We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Enrique Mendez . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Enrique below.

Enrique , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The story behind my mission was not only to be my version of success, thrive and wealth but to do it all with passion and have fun while in the process of achieving my goals, I started cutting hair at 15 years old so with barbering being the foundation of my passion and being able to fund all my other projects by barbering I have been able to establish 5 streams of income to provide myself financial freedom, however one thing about me is I have a hard time telling myself when to stop, so as my mission continues my story will keep on building, but my overall goal is to be able to retire my parents before I’m 30 years old

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

I started cutting hair at 15 years old in a town called Cicero Illinois right outside of Chicago Illinois, I decided at 16 I wanted to pursuer the entrepreneurship lifestyle. So I took extra classes to graduate high-school my sophomore year went to get my cosmetology license and started working in downtown Chicago. After 2 years I decided it was time for a change so I ventured off to asia, South America and visited 32 states before I found my new home here in Austin Texas. While Austin Texas was booming I couldn’t find any landlord to give me a lease, who would? I was 22 years old right so I went back to Chicago to start what was my first shop kings barber studio , after being in Chicago for a year I decided to come back into Austin and that’s where things really blew up for me, I opened up 2 barbershops and currently working on one bar within a 2 year span in the downtown area of Austin. It took a lot of dedication and sacrifices to be able move this fast, and it was most certainly was a struggle being that my 1st location in Austin was opening 1 month before Covid but I couldn’t be any more proud of my barbershops, not only because of the talent it has built behind the chairs but because I was able to establish a family environment where The turnover in employment is little to none.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

My first initial shop in Chicago that I had was funded by pure grind, I would work in the barbershop 8am-9pm on the weekdays and the weekends where 6am-9pm. With not wanting to take out loans and being self funded this was the only was I was able to gather my initial capital to fund my first location .

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Just like most the business owners in the world 2020 was by far the most near death experience for my business. While bills still had to get paid the fact that we didn’t have any income for 6.5 months was 100% the most difficult task I have had to come by as a business owner. During the last month of 2020 I had bled out my account into the negatives in hopes that the month to come, we would open back up and I grinned behind the chair 15+ hours everyday to save my business. Thankfully it all worked as my Plan b during Covid

Contact Info:

• Website: Kingsbarberstudio.com / skyhouseatx.com
• Instagram: @Kikè__mendez
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Enriquethebarber93
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/enrique-mendez-36aa34244

Image Credits
https://instagram.com/kike__mendez?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=