MYCOMEUP Meets Celebrity Barber Trimmz for an exclusive interview

I had the pleasure of speaking with celebrity barber Trimmz. He opened up about his incredible career journey, dealing with pressure as well as giving some words of wisdom for aspiring barbers and entrepreneurs.

One thing I instantly noticed from Trimmz was his genuine passion for cutting hair, a passion irrespective of the money and fame. I asked Trimmz how he remains professional when dealing with such high profile clients and he replied that as soon as the clippers get in his hands he’s in a state of flow and everything fizzles away. This reminded me of ‘The Zone’ a theme in Disney Pixar’s movie Soul. The Zone is a state of flow talented people find themselves in when working on their passion.  It’s no wonder Trimmz earned himself an outstanding reputation and has a career many of us dream of. From flying across the world for clients, being on amazing sets, working with The Game, Common, Danny Welbeck, and Mathew Morrison just to name a few. Everyone that works with Trimmz sees the magic he creates and how reliable he is. This is what makes Trimmz stand out. 

Where it all started

Trimmz began his journey as a barber at the tender age of 12, cutting his friends hair. While other kids were obsessing over games and sports, Trimmz got stuck into the arts, identifying himself as “the weird art kid”, finding he had an artistic eye and the ability to paint and draw, these skills transferred and helped Trimmz as a barber, able to create crisp and sharp lines with an understanding of composition, needed as both an artist and a barber.

“Barbering became my art”.

At 15 the young aspiring barber realised he had a talent for cutting hair when word began to spread that he was the man to go to get your hair cut, seeing his passion and drive Trimmz’s mum bought him a pro pair of clippers and he switched from trimming in the school playground to helping out at a local barbershop. Understanding the importance of being a student before climbing up the ranks, he watched the lead barber like a hawk taking notes on techniques and getting the proper training needed for him to take his skills to the next level. 

Moving onto College at 16 Trimmz kept the clippers in his backpack and kept cutting hair in the classroom but soon discovered College wasn’t for him and dived into cutting hair full time with no pressure just for the love of it.  “ I didn’t really think long term at the time I was just doing what I loved.” Said Trimmz assured that passion would lead him to his destiny in due time. 

I asked Trimmz if he felt pressured to succeed by his family and peers due to taking a different route and he said:

“It was working in that first barbershop, putting in the work but it was hard pulling in clients at that age and by the end of the week I would have earned  just £7.50 and that made me want to prove my Mum wrong and push even harder.”

After struggling to make even 10 pounds from cutting hair a turning point came for Trimmz. Moving on to a new shop Trimmz found himself being recognised as the barber whose chair everyone wanted to be in. Despite being the youngest in the shop at 19, Trimmz had a line of people waiting for him to work his magic. This changed the game for Trimmz and soon word spread and his clientele expanded to the local football team and players began contacting him privately for remote bookings. 

“This was my first insight into doing a mobile business, there was a whole market opening up to me.” Says Trimmz. He grabbed this opportunity and ran with it building a network from his already high profile clients.

I asked Trimmz what qualities made him stand out as the barber invited into footballers homes and he replied:

“The world that they’re in trust is a big thing. You have to be trustworthy and reliable. What made me different from other barbers is that I showed more care, always went the extra mile. I consulted with my clients not just doing what I thought was best. I also knew that when dealing with busy high profile clients maintaining positive energy was crucial.”

Branding is key to identifying with high profile clients.

“My logo became very simple and my brand became more exclusive down to my prices and the way I could be booked. I knew it worked when some started snapping themselves wearing the black and gold cape with the logo and not me – their focus was on the brand”.

Earning himself a reputation for being trustworthy, respectful and well mannered, through word of mouth Trimmz’ clientele organically grew.

The Game Changer

Trimmz told me the incredible story of how he came to work with The Game in 2016. Touring in the UK The Game was looking for the best of the brits to give him a cut and came across Trimmz’s Instagram after being tagged by dozens of fans. Stunned at the thought of having The Game as a client, Trimmz triple check it was really him who had slid into his DM’s and jumped to make his way to meet the rapper.

“Before he even speaks he has an intimidating presence but once you get talking to him he’s cool”.

Trimmz noted. “ It was a reminder to never judge a book by its cover”.

After The Game posted Trimmz on his Instagram, he received floods of followers leading to his phone crashing unable to deal with the notifications. This grew Trimmz to a whole new level.

With the intensity of Trimmz work schedule, I wondering if the pressure ever got too much for him and this is what he had to say.

“At times it felt like I bit off more than I could chew. It was a huge learning curve. It all got so overwhelming and I had to take some time out for myself. You realise you have to surround yourself with supportive people.”

 At this time people were not talking about mental health and often suffering in silence. Trimmz opened up about tackling the death of family and friends as well as mental health problems whilst having to maintain positive energy for clients and growing his business.  He highlighted the struggle for professionals to find spaces to talk and the importance of taking time out and opening up to people in your personal life. 

 Barbers are known to give great advice what would you like to share with our readers?

“Out of limitations comes opportunity”

which refers to not being limited by the 4 walls of a shop, experiencing certain things and going to places I never knew existed, to earning money I never knew was possible, all because I didn’t want to just be comfortable in a shop and strived for more, I was exposed to these opportunities.”

What’s next for you? 

“I am currently working on a platform to provide aspiring remote barbers with the information and advice they need. I was inspired by the overwhelming message I received asking me questions and a platform seemed like the easy way to answer everyone questions in one place. “

Key takeaways from Trimmz on how to have a successful business and get high profile clients.

• You have to put the work in and be willing to sacrifice your social life

• Learn how to behave around high profile people and be able to maintain a level of privacy for your clients. 

• Build your network through the circles of your clients 

• Have great time management and organisation skills 

• Surround yourself with supportive people