able to capture our art immortally in a way that i think is going to be really really cool uh and it's coming fast like the merging of AI and artistry is coming really quick yeah it's crazy future and I don't think any of us can quite contemplate what that will look like I mean AI has been rocking and rolling for the last I mean just since ChadGBT came out what 14 months 15 months ago you know hundreds of millions of users and

how much has drastically impacted the the landscape i mean what what's three or four or five years from now going to look like it you know well i know all i know is this if you're not on it and it comes to stuff that used to take two years to build in a business takes a week yeah and the exponential like if you know how to really

prompt it and really get into it and actually like you say build models for your own business right right um there's an opportunity right now it's like the infancy of the internet one and i always tell people that's not on strategy i support it's like basically telling somebody back in the day that had a google search bar and the other guy had to walk 10 miles to the library and source everything out of there. That's basically how far back you are if you don't start getting on it now.
Right. Does that make sense? Yeah, I know for sure.
I always tell people, hey, you're not going to get replaced by AI. You're going to get replaced by somebody that uses AI.
Yeah, right. And I think AI, we need to make it like us.
Does that make sense? Yeah. And we need to control it like that, right? So AI for good is something that's really, really important.
I think being able to have people feel their best, do their look, whether it be their haircut or their hairstyle. But in the metaverse here soon, man, people are going to be going to meetings that are going to be happening soon, their haircut in the metaverse is going to really matter.
So hair skin, stuff like that, they're coming quick. And I'm excited to see where it goes.
You messed around with the new Apple Vision Pro? I haven't, honestly. I was just in the Apple Store in Bellevue the other day.
Did they have one on display? Yeah, they have like three of them. I didn't get a chance to get over there because I was fixing my son's iPad.
It's interesting. I was in Dubai at the Apple store and they didn't have one.
Really? Yeah. See, I told you Bellevue.
Yeah. There you go.
There you go. There you go.
I love it. I love it.
Yeah, I have one upstairs. We'll have to mess around.
Yeah, you can mess around with it. That's amazing.
It's interesting because I have all the meta quest ones. I got the 1, 2, I got the pro, and there's something different about this.
Really? Yeah, just the way that it augments reality. 100%.
The way that these other ones are built is like to go completely virtual all right like to dive in and not be present whatnot and what the Apple Apple vision has done an incredible job is like you can still interact with everything that's going on around you and it's just augmenting it and yeah it's pretty pretty crazy and you know what i believe once they can get that

down to either you know a contact lens or you know or or glasses you know when automation does come and one day clippers are doing their thing you're still going to have me walk around talking to me to know exactly what you're speaking about right does that make sense yeah it's coming yeah I love it.

That's amazing.

Apple Vision Pro.

That was a part of the first AirPods version one ever when it comes to, like, on set grooming all the guys. Uh-huh.
When I said I thought something illegal was going on, I was like, this is so top secret. Like, what is this about? I didn't even know it was the AirPods until they finally came out out but the way they protect you know obviously they're supposed to right but like the way that they protect their tech when it comes to working on something that I guess like innovative is something that like it's pretty special to witness you know I mean were you a part of any of that like or do you know anybody at Apple that's worked on that personally? No, no, I don't.
But I have to imagine that the development of the Apple Vision Pro has been going on for years. It's crazy to me how much research and development goes in at these big trillion-dollar businesses never even makes it to the front lines you know apple actually just killed their their car project a couple days ago that they that they've been working on i think for like five or six years they were developing out a new electric car that was supposed to be amazing and incredible technology i think they spent several billion dollars on it really just killed Just killed it the other day.
Really? Why was it just something that they were spreading themselves too thin? You know, I don't think Apple worries about spreading themselves too thin, but I know Apple has created a culture and this goes back to what we what we've been chatting about is just like a culture of like when they bring something to the market it's going to be game changing right like it's going to be so unique so different i gotta say yeah with sets uh you know what's his uh uh steve jobs had left uh other than the ipad and the i guess uh this new stuff was coming quick yeah i guess i should say but they were stagnant for a while they've've been stagnant, but the thing is, I think a lot of it is because they have a culture of it's got to change the world in order for us to release it. And the same way that they were stagnant for a long time before the iPod.
And Steve Jobs obviously came in, know 100 songs in your pocket which quickly transformed into the to the iphone which uh which changed the world right and uh yeah so it'll it'll be interesting it's once again interesting that they spend billions of dollars on something that's never going to see the light of day. Sometimes they like to kill things too like that.

Yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Like our ZWB findings just to die them out.

You know what I mean?

Because they have something greater coming maybe in five years that they don't want.

But at the end of the day, like you say, I think a lot of that's testing too.

When you got billions of dollars to burn to test, that kind of helps too.

That does help. Nobody wants some of those billions but it's a part of the game right? You got to win them all.
That's good stuff. How's the haircut looking? It's coming along we're almost there.
Woo wee. We're almost there.
Excited. Yes sir.
For an undisclosed price amount I love it. we don't sell the price till afterwards oh man so i do like to try cities talk to me i don't want to put his date but like i'm from my mom my mom's from here family from here i know you move around quite a bit right so you're not here all the time but yeah yeah it's in it's's interesting.
So I've traveled and lived around the world. In fact, before settling in these last eight years into the house that I'm in right now, me and my wife have moved 14 times.
14? 14. And so I've lived all over the U.S.
And it's interesting. I would say that there's no place like-Cities it's always a always been a place that I wanted to raise my kids it did it did a lot a lot of good for me growing up here and you know the thing I always tell people is is I get to travel and go be a part of the the crazy business world in these big cities or whatnot.
But when I step into my house, I want to be relaxed

and I want to be in a calm area, a place that I can just, you know,

see the stars at night.

And so, yeah, man, I live just north of here on a 23-acre hobby farm.

That's amazing.

Honestly, I can honestly say this

when that way when the cia was here they went to super bowl it was the first year i went to seattle and all that to be able to come back home and still be grounded here with like like tri-city my family but then go into game day and you're there with like earl and with right at his house having a barbecue after the game and then i come back to tri-city right to have the ability to live that at that time it is so special man because a lot of guys that get drafted in certain cities none of their families there but it's not like it's not this you're so blessed and actually you have that support system right there that you can actually step into two almost different realms yeah and still enjoy both of them for what they are because they grab you and then you're back to working, right? It's pretty amazing. Yep, and that's why I love the Tri-Cities, kind of get the best in both worlds.
That's amazing, that's amazing. Championship culture, I know we talked a little bit about it, but world championship teams, I've been super blessed to be in certain locker rooms, man, whether it be the Seahawks when they won it all or you know, red sox or the cubs and i and i say to say this like coach cash is somebody uh that worked that's the tampa bay race head coach he was one of the first coaches i cut when i started trying uh i identify with him because he's from tampa bay and he coaches his hometown team right and so i was like that's amazing but to watch what the rays have done when it comes to like they're like the new money ball team you know what I mean through data through just thinking outside the box and I guess what I'm doing that is like championship culture what I've found the commonalities that peripherate through those locker rooms are generally um you know say that door's open and somebody's walking by the good teams they'll come and almost touch them it'll be a, let me mess up his hair real quick.
And they'll grab the Clippers.

Or they'll just trade some type of, you'll have to be teasing them.

But there's some type of like.

Brotherhood of brotherhood.

Yeah.

The teams that, people say when you're losing, it's easy, right? But no, I've seen losing teams still do this.

And then they change the culture.

What I'm saying is the losing teams, they might look in and they might keep walking, right?

Right.

And they don't.

I mean, it's hard enough, right, when you're losing.

But I guess what I'm getting at is that championship culture seems like your wins like my win and when you can like really create that whether it be at the barbershop whether it be at the you know whatever business you run at home like once you can start creating that like synergy of infectious winning is something that like i think is the coolest part been able able to witness what i have like how do you attribute what championship culture where it comes up because obviously you're very successful what you've done like what was the differentiator for you yeah so you know i talk a lot about this as far as like designing culture uh on purpose and uh a lot of that has to do with like having shared core values right and and uh hiring firing and promoting based off of those core values and and i and i think when you when you look at championship teams they get rid of the cancer right like the people that don't align with whatever whatever core value that they have been uh building and creating no matter how good the talent is. And I think that's one of the hardest things in a winning team, in a winning business or whatnot, is when somebody is super talented and can bring a lot of value, yet they're bringing things down behind the scenes or whatnot, it's really hard to get rid of that because you want to justify like oh this guy hits home runs or this guy sells a ton right or you know he's really good with customers in this particular way but he's you know terrible he's always bringing down the organization in team meetings right and so you know i think i think a championship culture is is created when people rid that immediately and they don't E então, eu acho que uma cultura de campeonato é criada quando as pessoas ridam isso imediatamente e não deixam isso se torna, não importa o quanto difícil, certo? E um dos melhores pedidos de advogado que eu me dê foi que você se inscreva lentamente e se inscreva rapidamente.
E então quando você identifica esse, you get rid of it quick. Right.
And then just having a criteria that you're balancing that off of so that people understand how they measure up. So like for us, we built our organization, we had six core values.
And synergy, outside the box thinking, love of family, generosity, excellence and no excuses no excuses and so you know and and then each one was clearly defined and able to be measured against and so if we were ever having to sit down with somebody that was struggling with something we were able to quickly measure them like hey you know when we when we talk about when we talk about no excuses is's taking ownership of everything like this is where you you're always coming up with an excuse right or whatever it is right a lot of problematic people out there right i've had to and i i'll be the first thing that i have a hard time doing that sometimes that i've bit me in the butt yeah because i believe in people a lot where i feel like it's it's almost my job to not give up on them sometimes. But when they're tearing the whole team down in the slightest of ways, that ends up eating up the culture fashion, you know, fashion and you really realize it.
And then sometimes it's too late. So I received that message.
I appreciate that because it actually resonated with me more than you understood. And then outside of that, you have your core values, but there's also ways that you have to create your culture.
And for me, it's the three T's. You've got to have trust, transparency, and truth.
And a lot of times, people try building families and organizations off of loyalty. And I actually think loyalty within an organization, family is the only place that loyalty should exist.
And trust is actually what you have to build off of. And the difference between the two is loyalty is like whether you burn me or not, I'm still going to have your back right like you can you can totally be a complete right terrible person to me and you know and and for family right that's blood you you gotta always have their back and you understand that they don't right and so a lot of times people try creating that within an organization and what that is is just a it's a slave type mentality and where you have a slave and a master and then like and and you shouldn't like if if a meaning like if an employee is being abused and taken advantage of meaning that like they're not getting paid what they should be or you know they're they're not being given opportunity that they should be the employee deserves to leave right right and and so they they should they should run right as long as once that relationship becomes unequitable right untrusting right right and so like trust is essentially as an employer i got to provide opportunity not only in money in progression, in additional forms of compensation, like helping you become the best version of yourself and that type of thing.
Right. Like that's the way that I compensate my employee.
And in turn, they have to be bringing their best effort, right? They got to be bringing their best effort to becoming the best version of themselves, to contributing to the bottom line too and the minute that that is broken right that that relationship should be severed there shouldn't be just this undying loyalty that that's created i love it and so you know and and that's the thing that we always preach with our people like look someday this may not be the right opportunity for you you You may only be able to get progress over and above, you know, by going and working with somebody else or whatnot. And I fully expect you to leave in that circumstance.
Right, right. And when you're open like that, now you have this trusting relationship that when they have a new offer or a new opportunity, they're actually going to come and talk to you instead of leaving in the middle of the night.
I love it. I love it.
I love it.

That was great. That was great.

You hungry? You need a little snack? No, we're almost done here.

Alright. These are different

clips, so I have to

basically backyard barber

step by step. Usually I'm flipper of a comb

when I'm done, but this isn't the comb,

so we're going to make it happen.

I gave a, just for the people that are watching this thing i basically gave him a butter knife for a comb so but you know what it's looking good you're looking on the mark and uh i don't know what you got going on this week but whatever it is you're about to win so let's get it i love feeling good amen amen you're talking of the most surreal moments ever. I talk look good, play good, feel good to the players for years.
And then during the pandemic, Gillette comes to me and says, we want you to do a look a play good edition with Deion Sanders. He's the innovator of it.
Right. And he talked about humbling moment.
So, have you hung with Deion very? Actually, it was virtually during that time. But to even just trade that energy and to be able to even have that moment with him, it felt like I was there.
Nice. I mean, he brings the, you know, he's authentic and himself.
Right. Which is why everybody loves him.
Some people don't, but I think at the end of the day, he's moved in the spirit. Yeah.
And I really love how he, you know, wears his faith on his sleeve like that because I know it's changing people's lives, you know. I mean, speaking of a guy that just is a culture builder, right? Right.
I mean, this guy does it by design. He comes in, transforms the locker room.
You know, he's got the quotes. He's got the, he's got the he's got the music he's got the vibe the look good feel good play good man you see that wasn't accepted that wasn't accepted this is a new thing right meaning like they've changed the landscape of what it looks like to actually be accepted like the blue blood conferences forever have owned it right right And so the fact that you got, you know,

what was that other coach that was dancing?

They're all dancing in the locker room with the guys.

You got Harbaugh dancing in there.

Right.

And I keep going back to Pete.

Pete was the one that started that whole,

he might not have danced,

but that whole fun culture of having celebrities in there.

Like Pete Carroll was an innovator of that.

So everybody playing copycat,

I'm glad they finally caught up 10 years later.

I agree, man.

That's the thing I've always loved about Pete.

What he's doing in the locker room, the sidelines running, chomping his gum, you know.

Right, right.

He's the man.

I pray that I have his energy when I'm his age.

Yeah, it's crazy to think, yeah, him and my dad are like the same exact age.

And, you know, my dad, you know, he's in good health, but man, Pete can run circles around us. Yeah, Pete is special, man.
Pete is special. I hope he's post-career or if he coaches again, whatever he does, man, he deserves all his flowers he can get, man.
He is a special, special dude. So what's next for you what is next for me i want to uh continue to i just opened a new shop in bellevue um i love doing activations i love doing hospitality streets i love making people feel good uh i've done everything from complex con to i was a barber at the combine as a nike barber for about five years before actually the last one they had that before the pandemic they actually left early because the pandemic was hitting at the time so it was like really the last event they had for months but yeah no I've really enjoyed this barbershop talk when it comes to like connecting with people to the You know, telling stories.
I've had many aha moments where it's just me and the client there. And I know some things are intimate that need to stay in the barbershop, right? Right.
But I think there's certain moments that could be really dope to connect with whether it be athlete or the entrepreneur and share moments that I think whether it be either philanthropic work to just things that are important to them. You know what I mean? It doesn't need to be just athletes.
I think, I think TED Talks, right? There's linchpins of industries and I think being able to tell their stories from the chair is something that I'm deeply passionate about. So how are you rolling that out? So I have been pushing this when it comes to, I can't really say too much about who I've pushed it to and what I've done, but let's just say we're very, very close.
And I think in God's timing, if and when that happens, it's going to be dope because at the end of the day, it's there to change people's lives when it comes to dynamic moments from the chair that actually have so much value that I've had moments where I'm like, man, I wish could hear this right now because that was so dope and I think it's important to be able to share that you know I love it I love it yeah it's interesting you know like content creation and podcasting is really has really taken off over the last few years but it's still very much in its infancy. You know, I have a buddy out in Atlanta.
He's a big podcaster. He runs a huge podcasting conference and whatnot.
And they've been really able to change the culture out in Atlanta through podcasting and whatnot. But one of the things that they believe and I I tend to agree with is that like most big brands are missing in in creating and creating podcast content right like imagine somebody like Ford right who's got well they're too big to fail that's the right you got the MTV effect right MTV was too big to fail.
MTV had the awards. Why would you need to go to social media? We're MTV.
Guess what happened? Complex Con and Complex came along. That's right.
And guess what happened? They're doing pregnancy shows now, right? Right. So, yeah.
During the day... But it's crazy.
Like, if these brands... I'm called Coca-Cola, man.
Why isn't Coca-Cola launching a podcast? These guys could go and literally just have this type of conversation going on. They could bring on any celebrity, any big influencer, come in, have a conversation, and really bring a face back to their brand.
Well, the thing is scripted, non-scripted, but free-for-one conversations. I think, I was just off camera i said i equate scrolling to like a dvr tivo back in the day when you knew you could fast forward to commercial yeah yeah people don't want to see mike in your you know like a general interview people know there's a publicist beyond it that they can't really be themselves people want to see that fly on the wall right and the barber chair is the holy grail i love what this love it.
What that is, I think. But there's many other facets.
You know, you got the Hot Wings show. You got the Untold Stories, right? They're over here shooting pool, right? Gary Vee's eating.
Like, everybody's trying to figure out that, you know, that way to be able to hack the algorithm. And I think, you know, we're close.
We're close.'ll be it'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few years with AI content creation podcast you know there's there's a so much you know the the attention span of today to your point of scrolling is just so so low right so I got a thing I did with JP Crawford bless his heart love him to death he's a client of mine i just opened my shop in bellevue and i'm trying to show these proof of concepts like low-hanging fruit like this in-game content right like original content right and i love jen muller i love the cooking show she has i think it's dope that they're doing different, like, what makes great content to me is trust and report. Right.
And at the end of the day, like, we're not here for clip fake. We're here to really, like, get dope conversations.
And not everybody wants to have these films, right? And I understand that part, too. But I think at the end of the day, if you get a chance, I'll send you the clip.
Maybe you can add what you know yeah so that show the show the fans we're talking about or your viewers but um he was going to drive on he was putting in the work uh watched him this last season go from like you know he hit like 20 something bombs um and he was just locked in in a way that i think at the end of the day um to be able to give him his flowers he came and brought me a jersey to my new shop but i want to give him his flowers and be like man you did your thing last year bro and it was in the most critical moments that he was shining right i was like man it felt like he was having an out of body experience but it was just dope it was a dope interaction and i think like it's weird that that's low-hanging fruit and it's something that continues to kind of have it's hard to crack the industry whenever they've been running the same play forever and they almost feel like basically like who are you man you're a barber go cut hair and like just like chill out and so it's i think eventually that shoe's gonna drop right but it's an old guard that's having a hard time getting out the way man i just love what you're doing as far as like in the industry taking a creative way to go out and create content you know because to your point no one would expect a barber to to go and and create and do everything that you're doing right now and so i think there's so many opportunities to be able for the listeners to take whatever industry you're in and get outside of the box and be able to present value in a way that most people wouldn't expect you to right and uh that's that's the day and age that we live in like you can take any industry and create unique value and really become a one-on-one the linchpins of the industry that's amazing that's amazing that's what you call on the mark that's what you call on the mark that's amazing that's the coolest part about my job honestly is i get to meet so i mean you know celebrities all that that's really cool but like to be able to connect with guys like yourself and there's so many bright minds in seattle that come through that shop that i'm, to like crowdsource from all of the greatest minds that are there has been humbling. Very, very humbling.
Have you been in Bellevue lately? You know, last time, when was I in Bellevue? I was out there for Seahawks. No, it's been over a year since I've been at a Seahawks game.
We went down to the Dallas Seahawks game. You got to look at Bellevue.
They just put like three new towers in. Really? Man, the Intercontinental went in there.
And it is gorgeous. They put like brand new condos that were right there.
Here we go. All right.
All right, ladies and gentlemen. The haircut, man, she's looking good.
Yeah, it looks on the mark. Dude, on the mark.
You can't say good. It's on the mark.
On the mark. That's right.
I appreciate it, man. Thanks.
First of all, thanks for just being on the show. And it's been some fun conversation up until this point.
No, I appreciate you for having me. You've definitely inspired me.
And the whole Ivy League thing that you threw at me, I was just like, so that's amazing that you're always seeking knowledge and you're always putting yourself around winners. Dude, I think it's so important.
I think real winners identify that money does not define them. Once they have achieved that financial success, they don't stop.
They continue to push past and find the next thing and and uh education is definitely part of that right really learning and and uh you know figuring out who knows more than i do and and how can i gain a little bit of that action right right i i always say money uh doesn't make you happy it actually buys your time back that's right and i truly believe that like um if you feel like anything's gonna make i I have a quote that I always say, God gave me everything I thought I ever wanted to show me what I truly needed. I love it.
And what I mean by that is in my career, I have checked every box. I was a Seahawks fan as a little boy to go to the Super Bowl and be their team barber.
It's amazing. These are things that are bigger than me.
It's, it's, it's him. And at the end of the day, um, having all those things really, really, really showed me like, wow, you can have all those things.
And, and those are just things sitting at on the couch with your kids and just being still with them and just having, being present with them. That's the greatest gift you're ever going to get.
I love it. And I truly believe that in my heart because I've experienced the highs, the lows, the in-betweens.
And if I could share with anyone a message, that's something that's really, really dear to my heart that I think is something I truly believe in. I love it.
Where's a good place that the followers and the viewers can follow you? So I am on Instagram, on the mark one, on the mark with the K, the number one. I'm also, I have a partnership with Gillette and Procter & Gamble, so I do a lot of content for them.
So you might see me on their page and stuff like that. YouTube is something that we're, I started one years ago, working in the industry, especially with the athletes I do.
I think I've gotten to where I have because I don't do too much. And I have never wanted to be opportunistic and try to use the guys to launch things in a certain way.
So I've had to go about it in a different way, right? And what I mean by that is just partnering with companies that have rosters that I already have natural synergy and connections with. And so to be able to work with like the NFLPA and do Rookie Premier where Kenneth Walker or Jackson Smith and Jigba met these guys in LA before they even touched foot in Seattle.
And so to be able to connect with like just great kids, men, you know, men that are becoming and finding themselves. I really don't talk a lot of ball, obviously.
I just talk about, you know, sometimes not a lot. Sometimes I talk about what God puts on my heart.
But at the end of the day, that's the most gratifying thing about my job. And when it comes to finding things and where you can find like canoe content coming, I'm super excited because I can't really reveal it where it's going to live.
But there's some major projects that we're working on right now. We're doing a mini doc that's going to be hopefully inspiring to the next generation of kids.
I want to inspire kids that are coming up that, yeah, yeah, I wanted to play in the NFL or the NBA. And I might not have been able to have the skill set to do it, but to marry my job like barbering to something that I'm passionate about, like sports or like football, and to be able to marry those two together are something that everyone can do.
I love it. And so if you're the guy that doesakers, or you're the guy that does, you know, tech for one of your favorite artists, like there's ways to still live your dream and still do it from a job that people, so to speak, think is an everyday job.
And I think that's really dope to be able to inspire the next generation, because there's a lot of kids that are good at things that don't feel like it's a cool job. And so they don't really lean into it.
And so if they can find somebody that's like, yo, that's my favorite artist. And like, I'm really good at doing that.
And it might not be like the artist, but like I could work with somebody like that, I think can really inspire a lot, a lot of youth of today. I love it.
I love it. Well, we're really excited for some of these things that are coming down the road.
I know you can't reveal them quite yet, but we'll be on the lookout. I appreciate that.
Now, a lot of my content does live on Instagram. It's a lot of more micro content.
I love Barbershop Talk. I have, bless Julio's heart, he came in the year, he won Rookie of the Year, and actually filmed Barbershop Talk at my shop the morning of his first game ever.
I tell people the time i'm like it's like ken graffy jr bro coming to your shop the first game you ever played at the kingdom like yeah like this kid's special when i say special he's so much bigger than athlete he is the one of the most genuine infectious i would tell him i'm like bro i don't think you can be mad at you bro like he he has this like energy that's just he's a winner yeah but he's also one of the hardest workers i've ever seen it's interesting uh you know i the only time i've ever been to spring training uh was his rookie year and uh i saw him hit an inside the park home run oh i think i remember watching that dude at spring training and i'm just like oh and and uh the the radio announcer at the time he like, I think he might have just sealed his position on the team. Like they weren't even sure whether or not he was going to make the team.
And he ends up coming winning the rookie of the year, landing this huge contract. It was wild.
You know, I was with him the morning. He did sign his contract his rookie year.
And you know what's so special is it's cool when they become who they are, which, you know, the superstar they are. but what I the most joy I get out of it is it's cool when they become who they are yeah which you know the superstar they are but what i the most joy i get out of it is is like genuinely connecting them when they're 17 and 18 he came in my shop i think he was 17 or 18 years old he was a baby right i mean he was a man but like compared where he's at today and to watch him where he spoke it from day one he was like oh i'm gonna be i'm gonna be there and like like just wait bro and uh it was something that to watch him go from that to he got like i think a thumb injury during the pandemic um he had to sit out and to watch him still grind that kid right there you get the michael jordans just like the jersey you see right there when when when talent meets hard work discipline, a lot of people just rely on that talent.
But you get the great ones whenever they actually work like they have no talent. And when you find that guy that works like that, like Julio, he run like a deer.
He's 6'4". This dude is, I mean, I went to the UW game versus Oregon when they beat him.
And to watch how he moved that stadium where people were just in love with

them.

I've been at work with a lot of athletes.

I ain't never seen nothing like that.

I love that.

And that's special because that's,

that's the genuineness that the fans feel connected to.

Well,

with that,

man,

we're going to,

we're going to cut out because that was a incredible little,

little piece to end on.

So appreciate your time,

my man.

All right.

Until next time.