We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Legend Franklin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Legend thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

When I was coming out of high school, I had plans to go to college. Initially it was for basketball, but I ended up getting a band scholarship on my instrument at Alabama A&M university. I would have been first generation college student had I went and my mom was overly excited for me to go. However , For some reason something was telling me not to. I completed fasfa and all of my paperwork, I completed my audition and got my information for band camp; and a month before school was supposed to start I decided not to go. I still have a tiny bit of regret because I wanted to experience college, but if I hadn’t taken the risk of not going I would not be where I am today. I thought I’d let my family down by not going to school but they are more proud of me then ever. So I’m very grateful.

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

I never had plans of becoming a barber. My initial plan was to play basketball overseas. When that dream was crushed I knew I had to figure out something else to do because I wanted a bright and successful future. Barbering kind of fell in my pocket. I got my first ever haircut, but I couldn’t afford to keep paying for it myself so I started learning how to cut my own hair. From there I began practicing on my friends and I actually got good at it. I looked at barbering as a good way to make money without going against the law or doing something malicious. The better I got at cutting hair, the more I fell in love with the industry. I’ve had my ups and downs of course but the good outweighs the bad and I’m proud of my journey. I use to stay up all night watching haircut videos online and trying to learn the basics of the craft. None of this was easy. I’ve had doubtful days and also nights where I wanted to give up so bad. The biggest challenge has been consistency and that’s why I push the narrative so hard. Had I not stayed consistent I would not be where I am today.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I moved back to California in 2021 to be with my family. I was living in San Diego and I had a hard time creating a name for myself because I felt like my talent needed to be in more of a city like environment. There is a different style of cut in the San Diego area and I didn’t fit the style at the moment so getting accustomed was very difficult. I ended up having to leave from living with my family and had to try to make a living on my own but it didn’t go too well. Unfortunately, I had to stop cutting hair and get a warehouse job wrapping pallets. This was a hard time for me because it felt like a set back in my career. I eventually moved back to Atlanta and continued my career. This was a pivotal moment for me because it forced me to step my game up and work harder. In result of these circumstances I’m where I am now in life. I’m glad I went through what I went through.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building my audience on social media was very difficult until I cracked the algorithm to it. I posted 2-3 times a day every single day until I was able to build my platform but it wasn’t working. So I decided to use the strategy of posting unrelated content that people would like to see. I started posting dance videos and skate videos and they began to go viral. Once I reached 12k I took all of my dance and skate videos off my page and learned the algorithm to instagram and began posting barber content and I was able to build more of a barber like fan base.

Contact Info:

• Website: Originalanywhereco.com
• Instagram: Thalegendofficial
• Youtube: Legend the barber