Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tre Abeita. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Tre thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
I had originally started cutting hair when I was about 13 years old, after years of practice and getting acquainted with the clippers the quality of my haircuts started to come together, there was a day in highschool where I was sitting at the lunch tables and a fellow classmate comes up to me and asked me who cut my hair, now back then I was preparing for a roast session but he complimented my cut and asked if I could cut his hair one day after school, at that moment it sparked a fire in my heart and I knew I could build myself a nice clientele if I perfected my craft. Leading up to the cut I knew I had to go in and kill his haircut, I knew this was the start of something special if I could do a good enough job to create a domino affect. So my buddy comes by my moms garage, we set the stage with blaring music, studio lighting, a simple little chair and a nice little cutting station, I drape my client and get to work. Once I was in my zone my confidence arose and I was in my element, after a good 25-30 min I handed my client the mirror, his jaw drops in awe and I’m waiting to see if this is a great or horrible impression, he turns to me, smiles, stands up and thanked me for the wonderful job I did, I smile back we shake hands and that’s all she wrote! I concluded with pictures for social media promotion which made him feel even more confident, it was the beginning of an era when I took hobby to career.
Tre, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I got into the industry early on but it wasn’t entirely my dream at that time. After high school, where my Barbering career started, I was set to pursue a college degree in business management with a minor in marketing at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. As a student at TAMUCC i was also able to quickly spread my name around campus as the on-campus Barber. I was cutting hair for fellow classmates, student athletes, and even teachers, coaches and advisors. Unfortunately my college career ended after a year and a half after being cut from the baseball program and having to be put on academic probation. Things weren’t in my favor at that time in my life but I knew I had to create an opportunity somewhere and I went back to the drawing boards to find myself again and revisit what I loved, Barbering. The summer of 2011 I found myself back home in Kyle, Texas searching for barber programs, I raised my own money by cutting hair out of my moms garage and I put myself through a Texas Barber program at Alamo City Barber College in San Antonio, Texas. I was more determined than ever to sharpen my barber skills and obtain my Texas Class A Barber License. After a 9 month course and a son on the way It was imperative that I found a local shop to work out of to ensure I could maintain a lifestyle as a working citizen and a father. During this time I was also taking continuing education courses and flying myself out to Hair conventions and expos to learn more about products and techniques all while networking with barbers who were cutting hair for celebrities. During my time on the road I noticed the age gap between myself, 20, and my colleagues, early to mid 30’s, I knew I was on a special path. Shortly after making the right connections and making good impressions my phone started to ring from barbers out of state looking for me to help take care of their clients whether they were everyday joes or Actors, Professional Athletes, business owners, CEOs, comedians, things of that nature. My career snowballed and I later found myself on world tours, music festivals, major sporting events, etc.
What separates me from other barbers is not only my A-List clientele and my résumé but my ability to build connections and create opportunities for clients by venturing out into different industries and creating new businesses and ideas.
When meeting new clients or potential clients I want to stress that with me you’re not only going to get a great service but my goal isn’t for you to be just a client, my goal is to create a real relationship with meaning and purpose. I want us to collaborate and network and build an unbreakable bond that leads to a potential partnership or somehow create opportunities for eachother. Being able to meet someone and grow with them, to me, is way more meaningful than just calling someone a client, I want to create a community of likeminded individuals who want to create a unique lifestyle.
Family is what I am most proud of, I’ve learned that we shouldn’t live to work, but that we should work to live. You need to find a balance in order to achieve true happiness and there’s no greater satisfaction than having time to work and still make that baseball game or football practice or dance recital. Those are cherished moments I wouldn’t trade for any amount of money, and when you can find that level of happiness you truly are rich.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
My story wasn’t always sweet, I fell down a path of greed and despair. After being cut from the TAMUCC Baseball program I was making money by cutting hair but I was also skipping class, I was put on academic probation which led to an excessive amount of partying which also led to being cited by campus police for a MIP, minor in possession of Alcohol. I was very undisciplined and my time at a university was in jeopardy.
One day after finals I decided to drive home that afternoon and head back home to Kyle from Corpus Christi, the 3 hour ride took its toll and I fell asleep behind the wheel in Seguin, TX. My eyes shut for a split second and when I opened my eyes the lanes on the road were merging into one while going 45 mph. I jerked the wheel to prevent a collision and while doing so I tumbled and flipped my car down a ditch and slid into a field where I came to a Smokey stop. After this traumatic experience I started to look at life in a different light and I no longer wanted to take my time here for granted. Partying, drinking, experimenting with drugs never seemed so unimportant and I knew I had more to live for and still plenty of work to do and things to figure out.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
Marketing came pretty natural to me, I was always able to rely on word to mouth but with MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram I used those platforms as a way to build clientele. Every friend had friends or people I didn’t know so whenever I would do haircuts I would take pictures or create videos to promote on those different platforms and tag everyone on my friend groups. I proved to myself that social media was a lucrative tool once I was seeing my business and engagements growing but also I remember Tyrese Gibson, actor and singer, reached out to me via Instagram asking if I could come to LA. That was validation that social media marketing was the new age of promoting business online.
Contact Info:
- Website: Linktr.ee/treabeita
- Instagram: @trelouisabeita
- Twitter: @trethebarber
- Other: Instagram @theshopbytre @theshopaustin