蜜柚直播

鈥淵our whole outlook on things can change with just a haircut. It can lift you up and make you feel like a million bucks. It can change someone鈥檚 life,鈥� Gamez said.

That someone can even be the person on the other side of the clippers.

Gamez was 19 when he decided to go to barber college and stop plying his amateur skills on his cousin and younger brother. He was excited to start barbering but for all the wrong reasons, he says.

鈥淚 had my mind on very immature things. Being a barber was about fashion and jewelry and all that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought I was going to be doing fades and designs, not regular haircuts.鈥�

His first job was at the barbershop at 53 N. Sixth Ave., across from the Ronstadt Transit Center. The shop made famous by Johnny Gibson.

For almost 60 years, the man known as 蜜柚直播鈥檚 barber cut hair at the same location 鈥� from 1949, when Gibson bought the old Palace Barber Shop, to 2007, when he stopped coming in to work on Tuesdays at the shop he had sold in 2001.

Gamez had been a customer during the transition from Gibson to new owner Tom Curley, as his mother brought her sons in for their regular haircuts. So getting to work in a familiar setting made things easier, but just a little.

鈥淔resh out of school, when you step into the barber business, it鈥檚 a whole different game,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I first started here, first haircut that first day was a flattop. It was bad. I left a hole in that guy鈥檚 hair.鈥�

But it鈥檚 all part of the process of becoming a better barber, he said.

鈥淵ou really learn after you get into a shop and you start seeing other barbers, their craft work, the way they move their clippers, use a straight razor, the faster techniques. It all comes together,鈥� he said.

He was barely out of the leaving-holes-in-people鈥檚-hair phase when he started telling himself that he would one day own the historic barbershop.

鈥淛ust young and hungry, I guess,鈥� he said.

His chance came a lot sooner than he thought, after Curley sold the barbershop and the new owner discovered the business was not for him. By that time Gamez was 23 and managing the shop.

鈥淚 was nervous at first. I didn鈥檛 know what to do, I didn鈥檛 know anything. I stepped out on faith,鈥� he said.

Defining a good barber

In the three years he has owned the rechristened Danny鈥檚 Downtown Barber Shop, one of the biggest challenges Gamez has faced is recruiting staff, he said.

Barbers rent their stations and get to keep whatever money they make, but finding a good fit between barber and shop has been difficult.

鈥淎 good barber for me is a happy person, a person that loves other people. Someone that鈥檚 passionate about what they do,鈥� Gamez said.

After struggling for the last few years, he feels he鈥檚 finally put a good crew together.

He鈥檚 got the newbies, Alicia Trujillo and Nate Carillo, who are just out of school, and more than 30 years of experience between Jesse Craft and Miguel Garcia.

鈥淚 like this place because it鈥檚 been around for a long time, it has a lot of history,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淛ohnny Gibson worked here for a lot of years and we鈥檙e in the heart of downtown. It鈥檚 a good place.鈥�

For Carillo, who just got his barber鈥檚 license, it鈥檚 all about serving customers.

鈥淲e give the client what they need, be it an old-fashioned hot towel shave, a scissor cut or a tapered haircut for a young kid,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like making people feel welcomed.鈥�

Having new barbers in the shop lets Gamez extend the same courtesy that he was given.

鈥淚 love having them in there because that gives me an opportunity to teach them, to show them how I was once taught in Curley鈥檚 shop by the staff there,鈥� he said.

Miguel Garcia has been cutting hair for 15 years and during his first stint at the downtown shop got to work with Johnny Gibson.

A mine worker for 20 years and trained as a lawyer in Mexico, Garcia has plenty to talk about with his clients, which is good, he said, because that鈥檚 his favorite part of barbering.

鈥淭alking to people is the main thing. We talk about politics, sports, always positive with people.鈥�

Jesse Craft has been in the business for more than 20 years. He points to a string of Narcotics Anonymous key tags that hang by his station as a reminder of his past.

鈥淚鈥檝e worked in different shops. I鈥檝e worked at shops where they鈥檝e gotten shot up, so to work in a Christian environment, it鈥檚 really a blessing,鈥� he said.

While there鈥檚 no shortage of paying customers, he said the shop also offers free haircuts to people in need.

鈥淚 was able to bless somebody with a free haircut today so that they can actually go to a job interview looking the way they鈥檙e supposed to look, and maybe get that job,鈥� Craft said. 鈥淚 get a lot of fulfillment from that.鈥�

Helping hand

Gamez said his faith is a big part of his success and informs the way he conducts business.

鈥淭he man that I am today, the husband, the father, is because of Him. I didn鈥檛 think my life was going to be this blessed,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust being able to have the opportunity to help somebody.鈥�

Along with the free haircuts for people who are down on their luck, Gamez also brings at-risk youths into the shop to learn from a positive work experience.

Sometimes, he said, helping someone just means lending a friendly ear.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like being a therapist. It amazes me how sometimes people come in just to talk,鈥� he said.

The shop鈥檚 philosophy is that everyone is welcomed, everyone is treated the same and tradition is king.

鈥淲e keep it old-fashioned. There鈥檚 no cussing and no disrespectful talk,鈥� he said. 鈥淩espect is the one key in the barbershop.鈥�

Surrounded by old photos and signs, cutting hair at the same chair he once sat in as a child, standing where dozens of barbers worked their magic over the years, Gamez is still taken aback by the shop鈥檚 history.

While he said he鈥檚 still young and eager and wants to open a barber college downtown one day soon, he also wants to do right by the place Johnny Gibson built.

鈥淭here are times the shop鈥檚 closed and I鈥檓 walking in and I get that scent, that barbershop smell,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 plan on keeping it open. Hopefully one day my kid takes over and keeps it going.鈥�