Reaching A Million YouTube Views – Style

Again in 2008, earlier than Instagram influencers had been a thought, the world was fairly totally different than right now. The mortgage disaster was inflicting an financial melancholy, Brangelina launched their twins—Vivienne and Knox—to the world, Hulu had simply launched and YouTube was a three-year-old on-line video sharing platform. 

Al Reid, then a NYC barber, determined to affix YouTube on September 10, 2008. On the tim,e he had been a barber for 19 years and preferred to dabble in movies. After his first put up, the subsequent morning he had over 6,000 views! As his posted movies elevated, so did his viewership. For 5 years, he was essentially the most considered barber and shortly reached one million views, thus he grew to become often known as Alsmillions—presently at 17,592,569 views and counting. Reid was additionally the primary barber to obtain a partnership with YouTube, that means he made cash from his movies. 

Whereas Reid had a artistic design background; he didn’t got down to be a barber. Born and raised in Harlem, he held totally different jobs together with enrollment supervisor at a enterprise faculty in Manhattan. Throughout this time, he would go to the barbershop weekly to take care of his skilled picture. By then, rules for pupil enrollment modified and his profession wasn’t so profitable. He recalled when he went for his weekly cuts, the barbers all the time appeared to have their pockets full of cash. He was aware of clippers by doing his personal private grooming. In 1989, he enrolled in Apex Barber Faculty in NYC. 

Together with getting severe about his craft and making his YouTube debut, Reid attended his first commerce present in 2008 at Bronner Brothers in Atlanta. He attended schooling lessons and absorbed all of the stage educating strategies. He says, “I got here again to the store the subsequent day with a brand new goal, a brand new need to show. I knew I might educate as a result of I had pastored for years, and labored as a motivational speaker and product nearer in company America.” 

Being Boss

Reid earned his teacher’s license in 2010 and continued to put up movies to YouTube, develop his viewers, and educate in-person lessons. Ever the entrepreneur, he launched a bump care product and wrote the e-book, Anatomy of a Barber, to share his success insights.

In 2016, he moved to Greenville, South Carolina with the need to open an upscale barbershop. A possibility got here with a 4,000-square-foot area that wanted reworking work. After studying his e-book, the constructing’s homeowners provided Reid the area as they believed in his imaginative and prescient for a brand new barber store. Alongside together with his three sons, Reid put in three and a half months of sweat fairness and opened Boss Barber Studio.

The store had 4 chairs, however Reid labored alone for a yr as he needed to seek out somebody whom he might rely on to remain. To construct his clientele, he opened at 6:30 A.M. on Saturdays for the third-shift employees on the native BMW plant and he was the one barber open on Sundays and Mondays. His first rent was Ciara Harris who stayed with Boss Barber till the pandemic. The second Boss Barber Studio opened in 2017, 4 miles away and nearer “to the hood”—however a cornerstone locally, and the third location 30 miles away in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

This yr Reid simply commenced his first OG (Providing Recreation) Barber Convention in Greenville. Barbers from coast to coast attended enterprise and schooling lessons. Awards had been offered to acknowledge barbers who Supplied Recreation to different barbers and the business. He hopes to have the convention yearly to pay homage to barbers, connecting older and newer barbers for private and enterprise progress. He strongly believes in mentorship to develop in all areas.   

A trailblazer for YouTube, Alsmillions has over 35,000 followers with 538 uploaded movies. He additionally has 6,600+ followers on the gram. At 61 years of age, he’s okay with these numbers. He is aware of content material is essential and cautions youthful barbers to create good content material that maintains the dignity of the occupation. He says, “I do know prank movies get views, however do you need to be revered or be seen as a joke? Collectively younger and previous, we’re barbers, there’s no want for disrespect.”