Justin Taylor

I'm Justin, but most people call me Gator!

I moved to Denver 3 years ago from Florida. I became a licsensed cosmetologist in 2018, and started my career at a local salon in central Florida for about 3 months. During that time my mom was diagnosed with cancer, so I put my career on hold for a year and moved to Georgia to spend time with her in her last days. After she passed, I moved back to Florida in April 2019. I walked into a barbershop and asked if they'd hire me. I knew nothing about men's grooming or any of the terminology/techniques. The owner brought me on and the guys at the shop taught me the fundementals of barbering. The haircuts were $9 and I was making no money at all. I started to doubt myself and if I even wanted to be a barber if that's what it looked like. I was working the same serving job that carried me through school at the time. I had the idea that I was going to step into the industry and make a lot of money and be a prodigy. That didn't happen lol.

I took another opportunity to work at a shop where the haircuts were $20 and started realizing there was financial potential in barbering. I soon hit a cap in my career where I wasn't growing and I wasn't being challenged at all. I decided I'd move to Denver in 2020. I started at a shop here where I was charging $28 a haircut on commission pay, and soon hit a ceiling at that shop too. I reached out to John Carmona (Titan_Barber) at Barber Theory and asked to work with him. I did a practical interview and was humbled IMMEDIATELY. I did not get the job, and had a ton to work on. I worked with another shop in Denver for a while, and continued my education. I then saw that Barber Theory was hiring again so I gave it another shot and got hired.

Anyway, fast forward to present day, I'm fully booked and competent in my skill making $60 a haircut with 30 minute time slots. I went from $9 haircuts to $60 haircuts in just 3 years of my career and really hope this showcases my resilience and dedication to my craft.