If you missed Wahl Professional’s first leg of the Disruptour, you’re in luck. The nationwide educational experience is back at it this month with three more stops, beginning in Chicago. Attendees will learn two trendy haircuts, social media best practices, photography tips and the latest product information from the nation’s top educators.

Last year’s ‘tour went on an unexpected hiatus due to the pandemic. But the desire to serve communities with an education-first mindset about how to best use tools behind the chair only grew stronger during the break.

“We sat and thought about how we wanted to relaunch in 2021. We wanted to see how we could reach people in a different way,” said Lisa Finucane(@lisafin1), Wahl Pro US Director of Education. “People were looking for a connection, not just to a brand, but to each other.”

To that end, the 2021 Disruptour is demystifying clipper cutting education by breaking down the barrier between the company and communities with a shared experience.

ENERGIZING THE EDUCATION

This year’s setup is different, but excitingly so. Every educator is assigned a table with at most five attendees, allowing everyone to feel a stronger, more intimate connection to the material being presented. And while the core group travels to every stop, each experience promises to be different.

“There are new people that join at each location, so you won’t get the same experience twice if you decide to go to multiple shows,” says Finucane.

For example, attendees will be able to earn Continuing Education credits in Chicago, purchase products in Atlanta, and party with a year-end celebration in Miami.

Attendees will feel at ease no matter which city they travel to. “This is one of the least intimidating experiences anyone will get. You’ll learn something no matter your skill level,” says Finucane.

GETTING BETTER IN EVERY CITY

The Disruptour has been to Austin, Boston and Nashville already, with noticeable progress at every stop.

“(Austin) was a little scary since we were still in the midst of Covid, but once we got there, everyone felt a sense of relief and a lot of healing came from this show,” says Finucane. “The team really started to gel in Boston and everything came together in Nashville. Communities were coming back into the light again after a dark time.”

MORE IS ON THE WAY

Plans are already being made for an evolved 2022 Disruptour.

In the meantime, barbers and stylists should be on the lookout for popups that include information about different tools and the 1919 haircutting system, along with a full-force, one-stop-shop for cutting, styling and finishing.

HOW TO ATTEND

Tickets for the Disruptour are available exclusively online. VIP tickets can be purchased and come with a limited-edition Disruptour Clipper, two mannequin heads and hands-on instruction.

On July 15^th Senate Bill 803 was voted to be amended by The California Assembly Business and Professionals Committee. The barbering industry oppose these amendments, which lead to a protest at the capital.

The amendments were initially brought forward in February 2021, by Senator Richard Roth who represents the following constituencies in California; Riverside, Perris, Jurupa Valley, Norco, Moreno Valley, Norco, Corona, and Eastvale.

The bill severely reduces the number of hours training a student hopeful in barbering, or cosmetology, will have to undergo. The hours would dip from between 1500 to 1600, to 100.

The Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of LaRan Professional Hair Care System, Lorenzo Griffin and his wife, Wanda, are among the frontline line of the opposition. Griffin has been in the industry for 35 years and believes the amended bill will eventually relax the entire cosmetology and barbering industry to a negative standard.

In a petition created to stop the amended bill it states “SB-803 doesn’t make cosmetology education any cheaper, it simply removes a third of the education. Buying a car for 33% off seems like a great deal until you realize that the car you bought is missing a third of its parts.”

You can read more about the petition here.

Due to the regulations in Tennessee, it is required for local barber and cosmetology students to obtain 1,500 hours of training before becoming fully qualified. This has led to certain career-paths in the industry to be financially unobtainable for a lot of people.

Furthermore, most monetary aids have year-long waiting lists, leaving the majority of people having to borrow from the government for their tuition, meaning they start their already challenging career in financial hardship.

However, with help of the ‘Tennessee Promise’, which was launched in 2015, this means there a whole new era of industry hopefuls that this cycle of near (or actual) bankruptcy will not effect.

Since the state launched the initiative, almost half the number of college students taking out government loans have stopped, at about 40%. Student’s debt load also decreased by about 32% on average reports the Journal of Higher Education, which was published in April 2021.

This has led to some capacity issues however, but overall, the ‘Tennessee Promise’ has had a massively positive effect regarding becoming a student locally.

Tennessee has spent around $80 million towards updating renovation public trade schools, which adds to the hope that this may solve the capacity issues in the future.

Chicago Police have stated victims were inside the Creative Salon, located in Lawndale, Chicago, around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday 28th of July, when the gunmen entered and opened fire.

Both the 50-year-old barber and 22-year-old client were shot in the chest, and rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, were both of them succumbed to their injuries and were announced dead.

Among the witnesses were the owner of the shop, other employees, and a mother and child. All staff were working when the incident first happened. Creative Scott, the owner of the shop, said “I tried to save him, man – I did, (he) was definitely not the intended target. It was basically, you know, the individual that was in the chair.”

CCTV captured everything that happened in the thirty seconds it all took place, however the gunman did have their faces covered and no charges have been made as of yet.

This contemporary masterpiece posses all the strengths of the Cordless T-Outliner with next-level performance from the modified housing and new GTX-Z blade.

The features for this new model include:

• With classic performance you love from the original cordless T-Outliner® in an intuitive shape, enhancing visibility for precision detailing
• GTX-Z blade is pre-set with a tighter gap for fine detailing in a custom gold corrosion-resistant coating
• Powerful lithium-Ion battery delivers over 100 minutes of runtime on a single charge
• Extremely powerful, high-speed rotary motor delivers 7,200 strokes per minute with advanced Constant Speed Technology for ultimate blade performance through all hair types
• Cord/cordless operation for no downtime behind the chair and no waiting for charging

Andis have advised that the GTX-EXO can be used Cord/Cordless trimming and fine detailing of necklines, facial hair, dry shaving, designs, and hard parts. Rotary Motor; 100-240 V | 50-60 Hz | MAX 7,200SPM.

This model is now available for pre-order and can be shipped on August 16^th 2021, more details on the product can be found here.

Mandip Garcha is finally having his dream come true of becoming a full-time barber, a dream of which was convinced when Mandip arrived in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada seven years ago.

1949 Barber Shop, which opened its first location in St. John’s in 2018, gave Mandip the opportunity in May. The business has dubbed itself the “UN of barbershops” as most of its clients are from an array of ethnicities.

From an Indian background, Mandip told reporters of CBC.com that his parents had dreams of him one day becoming an electrician – however, also being a musician, he knew his career and talents lay somewhere more creative.

“My fiance, she knew how much I wanted to do this. And so she pushed me to go for it and maybe go ask my own barber (of the 1949 Barbershop) if they can teach me” Mandip told CBC.com.

They agreed and took Mandip under their wing for two days a week while he worked full-time at a restaurant, as well as a diary farmer with his father for years.

His hard work did in-fact all pay off, as he got made a full-time member of the 1949 Barber Shop’s second location in May of this year.

Mandip finishes “I hope I can continue doing this. And I don’t know if one day I will have my own shop”

Image: CBC.com

Everything is bigger in Texas and the 2021 TX Barber Expo and Competition was no exception.

Organiser Rick Morin was surprised to count in more than 6000 eager show goers, that made the classroom education standing room only as barber professionals showed how eager they were to get solid information to move their business forward in this post pandemic/lockdown environment.

Hosting the education stage, Ivan Zoot said: “The show floor was sold out of booth space and quite busy. With the competition generating an enthusiastic crowd. This year’s event was proof that barber pros are eager to get back to some sense of what we were doing before the pandemic, but the overall tone reflected the understanding that we can never go back. We can only move forward. I was honored to host the education stage and look forward to my return to the Lone Star state in 2022.”

Organiser Rick added: “I started the TX Barber Battle & Expo in my home-town of Corpus Christi, TX, in July of 2012 with the help of my mentor Jay Majors we had just over 800 attend the first event.  We have come a long we since then.”

He continues “My staff and I were expecting 4500-4800 people to the event, and we were surprised to see a total of 6,187, officially making us the second largest barber event in the United States. I just want to thank some of the major names that attended the event, including, Mr Official, Sky Salon, Jay Majors, Rob the Original, Ivan Zoot, Kristi Faulkner, YakuzaBarber, TailorFade, TitanBarber, QueenoftheSouth512, The_one_barbet, TheMarcusHarvey, BrydMena, and I’m really looking forward to hosting the New Mexico Barber Expo in November 2021 in Albuquerque, NM.”

BarberEVO previously published a story on the death of a talented, well-loved barber named Yosef Timms known professionally as ‘Jay Da Barber’. Timms was also a father to be and well loved by his local community. He was tragically gunned down outside of his own barbershop in June of 2021.

A link to said article will be left here.

The latest development in the case is that Dawonyae Robinson, 22, and Don Corleone Robinson, 27, have now both charged homicide in the first degree, relating to Timm’s murder

Both currently are not in custody at the time of this being written, however issues for both of their arrests have been issued.

According to a criminal complaint, both men shot Timms during a physical altercation outside of the Fade Lounge, Timm’s establishment, near Holton and Center in Milwaukee, WI.

If convicted, the pair could potentially face life in prison.

The owner of the barbering institution, Astor Place Hair Stylists, in the East Village of New York City — whose loyal customers include celebrities and even Mayor Bill de Blasio — is pleading with New York lawmakers to eliminate the 4.5% sales tax on haircuts to help stylists get over the COVID-19 crisis.

“City barbers and hairdressers are being unfairly singled out for a punitive tax, yet they are among the hardest-working New Yorkers who are least able to afford it,” said owner of the establishment Jonathan Trichter.

“New York City taxes haircuts, hair coloring, blow drying, wet shaves, hair restorations, permanents and straightenings at a rate of 4.5%. If the city asked the state to snip that tax, I will pass on the savings to our barbers and hairstylists, increasing their pay by 4.5 percent.”

The hair industry was brought to its knees over the last year and a bit due to COVID-19. Barbershop and salon owners have struggled to keep their businesses afloat during this time. This plea comes desperately to provide some chance to give those effected a chance to become stable once again.

The state Tax Department of New York City has confirmed that NYC is the only city to have the tax active currently.

Image: nypost.com

In New York City, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on July 13 ending an near century-old  state-wide law prohibiting barbering on Sundays – a law that was barely enforced.

“This is the very definition of an archaic and meaningless law that makes little to no sense in the 21st century,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement on Tuesday the 13^th of July. “While not routinely enforced, I’m more than happy to sign this repeal into law and allow these businesses to determine what days they choose to operate.”

The bipartisan bill by two upstate lawmakers, both Republican state Senator Joseph Griffo and Democratic Assembly Member Billy Jones respectively, repealed the section of the state’s General Business Law that forbids anyone from participating “in the business of shaving, hair cutting or other work of a barber on the first day of the week.”

Anyone who was caught breaking said law were subject to fines of $5 (the first offense), $10 (the second), and $25 for the third infraction which also could have resulted in 10-25 days of jail time.

The statute was largely the remnant of the far bygone puritanical era, the lawmakers wanted to remove the ban to assist those effected by both the law and COVID-19, as this nearly crippled the barbering and salon industry during the outbreak.

Griffo said “Barbershops and salons, like all small businesses, have faced significant, unprecedented and strenuous challenges during the coronavirus pandemic”, he continues “By removing outdated and unnecessary laws such as this, these businesses will be provided with an additional opportunity to recover financially as we work to rebuild our local and state economies.”