Basic haircare is not always cut and dried

Barbers and stylists connect with us as humans, care for communities, and make us feel whole, says ClipDart founder Kyle Parker '18.

The following interview has been edited and condensed and appears in the summer 2024 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the University of Rochester.

I spent three years at Grinnell College in Iowa before transferring to Rochester. Then I spent two years at Rochester, majoring in biology-I was pre-med-and playing on the basketball team.

I'm from the South Side of Chicago, where I always had a lot of options when I needed a haircut. I went mostly to a Black barbershop growing up, but, if that was not available, I could go to the Puerto Rican neighborhood or a Korean neighborhood, and there was always somebody skilled in cutting coarse hair. Being from such a diverse city, I never had an issue finding a barber.

When I went to Grinnell, I couldn't find someone to cut my hair. The closest city was about two hours away, and I did not have a car.I felt likecollege was a really opportune time, and it started to take a toll when I never felt my best for that special someone or for social events or internship interviews.

I also missed the barbershop. In a lot of cities, barber shops and salons are cultural institutions. People have great relationships with their barbers, like I did with mine. They're places where they're hiring people struggling with homelessness or food insecurity. In most bigger cities and in Rochester, these places are considered safe havens. And we leave these places better looking but feel even better than how we look.

I had an idea for something like ClipDart when I was still in college. At first, I thought I'd create an on-demand barber app. It would be like Uber or DoorDash, but, instead of delivering food or driving you door-to-door, it would deliver a barber wherever and whenever you wanted. I worked on it for nearly five years, and the launch date was supposed to be March 15, 2020.

It was devastating to be ready to launch and then have the pandemic arrive. But at the same time, it was a really a big blessing because it gave me time to think and revamp the mission. What if you didn't have a phone or internet at home? So, I switched to a model of finding organizations like colleges or hospitals or senior homes, who have a lot of people in need, rather than just going to a single consumer with an app.

ClipDart is now two organizations: ClipDart, Inc., a for-profit corporation, and ClipDart Giveback, a nonprofit 501(c)(3). Both organizations provide free, onsite haircare for historically marginalized and underserved communities. However, our nonprofit strictly serves people facing severe socioeconomic inequities such as homelessness and food insecurity.

We started off with one barber in Arizona and he really helped me build the team throughout Phoenix. That's why our headquarters are there today. And then I said, "Do you know any hair professionals who'd be great for this in Chicago or New York or California?" We don't just want highly skilled hair professionals but those who can also really have a conversation. And now we're working in 26 states with over 100 partners.

The inequity comes from a lot more than race and hair type. There are a lot of low-income students who can't afford haircuts, around $40 just for a cut. Access to haircare can also be hard for people who are LGBTQIA or who have disabilities. It's just an equity problem for a lot of people.

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