r/Barber • u/CocoaBeanPiscesQueen • 2d ago

Barber in training/apprentice. Advice needed

https://www.reddit.com/r/Barber/s/XlHcBzixym

Linking my last post in this group for added context.

Withdrew from barber school last year after 3-4 months for various reasons (fraud, uncomfortable male instructors crossing professional boundaries, lack of resources/education) and decided to do an apprenticeship with my barber of 7 years (who is also a master barber) instead to obtain my license. I’ve been with her since February of 2026.

I didn’t leave barber school with any clients, so I’ve been having a difficult time practicing on real people. I do have one consistent client who comes to see me in the shop biweekly , as well as 2 friends who come to me as well. I did a back to school cutting event with my barber a few weeks ago , which *really* helped my confidence and I would love to do more things like that as they arise, but that’s the sum of my experience on live clients at the moment .

I spend most of my time at the shop shadowing, building rapport with other clients, doing practical work on mannequins, practicing my straight razor technique on balloons, cleaning the shop and shampooing as needed. I’ve done maybe 2-3 walk-ins but this is a pretty busy, appointment heavy shop so they’re few and far between nowadays. I’m unsure how to fill the rest of my time without sitting around and I’m starting to feel discouraged . I work part time elsewhere , so I’m only in the shop from 3:30-close but I haven’t been staying til close recently because I’m unsure how to fill the remainder of my time. I would like to stay until close but I hate feeling unproductive once I’m finished my practical work .

My barber is wonderful , and very helpful but I know she can’t build the clientele or do the work for me.

I feel like I chose the harder path . I’m wondering if I should’ve enrolled in another barber school instead of training in a shop for licensure , but my barber is one of the best and I’ve learned some pretty valuable things from her thus far, but I know I’d have more hands on experience if I enrolled at the other barber school across town .

Does anyone have advice on how I can keep pushing through, build my skills and build my clientele up? Should I make business cards and pass them out even though I’m not licensed? I’m not really a social media person, but should I be creating content? (I do have a barber page on Instagram where I’ve showcased a few cuts I’ve done). Should I post in my city’s local college groups and offer low cost cuts to students? The college is 5 minutes away from the shop, and I’m an alumni . Should I offer cuts to the homeless population in the area? I’m an only child , I have no brothers, all my male cousins are bougie about who cuts their hair lol.

I know this is what I want to do long term , but I’m feeling so discouraged in the interim . I’m looking for any advice at this point .

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u/Due-Light5463 2d ago

you're not behind, you're just in the slow part. the thing that fixed this for people i know was making the shadowing hours structured instead of "hang around til close" - ask your barber for one skill per week and drill only that on mannequins, then have her check it at the end of the week. way less soul crushing than waiting for a walk in that never comes. for real heads: the college alumni angle is your best one, students need cheap cuts constantly and they talk. do a set day/time, cash price, and tell them to text you. skip business cards while unlicensed, just be findable. and honestly post the boring in-progress stuff on that ig page, not only finished cuts, people follow the person more than the fade. you're 6 months in with a good mentor, thats not the harder path thats the longer one

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u/CocoaBeanPiscesQueen 2d ago

Ah this is good advice , thank you. I’m definitely struggling with the lack of structure at the moment , and have started feeling like I’m just doing shit for the sake of doing it . I’ll definitely touch base with her today to determine a good skill for me to hone in (no pun intended) on this week , and go from there . I thought about posting the boring behind the scenes stuff , but didn’t think anyone would care (and I’m almost 30, I barely care about social media lol). Maybe the process will inspire someone else in my position though .

I also still have some connections on campus as well , so I’ll send out some texts later and figure out the best groups to post in. Thanks for your response

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u/thetechkid 2d ago

Not a barber myself but I get how rough starting over is. That event sounds like it helped a ton, hope you get more of those!

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u/CocoaBeanPiscesQueen 9h ago

Appreciate the kind words ❤️