"Cutting Hair Keeps Me Afloat"

Cutting hair has kept Sean Davis, a 33 year-old barber, afloat in different circumstances and places throughout his life.

The Californian born, who now lives in Miami, started to cut neighbors' and friends’ hair for five dollars at the age of 14. “I was still in school but loved cutting hair,” Sean Davis said.

Sean Davis grew in East Oakland, California. As a teenager, Sean was selling drugs and cutting hair, while struggling with school. He got into a lot of trouble. East Oakland was a hostile area - plagued with gangs, crack and poverty. "There were not many jobs,” said Sean Davis. 

Sean Davis’ mother wanted a change for him before it was too late; so, she got a job in Virginia. Sean moved to Virginia with his mother and grandmother while his two siblings stayed with his father in Oakland. Sean quickly found a job in a barber shop in the Virginia Beach area.

It was easy for Sean to build clientele in a short period of time. The shop was by the corner of a high school in a nice neighborhood and people were way friendlier than in Oakland. “There was not much pressure to be tough in Virginia,” Sean Davis said.

Star Style, where Sean worked in Virginia, was a flourishing business. They offered a regular cut for $5 and a fade plus face for $ 10. The shop was always packed and Sean got used to make an average of $ 200 per day. He quickly started to lose interest for school, spending more time working. “It was like being back in Oakland selling drugs again; but, it was legal so you couldn’t go to jail,” Sean Davis said.

Back then in Oakland, he used to sell marijuana bags for five dollars. Now he was cutting hair for five dollars on a 60 % commission plus tips. It was the same energy but more fun. He made a lot of friends and saw a father figure in some of his older friends. "Once you cut it good, they respect you as a person,” said Sean Davis.

Davis finally dropped out of high school in 11^th grade. His mother did not like that decision so he promised her he would get a GED. “I went to a night school for five months until I got my diploma.”

Sean had his first daughter at the age of 17 and came back to California as he turned 18. “I missed California and my friends,” Sean Davis said

 From that point on, Sean worked in barbershops in Las Vegas, Arizona, North West DC, and New York. At the age of 22, Sean met a girl from Trinidad and had his first son. But, his continuous trouble making forced him to leave the town again so he came back to Virginia. He was arrested for trafficking and served two years in prison after having two daughters.

Sean cut inmates’ hairs on daily basis; he did between 10 and 15 cuts a day. He used to put Magic Shave on the hairline and shave the edges with a playing card. "You got to be creative to cut hair in prison because you don’t have all the tools," Sean Davis said.

The demand was high and Sean made money on it. He had learned how to cut in layers using a scissor and a comb while he worked in a Mexican barbershop in Tempe, Arizona. His only experience in a non-black barbershop had given him the skills to be highly appreciated in prison. Officers gave them the clippers twice a week before visitation but no attachment combs. Everybody wanted to look good and Sean was the only one who knew how to do layers with the clipper and a regular comb. "I never had a fight in prison,” said Sean Davis.

Once out of prison at the age of 27, Davis came back to California. He felt he was going down the same vicious circle. Sean knew he may either go back to the penitentiary or end up dead. Nothing had changed. "My friends were doing the same shit,” he said.

Sean’s sister had been in Miami for six years already. For several months, she insisted he could restart his life since nobody knew him in Miami. “She offered me a kit of tools and a plane ticket and I accepted.”

Sean has been in Miami for the last 18 months. He first tried a barbershop at Biscayne and 62^nd street but it was to slow. He quit after two weeks and has been working in Platinum Boyz Barbershop ever since. “It was a fresh start, a new me,” Sean Davis said.

Sean lives by himself . He talks to his children everyday and support them financially. His two daughters from Virginia are staying with him for the entire Summer. "I’m very excited.”