ABEL HERNANDEZ shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
ABEL, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
What makes me loose track of time and helps me find myself again is – taking sometime to reflect. I find myself reflecting alot lately and actually getting to know myself and finding ways to become the best version of myself. Weather i’m in the Gym, reading a book, organizing my life, meditating, hanging out with family. I like to be very intentional with my time.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Abel Hernández also known as “Ab the barber” I’ve been cutting hair for almost 2 decades now and have been a licensed barber for 14 years.
I’ve built my reputation on Quality since the beginning of my career I’ve always had an eye for detail. When I first started my career I wanted to be around some of the best barbers in the city – I wanted to soak up every ounce of knowledge that they had. I was a walking sponge – I was blessed to have worked around barbers who were as passionate about this craft as I was, because it made me the barber that I am now – my style of barbering is a combination of old school with all the modern techniques – I believe we have to keep on with the trends and continue growing and elevating in this industry . I wake up everyday and I get to do what I love and to me that’s the greatest blessing.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
My Mother – she was the hardest working person I know. Being a single mother she would work early mornings to late nights even getting home close to midnight on some days – she would also have a side job on the weekends so she had to work 7 days a week at times – seeing my mom work so hard all those years instilled in me that if you want something you have to work hard towards it. In her case she wanted to provide for me and give me the best life she possibly could and for that I am forever grateful.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering has taught me that it’s not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of the times we suffer and think our life is over just because things didn’t go as planned, Not realizing that suffering can teach us a lot about ourselves. I’ve realized that in order to reach success sometimes you will have to suffer- you will have to go through it and that’s okay because once you come out of that suffering you will be a better and stronger person for going through everything you had to suffer through.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
I think the biggest lie is people think there is just one way to go about this barber industry every one thinks there way of barbering is the right way – when the truth is there is so many ways to skin the cat! You can decide to be an influencer, you can be a barbershop owner, you can be in a studio, you can cut celebrities, take 10 minutes on a haircut or 2 hours if you want – you can put color on people or decide to be an all natural barber and that’s okay- There is no right or wrong ways to go about it- it’s just about doing what feels right to you and sticking with that.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What will you regret not doing?
I will regret not going after all the goals that I’ve set out for myself. At the end of the day I want to leave knowing that i atleast tried to accomplish everything that I’ve wanted while I’m here – weather it failed or succeed is irrelevant I atleast gave it a shot.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vagaro.com/us04/abthebarberllc
- Instagram: Abbarber1
- Facebook: AB The Barber
- Yelp: AB The Barber
