It’s the Flick of the Wrist….

I wish I could say that I had a hero or a mentor that I looked up too, someone who instilled in me a dream to be whatever I wanted to be, but the reality is that cutting hair kept food in my stomach and a roof over my head. As a child I suffered a burn accident, which compromised the integrity of my right hand.  I under went numerous surgeries to get my hand looking somewhat functional. Because of this, I was home schooled and spent the majority of my time alone in my room. My physical therapist encouraged me to do arts and crafts to develop the motor skills in my hand and that’s exactly what I did. I taught myself to use my left hand; I drew, painted, sculpted, I did everything. Art to me was a way of escaping the brutal reality of what I was enduring at home. As I grew older through the influence of MTV I learned to style and cut my own hair. Because my family could not afford hair services, I became the go to person. I cut my father, brother, and my sister’s hair which eventually graduated to the rest of my friends and family. At the age of 16 I lost both my parents and found myself in a difficult situation. Even though my personal life was horrific, I still managed to graduate with honor roll, magna cum laude. For the most part I spent most of my time looking for help through resources that were never available for me. During this period of time I cut hair, friends, and friends of their friends, with a set of Conair clippers I bought at the Dollar General. This paid for food and basic necessities. More and more people knew of me because my haircuts were dirt cheap and I was really good. It turned into a hustle until one of my clients, who knew my story, encouraged me to make a profession out of it, so I did. I put my skill to work during school and quickly became known as a talented lady barber in Puerto Rico but it wasn’t until i moved to colorado that my career took an unexpected turn. Through the art of social media I became familiar with hair competitions and the desire to be respected as a professional with true talent, led me to compete in all the barber battles presented for about six months. Being the only female at that time competing against other barbers in the freestyle design category was a statement all on its own. I then branded myself as Lici LadyBarber.

I have been in this industry long enough to understand that a trend is forming, unfortunately all trends tend to die out.. Too many barbers are focused becoming famous that they get lost in the hype of what is really happening. The barbering Industry is being watered down by pointless acts of degradation. I take this opportunity to say that I am no celebrity. There is no such thing as a celebrity barber just yet. People need to open their eyes and snap into reality.  I love what I do and I am good at it. I invested in competitions, networking, branding and marketing all to move up to the next level in my career. From competition, to showcasing, to judging hair battles, to public speaking and now education. All with the proper credentials to back up everything that i do. I own a Men’s Salon, with the man I love, which caters to a high end clientele. I currently work as a licensed Admissions Representative for Quest College under the Texas Workforce Commission, and soon i will run my own Technical College. My career is meant to benefit my family and secure our future as opposed to pretending to be something I am not. If people respect me as a professional and wish to contract my services to participate in their event i am more than happy to attend, but as a PROFESSIONAL hired to do the job I am contracted to do as a JUDGE, EDUCATOR, or MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER not as a “CELEBRITY BARBER“. My interests is to keep an objective mindset, be fair and consistent and most importantly to inspire and motivate others to reach their maximum potential during these events. This is what separates me apart from the pack.