A Detroit teen who was suspended for giving a haircut in school was recently handed a life-changing opportunity to master his craft. Cameron Tucker, 16, was given a day suspension at Renaissance High School in Detroit for playing bathroom barber.
“In the middle of doing that, the teacher walked in, stared at us for about 45 seconds, and walked out,” Cameron recalled in an interview this month. His mom was informed about the incident.
“We need someone to come pick up Cameron, he’s running a barbershop out of the third-floor bathroom,” his mother was told. “There’s line in there, hair all over the floor. He’s got his whole setup in there like on the movie ‘Barbershop’,” the message to his mom said.
“While we were walking to the office and everything, all the administrators were like, ‘I respect the hustle and things like that,’” Cameron said.
He had decided to learn how to barber over the summer. His plan was to cut his cousin’s hair, save some cash cutting his own, and make a little by cutting his friends’ hair, according to FOX 2 Detroit.
He reached out to his Uncle Tuck so he could learn the basics of becoming a barber. “[He said] ‘I’m going to show you one time. I’m not going to show you again.’ And I was like, ‘Alright,’” Cameron said.
He quickly picked up what was taught him and before he knew it, he started posting before and after pictures on social media of his cousins’ haircuts and then started servicing his football teammates.
After Cameron was suspended for a day for cutting hair at school, his story caught the attention of Sebastian Jackson, one of Detroit’s top barbers and owner of The Social Club Grooming Co.
And just like Cameron, Jackson also learned how to barber when he was 15 years old. His clients include former Lions running backs Joique Bell and Reggie Bush, Jalen Rose, Big Sean, and R&B artist Dwele, according to FOX 2 Detroit.
“I’ll tell you man, just based on the hustle, if you’re interested in apprenticing with one of our cosmetologists or myself, that’s definitely an opportunity,” Jackson told Cameron.
“It was an honor meeting him. It was definitely a learning experience, learning where he came from and his way to where he is now,” Cameron said.
Cameron said he will continue to cut hair but has learned a lesson from his episode in school and will not repeat it.
