“The mission of Underboss was to promote barbering as a
craft and viable career. I wanted people to see that one can
make it as a barber.”
Your shop has a catchy name. How did you arrive
at it and the overall concept for your shop?
In gangster films, which I love, the underboss refers
to the right-hand man. Other shop owners usually name
their shops after The Boss or The Godfather. It was a
cliché, and I just didn’t want to go into that direction, so
I used the second-in-command. Haha.
What about the craft of haircutting appealed to you?
What appeals to me is the transformation that
happens. The before and after of every haircut. I guess
barbering is like sculpting. It just feels so satisfying
when a client comes in with a huge chunk of hair, and
you use all your skills to transform that big mess into
something precise, neat and slick.
Tell us about your first foray into haircutting. How
was the learning curve for you?
I did my first haircuts in a poor village nearby. Some
kids wanted to get the free burgers [they would get]
if they let me cut their hair. The first time I held the
clippers against someone’s head, I was so baffled. I really
had no clue about what to do, so I ended up messing up
their hair. (But hey, free burgers.)
Fast forward to a few weeks, after some hours spent
on YouTube, some of my friends volunteered their heads.
My haircuts were more presentable than the previous
ones, but I needed more heads to practice on. When
starting, learning can be pretty slow. The difficult part is
finding someone who would entrust their crowns to you.
How would you describe the barbershop and
haircutting scene in the Philippines? What prevalent
issues about it informed you in how you run
Underboss?
The scene and industry are booming. Even in our
area, the competition is diverse.
Some shops that are built recently are businessman-
owned though. No love for the craft, just in it for the
hype and profit. I didn’t want that. I thought that if I’ll
be running a shop that is my brainchild, I should be
selling a service that I myself would be serving.
79