We were lucky to catch up with Akeem Loftin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Akeem, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

I was always taught not to think I knew it all and to leave space to grow and learn different ways of doing things even if I knew how to do certain tasks. While in barber school, I always took pictures of the finish product so that way later down the line I can go back and look at my progress for how far I’ve come. Around that time was when social media platforms had started becoming an actual thing especially for the hair Industry. I began doing my research on looking about different method to gain my own clients outside of the clients that were coming into the school at the time. I signed up for 2 different booking platforms and uploaded all of my work onto the platform for my portfolio and hoping I would gain clientele. It worked I was able to gain clients. All while in barber school I was able to find a barbershop to begin my apprenticeship. Once I started there and gained constant clientele, I was driving around shopping and I ran across a “Suite studio” and I took down the information from the site and 2 days later I gave them a call and I was able to skip the waiting list. I was ready and all set to go. Once I received of the information that I need prior to moving in, I went straight to the nearest card making office and they created my design and a week later I received a call saying my cards were ready. I remember going to every store passing out my cards just getting my name out. The biggest obstacle that I faced was pride and rejection. Over the time, I’ve learned that is a part of being a business owner. You have to learn to pride your feelings aside and execute.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My journey first started at the age of 16. Growing up watching my mom in a salon doing hair, both on the cosmetology and the barbering side. She taught me everything that can be taught to one up until it was time for me to go off to barber school. As a business owner and creating a platform for myself, I had to learn financial literacy, read more books to learn and stay on top of my education and learn new skills. Staying motivated and consistent was key. I had a journal that I would write in twice a day once in the morning and once at night 6 days a week and I would write down what I wanted to better than the previous day and how I would execute my goals. I am the most proud of staying on task, staying consistent and always keeping in mind that this is just the beginning .

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I keep my social medias up to date, I create all of my posts two days before I post them. The way I post them is I have scheduled times and dates for every post. My loyal clients are able to view my open availability before it’s completely updated to the site.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The things that have helped me build my career is utilizing my business cards, going to social events and allowing myself to grow in competitive areas of my career.

Contact Info:

• Website: tyreethebarber.booksy.com
• Instagram: tyreethebarber