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

Alright, Leonardo thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

My biggest risk was putting myself first. Have a profession beyond the common (as many think or underestimate the “barbershop“) go against the current, do something out of the ordinary. turn this fantasy that could only be seen through “my phone screen” into having something more than wanting to make it come true, to know that other face of the barbershop industry that not everyone risks developing. My heart and my whole being longed to be able to inspire with my work, I wanted with all my strength that my work be seen and recognized, to be able to teach with the patience that was not given to me, with the tools that were not given to me and with the knowledge that was not there. break the stereotype of a Latino family where “following your dreams is a waste of time” where charging $100 for a haircut is unimaginable. where constantly traveling for work means being on vacation all the time, where not sharing the same family ideas is a taboo. All actions have an effect on life, in my case learning to walk alone, breaking relationships ties that I thought were unbreakable, knowing the envious and selfish side of those closest to me, leaving people who do not contribute anything positive to my life behind To realize how life really is, to sacrifice my mental health for a dream that only i know it will be worth it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Leonardo Garay, I’m 23 years old. I was born in Fairfax Virginia, but i live in Knoxville Tennessee. I’m the owner of Fenix barbershop and educator When i was was a 16-year-old boy who had won the battle against cancer when my father died. Leaving my brother with a very big weight on his shoulders to play the role of father. My brother used to work in construction but learned to cut hair in Honduras so soon he got a job in a barbershop near by. in this barbershop I got my first job, I worked sweeping and meanwhile, I looked at the other barbers work and so I thought, I would learn a little, my weekly salary for sweeping was $ 70 dollars, it was not enough for my age but what responsibility would I have at 16.
Later, my brother realized that the pay was not enough to stay so we decided to try our luck and we started to work in a new barbershop where all the money was for my brother and of course, I started trying to cut hair at a station on the corner of this new barbershop that was almost invisible to customers and it was the last option for clients (of course, if you didn’t want to wait you could pass VIP with me). I did not charge for my work because i was terrible at cutting hair. . But one day, the owner asked me to leave the barbershop because it was hard for me to learn and he got tired of me.
His words were “you will never learn; you were not born for this” and those words echoed in my head without stopping. I remember that my brother came out and looked at me with eyes full of hope and said “Brother, we are going to open our own barbershop.” Few month later we did opened our own place changing $12 dollars a cut, people arrived wholesale that we had no time for anything, just to cut hair.
We were the best team, I couldn’t be more proud, we started without a license. I thought everything was just fine but then the city victimized us at least three times by catching me and my brother working without a license and fining us consecutively, going to barber school was a future talk but not because I did not want to, but because I did not realize the importance of it, after graduating from high school, I took a few months to work and think if this was what I wanted to do so, I took the decision to get my license and go to school.
I was barely 19 years old, everything was progressing once more as it should until my brother gave me the news that he would move out of the state due to family problems and because he could not be in the city anymore. In less than a month, my brother left me with so many responsibilities, at the same time, that I did not have time to feel his absence for 19 years; I ended up paying two rents the light bills and now I had become in the head of my new home the last months before graduating
I have them so engraved in my mind because I thought they were so bad that they were never going to end I got to the point of changing coins to be able to eat and keep everything together and balanced. I was not in my best moment I was attending school from 9 am to 7 pm in this way I would graduate faster and work from 8 pm to 12 am because I always had to take money home and pay my debts my dark circles revealed my concern and emotional and physical fatigue but I always had the hope in the depths of my soul as clinging to me as my own skin. When I finally graduated, I filled my lungs with air and I couldn’t hold back my tears I applauded myself!
That night I had no money to celebrate my achievement but the weight that fell off my shoulders paid for everything that night “Garay barbershop” died and “Fenix barbershop” was born I threw the dead weight of my first Barbershop out the front door, I let her go with my brother and my old self in this way, I would reborn with the barbershop, it was again my blank canvas and this time it would be something that represented me from head to toe, the process was a bit faster because I had raised the price to $20 per cut and I could afford that luxury.
Fenix was under construction from December 2019 – May 2020. On May 8, 2020, Fenix finally opens its doors totally legal and free from the past giving new opportunities to both myself and my Barbers. Fenix has brought me to where I am, and wherever I go I’ll take Fenix’s Barbershop with me. The day I found out that Fenix was fully authorized to receive the public I took a minute in the bathroom I looked in the mirror and said to myself “The lion has been released from the cage.” Fenix made me realize how repressed I was, by not being able to have total control of situations and realize that in less than one year
I did more by myself than four years of working with my brother. When I was 16 years old and charged $12, I never imagined that people could pay me $100 just for the cuts I make, and that they would prefer my barbershop over the others and that my presence and my work would be admired by someone else. Outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, visiting other cities and being so interesting to people is something I still can’t describe. I’m not where I want to be yet but I’m happy I’m not where I started. A long road awaits me and it may be difficult but I know it will be easier than the road I have already passed.

Fenix barbershop is my new face. “Phoenix bird” (ave fenix Latin) its a mythologist bird that dies and is reborn from the ashes, I feel identified with the meaning because the barbershop went through a crisis where I thought I would lose everything, I was at the lowest point of my life, but suddenly it took a different direction where everything that i dreamed of became reality, i felt my dream was reborn together with the barbershop. This is the place. where I offer elite and quality services like memberships, 24 hours service, hands on classes, house calls, that are not found in the city. I offer special work and personalized service. The problems that I can solve for my clients is to be available for them 24/7 preparing them for any occasion or event. What sets me apart from others is my creativity to offer services adaptable to any situation and customer need, from the most basic to the most luxurious, where in my list of services there is always an option for you. I am proud of FENIX, I’m proud of the atmosphere I created and to work in a area where I feel comfortable everyday I’m proud of the people I work with. I’m proud to have survived the obstacles of my past, to have overcome the pressure with maturity. Of having built the stability with which I live, of being fully me and being able to enjoy the process of my dreams at a young age.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

personally as owner and example for my team is to be constant in what I do, be stable in my location and city, take care of my reputation, do not mix my personal life with my work (professionalism) respect my clients’ time, be punctual, take care my appearance have an appropriate vocabulary, and try to give the best customer service. And on the business side, I would recommend creating a logo that represents your brand, paying for advertising via goggle, yelp, instagram, and all the platforms that are available to you, discounts, the usual (business cards, flyers, banners, etc.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

what has helped me mainly are the 8 years of experience in my profession, the quality of my work, my seriousness for my craft, my perfectionism and my attention to small details, the ability to evolve over time, have high expectations for my work, the constant recommendation of the cleintes, and my exceptional price. For me this is just not my job it’s what represents me as a whole and all the hard work I’ve put in to it so yes! I will definitely give it my 100% everyday, always going that extra mile to make the difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fenixbarbershopknox.com/press-kit
• Instagram: Leog_the_barber
• Facebook: Fenix barbershop
• Yelp: Fenix barbershop
• Other: For further services you can browse my bio site: https://bio.site/leonardogaray

Image Credits
Cristian Alexander reed schick Miguel Angel Jauregui Zavaleta of Angel Jz Photography