By Tiana Harrington

My husband, Wayne, and I established our barbershop and salon in June 2014 to help our clients look and feel good about themselves. Since then, we’ve expanded our mission to help those in need succeed. We now have many brands but one purpose: To give of oneself, unselfishly one person at a time. Either with our time, gifts, or talents or being a resource that connects others together.

WayneTheBarber Enterprise looks for opportunities to support or create events that benefit others. We believe in going above and beyond to help others, whether it’s in the barbershop or out in the community.

One of our major initiatives was inspired by Wayne’s own experiences. Growing up in the projects In Flint, he saw many opportunities to make the wrong decisions.  But when Wayne was 12 years old, his stepfather forced him to cut hair, hoping it would help him stay off the streets. Little did he know, that would have a huge impact on the direction of Wayne’s life.

Now, with nearly 24 years of experience as a licensed barber, Wayne uses his skills to help youth in the community through “How the Clippers Saved My Life.” This six-week career exploration and mentorship program that promotes trusting relationships, imparts basic barbering skills and empowers youth to grasp their full potential while cultivating leadership development to youth ages 13-19. This program is designed to give youth a positive outlet for their creative energy while also assisting them in building life skills and confidence to help them go on to achieve greatness.

Every participant walks away with not only a wealth of knowledge, but also a pair of clippers to get them started on their path.  “I firmly believe that love has the power to help everyone succeed,” says Wayne.

Due to the pandemic, our endeavors stopped and slowed down drastically. We closed the barbershop and salon and the community events were shut down. Thankfully, the Moving Flint Forward Small Business grant program has given our business a boost in the right direction to grow, learn and expand. With the grant funding, we have been able to purchase equipment, products, tools and marketing and branding essentials that allow us to help more youth in Genesee County. The program has helped our business build on a firm foundation that creates more opportunity to help others and build wealth for our family.

In the next five to 10 years, our goal is to have one location where WayneTheBarber Enterprise Headquarters will have all our brands under one roof. Wayne will have a barbershop, a training facility for How the Clippers Saved my Life and an office for Everybody Need’s Love, our community service brand where we serve the homeless and providing haircuts, food and health resources.

If you would like to offer our programs at your organization, provide services at a community event or volunteer at one of our many events, you can reach me at 810-529-9091 or w@waynethebarber.com.