We recently had the chance to connect with Joshua Santiago and have shared our conversation below.
Joshua , a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
A lot of people think what I do is just give haircuts, but the haircut is honestly the smallest part of the service. It’s about the moment. It’s about making someone feel good about themselves when they’re battling the darkest moment of their life. It’s about truly seeing someone as human, taking the time to listen, offering real advice, real knowledge, and genuine understanding. Above all, it’s about reminding that person over and over that their life matters, that they’re not invisible, and that they still have purpose.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Joshua Santiago, and for the past 10 years I’ve dedicated my life to traveling across the country providing free haircuts to individuals experiencing homelessness through my nonprofit organization, Empowering Cuts. My purpose truly began in 2014, the year I came home and made the decision to enroll in barber school. While I was there, my barber instructor would take our entire class to local shelters. That’s where I learned how to cut hair but more importantly, that’s where I learned that providing a free haircut meant far more than earning money. It was about dignity, connection, and making someone feel seen. That experience completely changed my perspective on life. Before barber school, my life was rough. I grew up in North Philadelphia with two parents battling addiction my father was a functioning addict, and my mother struggled with severe addiction. I was a troubled kid, constantly trying to survive environments that were never meant for a child. From the age of 12 until 24 , I made a lot of choices that I now understand were rooted in trauma and my desperate need to fit in and be accepted. I was trying to uphold an image and impress people who are no longer part of my life many of whom are either incarcerated or no longer here. When I came home in 2014, I made a promise to myself, Let me do something right for the first time in my life. I knew I wasn’t good at doing wrong, so I chose barber school as my fresh start. Since then, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to wake up every single day and do something I love. Through this journey, I’ve accomplished more than I ever imagined. I’ve received awards, raised funds to convert an RV into a fully furnished mobile barbershop, gifted a car to someone committed to sobriety, helped reconnect families, and built countless genuine relationships along the way. But my greatest accomplishment of all is helping my mother get the support she needed and walking beside her through recovery after nearly 40 years of addiction. Today, she is 11 months clean. God is good.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
When I was a kid, I always felt like I had to fend for myself. At that point in my life, my mom was completely out of the picture because of her addiction, and my dad was caught between trying to handle responsibilities and battling his own addiction. The reality is, growing up, I didn’t have much. I didn’t celebrate birthdays. Holidays barely existed. Christmas only meant socks from my grandma and even then, I was always grateful for that. As a child, I thought I was poor because I looked around and saw my friends with new clothes, spending money every morning, parents who showed up for back-to-school nights, report card conferences, and all the moments that mattered. It hurt, even if I didn’t always understand why at the time. Now, as an adult, I can see the bigger picture. I know how hard it must have been for my dad to juggle so many kids while not fully knowing how to be a parent himself. Today, I speak from the perspective of a father. I understand sacrifice, commitment, priorities, and responsibility in a way I never could back then. And because of that, I make a promise every single day to never let any of my children feel the way I felt growing up.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
When I first started Empowering Cuts, none of it made sense. I was traveling the country providing free haircuts, and at the time I was driving Uber to fund the dream. There were so many moments when I wanted to quit even back in barber school while I was still learning how to cut hair. What kept me going every single time was the feeling. The feeling I got after giving someone a haircut, and the feeling I saw in them after we sat down, talked, and really got to know each other. Those conversations, those moments of connection, reminded me why I started and why I couldn’t walk away.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I always say that if I ever had the opportunity to meet anyone in life, it would be Steve Harvey. His story really speaks to me being homeless at one point and still finding success and financial stability later in life, in his late 30s. That journey gives me hope and motivation. I’m such a fan of his that I even have a mural of him painted on the inside of my mobile barbershop.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I was able to turn my life around and start living my dream, and in the process, I’ve been blessed to make so many people happy not only the people i served, but also the ones who believe in and support the mission. I want people to truly know my heart: how caring I am, how loving I am, and how far I’m willing to go for others. This isn’t something I turn on and off it’s how I live every single day. I try to do for others what I would hope someone would do for me if I were ever in their situation. A perfect example is this work if I were homeless, I’d want someone to give me a haircut, because I know firsthand how powerful and important a haircut can be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://empoweringcuts.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweringcuts_?igsh=MWpzMGdvbXVyZ2xtaQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1S1ssDTxko/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Image Credits
The photos I submitted were ones I took myself.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
