Cristian Fuentes

I am 29 and a father of two kids. My daughter is 16 months and my step son is 10. In high school I was a year round athlete. My time was spent mostly at school. When I had down time I would find ways to make money by asking around my neighborhood for work. I would do gutter cleaning, yard work, design shirts or cut hair. In the winter I would shovel snow. What I enjoyed the most on that list was cutting hair. I did it all through high school and a couple years in college. At the time before college, I didn't think of becoming a barber becbecause my high school and family pushed college on me a lot. I listened to them and thought going for a Bachelor's degree with the college experience and connections would get me close to the vision I had for my future. I decided to stick with my artistic skills and study for VTD(Virtual Technology & Design). Being the first to graduate high school and making it to college in my Hispanic family was a big deal. In a way I was pressured to attend college from high school and my family. I didn't get the chance to walk across that stage. Working full time and being a full time student was a big challenge for me. I didn't do my research before attending another college near home. They told me that some of my credits won't transfer over when I was trying to register. I didn't want to pay for those credits again. So, that's when I decided to just keep working in construction. That was in 2015. After my babygirl was born on July 7th, 2021. I kept telling myself that I need to do something else to help my kids future. After doing a lot of thinking and research. My journey led me back to become a barber.