Throughout high school, students learn about a wide range of career opportunities, offering various pathways. At Archie Williams, students can find sports, unique extracurricular activities, and clubs to create their own communities. However, one unique extracurricular not offered by Archie Williams, but taken up by individual students outside of school, is barbering.
Recently, barbering at Archie Williams has experienced a surge in popularity. Sophomore Liam Baradaran began barbering in his freshman year of high school, cutting his friends’ hair for fun. His friends realized the quality of the haircuts and suggested that he create a social media page to advertise his skills. His account quickly grew in popularity, and he began receiving messages from people asking to pay for him to cut their hair.
“I’ve been cutting hair for about a year now, since my freshman year, when I would cut my friends’ hair for fun,” Liam said. “They started really liking [the haircuts], and I eventually created a social media account to try to put myself out there.”
Liam says that his favorite aspect of barbering is seeing his handiwork all around campus. He has the opportunity to watch his growth and sees the outcome of his talent on his friends.
“I like [barbering] because I get to actually get to see the product of my work over time. I can always recognize someone at school who I’ve given a haircut to, and to me that’s really cool.”
Excluding discounts, Liam charges around 10 dollars per haircut, a reasonable price compared to other barbers in Marin. For similar haircuts, professional barbers charge upwards of 50 dollars. Freshman McCoy Dillon gets his hair cut by Liam, choosing him over other barbers for his great pricing and skills.
“I saw his work on TikTok and Instagram, and I saw that he can give some really good haircuts. I asked him about it, and when I heard about the cheap price, I knew that I wanted to choose him instead of a different barber,” McCoy said.
While barbering is still uncommon at Archie Williams, some other students also embark on the career. Senior Leo Diaz also enjoys barbering for Archie Williams and runs social media accounts under the name “Chino_cutz.” where he showcases his haircuts.
“In my freshman year I started asking people I knew if I could cut their hair, and it looked good. [Eventually I had] people asking me to cut their hair, and decided to keep doing it,” Leo said.
His pricing is slightly steeper than Liam’s, but many people, including sophomore Eduardo Escobar believe that his haircuts maintain the same quality.
“I know [Liam and Leo] both very well, and I usually go back and forth between them when I get my hair cut. Even though Leo’s [haircuts] cost more, they are just as good as Liam’s,” Eduardo said.
Leo charges 30 dollars for a haircut and an extra 10 dollars for a design or beard trim. For Leo, his entire daily life revolves around barbering, working to constantly improve his skills.
“[I wake up and] check my DMs to see if anyone [messaged me] overnight, then go to school. When I come back, I usually give at least two haircuts, sometimes three or four. Then I do my homework and watch a few tutorials whenever I feel like I want to [improve in some aspect of my skill],” Leo said.
While both Leo and Liam’s cuts are fairly exclusive to their classmates and friends, their hobby extends across the school community. Through social interactions, many Archie Williams students and staff alike know of Liam and Leo’s small businesses. Archie Williams P.E. teacher Rene Ayala believes that what Liam does is positive for the Archie Williams community.
“I see kids in all of my P.E. classes with really nice and professional-looking haircuts. The majority of them say Liam gave them the haircuts, and I think it’s cool to see [students] can get a good haircut from their friends. It’s very beneficial [for the student community],” Ayala said.
The popularity of student-run barbering at Archie Williams speaks to young people seeking entrepreneurship and learning opportunities. While the school doesn’t officially offer barbering classes, students like Liam and Leo are creating their own paths, leveraging social media platforms and their talents and skills to start small businesses. They are developing skills that could be valuable for future careers, while also contributing to a sense of community within their school.
As barbering continues to grow at Archie Williams, it reflects on the career exploration choices that are not necessarily presented by the school itself but instead discovered by interested students.
