A cut above
Mobile barbershop takes helping others — and a good buzz — on the road.
It took some time and determined effort to acquire and overhaul a classic 1960 Airstream trailer and turn it into Oklahoma’s first barber shop on wheels. Still, Bruce Waight Sr. and his life partner Vanessa Morrison were able to get the trailer ready and to get state rules in place to allow the operation, named En Root, to launch after years of hard work.
On Monday, Waight was all smiles as he cut client Antwan Brown’s hair.
Clearly, Waight is excited to be doing what he loves.
But he and Morrison also are passionate about making it easier for the city’s less fortunate to enjoy haircuts, too.
That desire inspired them to pursue their dream; they’re hopeful their customers will be willing to “cut it forward” by making a financial contribution toward providing haircuts to others who might not be able to afford them.
Waight said they saw a mobile barber shop for the first time several years ago in the Bahamas while they were vacationing.
Later, as they cared for a church elder who was hospitalized, they began thinking about doing something similar. The problem was, Oklahoma’s state rules didn’t allow for that type of operation.
So, Morrison and Waight got to work, creating a Photovoice project that documented the story of “Old Man Johnny,” a barber and a Stockyards City shoe shiner who had to take multiple buses and then walk a half mile to get his haircut at a shop where Waight once worked in north Oklahoma City.
“And he did that with a bad hip,” Waight said.
They reasoned that a mobile barber shop could bring that service into the communities where people like Old Man Johnny lived, and took their pitch and materials from other states allowing the service to the Oklahoma State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering.
“We were showing ... why there was a need for something like this,” he said. While it took nearly a year, new rules were adopted to allow the shop to roll. Meanwhile, he and Morrison worked with
friends and relatives to get the trailer, acquired from a couple in Jones, ready.
“I feel blessed,” Waight said.
‘Cut it forward’
En Root keeps a fixed weekly schedule. The first half of the week, its parked at partnering businesses that include Off The Hook, a seafood restaurant at Britton and Broadway Extension, the Opportunities Industrialization Center of Oklahoma County, 3033 N Walnut, and The Yard, at 21 NW 7.
On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, it’s set up at the Brandon Place Apartments, 6700 W Memorial, the Legend V Apartments, 2133 E Second in Edmond, and at the Page Woodson Apartments, 600 N High.
Waight said he offers haircut discounts to the owners and employees of his partnering businesses.
And in the case of the apartments, he offers residents there discounted cuts, too, and he’s hopeful his customers will think about others who could use a nice haircut, but might not be able to afford it.
People can make donations by contacting the shop by phone. Eventually, they will be able to make contributions online.
“We have organizations where we go out to and give free haircuts to their clients, like the Homeless Alliance.
“What you can do, is, if you want to pay for someone to get a haircut, you can go online to our website and cut it forward.”