Faith carried me.
Service gave me direction.

03 / 1994–1996

When my plans stopped,
my faith kept working.

In November 1994, I was accused of armed robbery. I was later acquitted in 1996, but while I awaited trial, the charge disrupted my education, employment, finances, and home life.

My nursing education was put on hold. My bank account was frozen, my car and apartment were confiscated, and I lost both jobs. Jobs I wanted in the medical field were out of reach. But there was something that could not be taken away: my love for people and my God-given ability to cut hair.

While I was out on bail, I continued the Bible studies at the YMCA. I married in May 1995, during that season of uncertainty. I also kept pursuing an education. I enrolled at Westwood College of Technology in Chicago and went on to earn an associate degree in computer network engineering.

A recommendation helped me find work at Lutheran Social Services, caring for people with cerebral palsy in group homes. Later, I worked at United Cerebral Palsy. I had already gained experience through nursing-school clinicals and had watched my mother care for people while I was growing up.

This work involved more than haircuts. I helped residents through everyday routines—getting ready for dinner, settling in for television, and making sure they were comfortable before bed. I came to know them as people, and those relationships deepened my love for this community.

One young man there, Timmy, had hair hanging over his face. I brought in my clippers and cut his hair. When his parents visited, his mother walked past him before realizing it was her son. She began to cry. When I held up a mirror, Timmy smiled.

That moment helped me see a need that would guide my work for years: people deserved access to grooming, even when getting to a barbershop was difficult.

After Timmy’s haircut, I began cutting other residents’ hair and serving additional group homes. During that time away from nursing school, I discovered how much I loved doing hair. What began as an act of care grew into work I wanted to keep doing.

04 / A vision on wheels

I began taking
the barbershop to people.

I bought more tools and a book bag and began knocking on doors, offering a first haircut free and inviting people to become paying customers if they liked my work. I cut hair on porches, in kitchens, in living rooms, and in backyards.

For a time, my landlord in Lockport allowed me to turn the basement into a small, one-chair barbershop. But I also carried a larger vision: an RV converted into a mobile barbershop.

I made a flip chart with haircut styles and a picture of that vision. One customer, Mr. John, dismissed the idea, but referred me to a man named Mr. West. I nearly left my presentation in the car. Remembering words of encouragement from Les Brown, I went back for it and decided to present my vision with confidence.

Mr. West listened. Then he took me outside to see two RVs behind his home. He told me he had been praying about whom he could give one to, and invited me to choose. I received that gift as an answer to prayer.

He helped me prepare the RV with flooring and a barber chair, and became my first customer. I cut hair under the awning while the inside was being completed. Even after the engine eventually failed, I continued serving people in their homes.

This part of my story took place around 1996–1997; I remember the events more clearly than the exact dates.