By BOTWC Staff
A Detroit teen suspended for giving haircuts at school received an apprenticeship opportunity from the city’s top barber, Fox 2 Detroit reports.
Cameron Tucker is 16-years-old and decided over the summer that he wanted to learn to cut hair. He figured he’d cut his younger cousins’ hair, save some money by cutting his own, and earn little extra funds by cutting his friends’ hair. So 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 recalled.
Before he knew it, Cameron had caught the hang of things, taking to social media to post pictures of his cousins’ haircuts before and after, eventually expanding his operations to include servicing his football teammates. Then this past Thursday, while attending school at Detroit’s Renaissance High School, Cameron was caught cutting a classmates’ hair in the bathroom during study hall.
“In the middle of doing that, the teacher walked in, stared at us for about 45 seconds, and walked out,” Cameron recalled.
His mom Cassandra then immediately got a call.
“We need someone to come pick up Camron; he’s running a barbershop out of the third-floor bathroom. There’s [a] line in there, hair all over the floor. He’s got his whole setup in there like on the movie ‘Barbershop,’” the message 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.
Ultimately, the school decided to suspend him for one day for his bathroom barber operations.
“I want to say wrong time, wrong place,” Cameron added.
But Cameron’s story caught the attention of Sebastian Jackson, one of the city’s top barbers and owner of The Social Club Grooming Co. Similar to Cameron, Jackson learned to cut hair when he was 15 years old. He’d grown up to become one of the most sought-after barbers in Detroit, boasting a celebrity clientele that includes Jalen Rose, Big Sean, Dwele, and former Lions star Reggie Bush.
“You have become so good at your craft in such a short period of time… 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.
Jackson offered Cameron several pointers during their meeting, extending his years of wisdom freely to the budding barber.
“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.
He, too, has aspirations of one day making it big and plans to keep cutting hair and mastering his craft, although he says he won’t do it at school anymore.
“Lesson learned, though,” Cameron said.
The teen returned to school this week, sans clippers. The city hopes that maybe Cameron will choose to join the Detroit Public School Community District’s barber license program.
Keep going, Cameron! You’re on your way to being a great barber!
