Erick Lopez is a man of many dreams. One of his dreams was to open his own barbershop. In the fall of 2024 he started to make that happen. From going to people’s houses, to now opening up his own space. Lopez has since built a barbershop out of a shed given to him.
Lopez’s journey with hair started on TikTok. “I would watch the TikToks of barbers cutting hair and I would think and tell myself that I could do that.” From there, Lopez found some old clippers and decided to cut his own hair. He followed a TikTok tutorial step-by-step and soon after he finished his first ever haircut. “I realized that I didn’t really like it, and that I need more practice.” Lopez kept watching videos and kept getting better and better, and pretty soon he was able to get his first client.
Lopez’s first client was none other than his grandfather. “I showed him photos of how I cut my hair, and then he finally let me do his.” When Lopez’s grandfather finally let him, he took the opportunity and ran away with it. Lopez’s feet were finally wet, and he decided he truly wanted to do something with hair.
“One of my first clients from the school was Nathan Miller; when I did him, I started to realize that I was taking too long with my haircuts.” said Lopez.
Lopez’s first goal was to decrease the time it took him to complete a good haircut while improving the quality of the haircut. His solution was simple, practice and to keep trying. Miller expressed, “ I went to Erick because I was just excited to try something new and getting a haircut from one of my friends was different and exciting.” By the winter of 2024 Lopez started getting more and more clients and his business began to pick up steam.
However, last winter, Lopez found trouble scheduling haircuts due to the fact that he didn’t have a set place to do them. Lopez was leaving lots of money on the table by only being able to give people their haircut at their house. When one of his clients moved and bought a house, they realized that they had also bought a shed in the backyard that they would not need.
They decided to give it to Lopez as a space for him to run his business, with the agreement that he would fix it up all by himself and give them free haircuts. Lopez had no reason to say no to this offer. “ I said yes, I was so excited to have my own space.”
Lopez brought the 15 by 15 shed to his house, gave it a fresh coat of paint and cleaned the inside. “I bought a barber chair on Amazon and even set up a desk inside. But when I started doing the cuts, I realized that if the client brought people, those people had nowhere to sit.” Lopez admitted. He then bought couches and lights in an attempt to make his business feel homey and welcoming. Erick advertises his business by posting on instagram and snapchat.
“I was shocked when I went in to get a haircut. I was with Erick from the beginning, and it was insane to see how much he leveled up,” said alumni Jack Bousquet, a 2023 graduate. Level up he did, from a pair of old clippers to buying new materials and even having his very own barbershop, Erick Lopez has indeed leveled up.
Lopez currently has 35 different clients and now charges $25 per haircut and can do a vast majority of cuts such as taper fades, mullets, shape ups and even women’s hair. “I never thought that within a year I would have a place I can call my shop,” said Lopez. Lopez’s rise as a barber has been unmatched, and he is well on his way to accomplish his dream of being a full-time barber.
