Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodrick Samuels.
Hi Rodrick, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story started before the awards, titles, stages, or board appointments. I was a kid cutting hair in my mother’s bathroom. I didn’t know barbering would take me around the country or put me in rooms I never imagined being in. I just knew I loved the craft and I loved what happened when people sat in that chair.
Barbering taught me pretty early that the haircut is only part of the job. Barbershops are places where people talk, learn, laugh, argue, heal and sometimes figure life out.
My journey definitely wasn’t a straight line. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve had doors close. I’ve had to rebuild. I’ve had moments when I questioned whether I was even headed in the right direction. But every season taught me something.
Eventually, cutting hair became teaching people how to cut hair. Teaching became developing other educators. And education eventually led me into leadership and advocacy for our industry.
Today, as Co-Founder and Director of Education at Hair Lab Detroit Barber School, I get to pour those lessons into the next generation. That’s probably the part I’m most proud of. I still love barbering, but somewhere along the way I realized my purpose wasn’t just creating great haircuts. It was creating opportunities for other people to become great.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely. And I think sometimes when people see the awards, accomplishments and social media posts, they only see the highlight reel.
They don’t see the mistakes. The financial pressure. The sleepless nights. The relationships that change as you grow. The times you make a decision as a leader that you know is right but still hurts.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn is that caring about people and holding them accountable aren’t opposites.
That’s been difficult for me because I’m an educator at heart. I want people to make it. I want second chances to work. I want the conversation, the coaching or the extra opportunity to be the thing that changes someone’s direction. But leadership has taught me that grace can’t mean having no standards.
I’ve also experienced resistance for challenging outdated systems and asking uncomfortable questions about barber education. Growth doesn’t always get applause.
There have been seasons where I’ve wondered, “Is all of this worth it?” And every time I come back to the same answer: yes.
Because then I see a former student open a shop. I see somebody pass their state board. I watch an educator I helped develop find their confidence. I see a person who didn’t know what their future looked like discover that they’re actually good at something.
Those moments remind me why I started.
The road hasn’t been smooth, but I don’t think I would have learned nearly as much if it had been.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At the center of everything I do is education.
I’m a barber by trade, but somewhere along this journey I became obsessed with how people learn and how we teach them. I realized pretty quickly that knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach somebody else to do it are two completely different skills.
Today, I’m the Co-Founder and Director of Education at Hair Lab Detroit Barber School, which I built alongside my wife and business partner, Lauren. Hair Lab is our opportunity to rethink what barber education can look like.
Of course we teach people how to cut hair. That’s the expectation. But we’re also trying to prepare people for what happens after school—how to communicate, serve clients, manage money, market themselves, handle conflict, be accountable, and build careers that can actually support their lives.
I’m also passionate about developing educators. I’ve spent years traveling, teaching classes, working with schools, speaking at industry events and helping instructors understand that today’s students may learn differently than we did. That doesn’t mean we lower the standard. It means we become better teachers.
I’ve been fortunate to receive recognition for that work, including being named NAHA Educator of the Year, but the awards aren’t really what sticks with me.
What sticks with me is somebody saying, “You taught me how to teach.”
Or a former student calling me years later to tell me they’re still in the industry.
That’s the work.
I teach barbers, but more and more, I realize I’m really trying to teach people what’s possible.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
One of the memories that stays with me is cutting hair in my mother’s bathroom.
There wasn’t some grand business plan behind it. I was just a kid trying to figure something out that I was interested in and getting better every time somebody trusted me enough to sit down.
I can still picture that bathroom. Hair everywhere. Clippers going. Me concentrating like I had a full barbershop when, in reality, I was learning through trial and error.
I had no idea where those clippers were going to take me.
I couldn’t have imagined traveling around the world teaching. I couldn’t have imagined running a school with my wife, becoming an educator, serving the industry, writing books, or having opportunities to influence how the next generation of barbers is trained.
Sometimes I think about that kid in the bathroom and laugh.
He thought he was learning how to cut hair. He had no idea he was learning how to build a life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.hairlabdetroitbarberschool.com
- Instagram: @rodricksamuels
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodrick.samuels
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodrick-samuels-34883010
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RodrickSamuels
