Traveled 38K+ Miles in June: Here’s What I Learned

I survived the busiest month of my life.

June was a whirlwind of travel, spanning 38,000 miles and countless experiences. From trade shows in Orlando to the serene beaches of Sydney, Australia, this was the most challenging month of my career. Each destination taught me invaluable lessons about resilience, creativity, and the power of connecting with people across the globe.

Orlando

Premiere Orlando is one of the biggest trade shows in the US market, predominantly featuring hairstylists rather than barbers. What I really enjoy about this show is that I can always learn about how other people do things outside the barbering industry. This has significantly impacted my career over the last few years since I started attending these shows. While teaching and sharing my knowledge with attendees from the local area and nearby states, I keep my ears open for new learning opportunities. I’ve always enjoyed listening to other educators go on stage and share their stories because understanding how others think and live is something I can incorporate into my own life. Sometimes we recycle the same conversations, thought processes, and habits, both good and bad, until a change of scenery influences us. This can significantly impact our growth or lead to stagnation.

As someone who’s been in this field for 14 years, I attribute much of my career acceleration to being around people who challenge my thinking which more happened in the end of 2015. I’ve always had a hard time following advice, but when I was stuck and couldn’t find a way to grow, it was a moment of vulnerability that allowed me to take in a new perspective. This helped me see things differently. One thing I’ve learned is that the more you’re open to learning, not just as a beginner but throughout life, the more you realize how much you don’t know and how much others can help you if you allow the space.

Calgary

The next show we went to was in Calgary, and that was just for a short bit. There was an internal show more focused on a company’s yearly training, where they invite some of the brands they carry in-house to come and do a showcase. I didn’t get to stay for very long, but I did have a chance to stop by a friend’s shop to do some prep work and catch up with some of the local barbers. Canada isn’t too far away from the US, and what we do in the US is still pretty similar to Canada. Working in a shop setting was kind of nostalgic because I haven’t had that since 2015 when I left the barbershop scene, and it reminded me why I enjoyed that type of environment to begin with. It was a reminder that passion isn’t something you find or that falls into your lap. I know oftentimes people are searching for that thing, and for those who haven’t found it yet, my recommendation would be to keep trying different things until you find something that resonates enough that you keep going at it, because that’s the only way to find it. My passion for barbering developed because of the work I had to put in year after year to get to a place where it became a passion.

Barcelona

Up next, I went to Barcelona. This was a yearly big annual event for all STMNT ambassadors around the world to connect with each other and also provide educational opportunities in different ways. We plan for this event to make it five days’ worth of various activities that allow people to learn, connect, team build, and also learn new technical cutting skills. One of the things about learning is that if you don’t constantly feed your creativity with new ideas and sparks, you start to feel flat and lose purpose.

Learning has been a saving grace in my life. I look for challenges every day in the little things that I do, whether I’m cutting hair, editing, or shooting photos. There are always little things that I’m looking for that can improve the way I’m already doing it or give me a new perspective. Because of those things keeping me busy, I find it very difficult to be bored. I think sometimes when we feel stuck or uninspired, it’s because we’re not challenging ourselves enough each and every day. Maybe it’s doing too much of the things you don’t want to do and not enough of that personal project you’ve been thinking about or things that you’ve written about but haven’t put effort towards. There are things you have to do for money to pay the bills, but to have balance as a creative, you really do need to make time for the things that inspire you and make you want to keep doing it. Maybe it’s building a new skill or getting better at something completely different that you’re not able to do at the moment but want to in the future. You’ve got to make time for those things as well.

Barcelona STMNT was probably one of the most difficult and challenging events I’ve ever done in my career. As the host of this event, we do our best to make sure everybody has a good experience, and that takes a lot of energy. This was the first time I was able to have my home team, THE LAB, fly over with me to shoot and edit the events.

So what made it the most difficult of all? Well, in between prepping my models, cutting hair, talking to people, and everything in between, I also had a shooting station where I had to shoot models, shoot before and afters, and conduct interviews. I remember a moment of getting off stage, and the stage people in charge were trying to direct me to a meet and greet. With a hefty list of what to capture and the usual schedule conflicts of things running behind or tracking people down, I also had to shoot.I chose to shoot in that moment because no one besides my team knew about the obligations I had to get the shots we needed. Looking back now, it was so necessary, and I’m glad I didn’t miss that opportunity. Who knows what could have happened if I didn’t get the shots I needed? If you sign up for something, whether you are ready in that moment to take it on or not, you have to give your word. That’s all you have that makes people want to work with you again. Even as a co-creator of the brand, I take that responsibility seriously.

In the moment of this entire week long of festivities, there’s such an adrenaline rush, and you’re able to tackle it and try to find balance amidst it all. It isn’t until the end of the event that you think back and wonder how you survived. Those moments are when I check off a new milestone in my journey, being able to do both things simultaneously.

As creatives, we often feel extremely overwhelmed having to juggle so many things. That’s the thing about being a content creator; it’s not just picking up a camera and shooting something. You have to sort through the footage, manage the project, pick the select shots, direct the clips, understand the right song, adjust that song to fit, engineer the audio, sound design, caption correctly, and more. Especially if you not only work for yourself but also represent a brand, juggling all these different tasks at once. This Barcelona trip as a whole pushed me to a new limit, and now being able to accomplish it, it’s almost like I have a new threshold of what I can handle.

It makes me think about full-time barbers and hairstylists who are also on social media and how they struggle to find the time to do it. We have time for the things we prioritize. If we truly think about all the time we spend from the moment we wake up until the time we go to sleep, if we properly time it, we would have enough time to at least start or if you are financially able to, pay for someone to handle it (but as an FYI, the only way this works is if you also know how to direct what you want which comes a lot more natural when you are first doing it yourself).

Back in 2011, I gave a little time to something I found interest in, which was the start of my social media journey and for me at that time, it was building an online portfolio. Little by little, I was able to build better creativity and productivity to manage a lot of it by myself.

Paris was beautiful, and we had some amazing time to relax and enjoy some incredible food. It was a short stopover for me before heading back to the US for my next trip, and at this point, I’m barely surviving even with these great meals. Sick as a dog in the hotel room for most of the trip, I tried every home remedy I could to get past my cold, which was definitely from exhaustion and lack of sleep on the road. I managed to get to a decent place by the time I got back home for a day before transferring to Toronto.

Toronto

Which now leads me to the Toronto show where I gave a social media presentation. This is one of those things that’s extremely vulnerable and difficult for a lot of people, even including myself. What people don’t know is that every month things change on these platforms. New rules come into play, the algorithm gets harder, and the competition gets even more saturated. Unless you’re creating something inspirational, entertaining, or something super creative, getting people to pay attention is hard and the content just gets lost in the mix sometimes. But I put on this presentation anyway because, as hard as it is, we are all doing our best at every stage.

I will always teach and try to help in ways that have helped me get to this point today. Obviously, there’s a lot more to go, but at least the things I’ve been able to do in the past can help somebody get started. That’s really the goal of it all—getting started, which is one of the hardest things for people at first. Starting is the most difficult. I think it’s because you have to commit. Who wants to start something and just stay at zero or stay at 1,000 followers, right? You’re going to have to commit to getting to 1,000 a month or 500 or 100 a month. But let me tell you, it is possible. People are doing that. We all know somebody's success story, and that’s because they simply tried so many different ways to build content until they found the thing that works for them. Once that thing is found and they’ve created a formula that works, that’s the thing that grows.

For those of you who might be missing out on opportunities because you don’t want to put in the effort for social media, let me remind you what you could be gaining. Your social media presence isn’t just a platform to showcase your work; it’s a powerful tool that can significantly boost your business and personal brand. Your social accounts influence people to want to work with you or for you. It’s the future—having that digital footprint is crucial.

And that’s another reminder for everyone reading this newsletter: If you are in business, you really should care about social media because it’s a powerful tool to reach more people and grow your business. It helps you connect with new and existing customers, become discovered for opportunities, and share updates with your current clientele without needing a significant investment in gear. These days, you can achieve so much with just minimal equipment like your phone and some compact mics.

Don’t miss out on the incredible opportunities that social media can bring. It’s an investment in your future success and growth.

For me, because I focus on education and creating, social media has been a vital tool to market myself to companies and pitch for jobs. It serves as my modern-day resume, showcasing my creative work. In my earlier days, social media was a way to attract customers to my shop. Now, I use it to expand my educational efforts, teaching people how to use creative tools, gadgets, products, and haircutting techniques through both online and in-person content. This is intentional. At this very moment, what do you want to achieve? Let this guide your focus on how to create content that attracts your desired audience.

Maybe it’s just a realization down the road, but we have different platforms (Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube), and sometimes we’re better at one over another. It’s not to say that some people aren’t good at all of them, but there’s usually one they’ll get better at faster because it fits their personality type more. Just something to think about on that thought.

Australia

Last but not least, we headed off to Sydney, Australia. It was my first time visiting this whole new continent. This is country 23 for me. In Australia, what’s interesting is that their barbering tools are a lot more expensive than what we have to pay in the US because of import fees. When it comes to the culture, it didn’t feel too far off from what I’m used to in the United States. Since I was in Sydney, it felt more like a beach town, a melting pot of ethnicities. Outside of people having an Australian accent, it felt pretty normal weather-wise as well. I traveled 15-16 hours from LA to get here, and you’re literally just forced to be in the air with no Wi-Fi and just either sleep or work on other things. It was crazy how long this flight was, probably the longest one I’ve ever been on.

The world is very connected, and that’s because of our phones. It doesn’t matter where you live; when you get online, we are all living in the same place and you get influence from everywhere all at once depending on what you’re into. For the Australian market, I wouldn’t say it’s different as far as skill sets. People are into similar things; they enjoy education, they enjoy learning. The price points were very competitive to what US rates were.

The only difference was maybe the focus on social media. I think it’s more normal in the United States for people to be into it and treat it like a real job. In other places, it feels like it’s not as supported or as attractive to others, making you feel like an outcast. But that’s probably what we do very well in the United States, especially here in California. I do believe that my influence of being in LA, and being around the industry's sharks, the pace, energy, and a mixture of what my personality type is, is what truly pushes me to keep getting better. My old welcome mat used to say, "It sucks to suck." A simple slogan that stays in my mind because as we build our skill sets, why ever allow ourselves to suck? As you do more of it, you would think that you’re getting better and better, or at least that’s what you hope for.

If you are going into the education field one day, that is something you should constantly think about because how do you teach something and want people to respect you if there’s nothing valuable you can teach them? Great educators need to put aside their ego based on their “experience” in the industry and realize this. You will never be a good educator that people enjoy working with if you don’t present yourself with a certain humility and energy at these events. I’ve seen people come and go—some of the best barbers disappear as educators. Some are uninteresting, and some just never got better. When I see it, I’m like, "Damn, I definitely don’t want to be THAT." I want to continue my self-development in this area forever. We never know where the roads will take us, but we definitely do our best in the meantime. As an educator, you have to care more about the receiving end than what you aim to teach or sell. What’s in it for them?

My final thoughts on this newsletter are to remind you that nothing is final. You have the power to create the change that you want in your life. When I travel to these other countries, I realize how blessed we are in the United States. So many people would do anything to live where we are, and however we ended up here, like my family here on a random whim after the war in Cambodia to somehow end up in Orange County, placed me in this area for a reason, and I don’t take that for granted. I want to be the best I can be at what I do while being able to help people along the way. What good is it to have learned something that has major life impact on my life and not be able or want to share that with other people so that they can find that same feeling within their lives?

This has given me some new ideas on what I want to dive into in the next few newsletters, and I apologize for this one coming in so late. June was kicking my ass, and I just knew I couldn’t keep up with it. So I know that I will be making it up and challenging myself to make them even better as time moves forward. Sometimes I do wish that more people could travel and be able to experience some of the things I’ve been able to because it’s truly broadened my perspective and given me a new appreciation for my life and what I get to do. This journey stemmed from choosing to be a barber. It has given me the road to take by just staying true to myself and what I like to do, regardless of whether people understand it or not.

It also taught me that your goal doesn’t have to be “to be the best in the world.” Your goal is to be the best version of you and what you perceive as something that makes you happy. When you can find that place, you can build and get excited about putting in the hours it takes to make it better and better. It’s about spending your waking hours doing something you can’t stop talking about, something that you get excited about doing that makes you naturally want to get better, and also having a support system around you that doesn’t let you slip and want better for you.

If you’re reading this and there’s a topic that you have in mind that you’d like me to dive into, respond to this email with those ideas and I’ll make sure to add it to my list. Thank you, guys, and I hope you have a kick-ass week!!

SOF!