Inspiring Conversations with Timothy Liang of Timothy Trimothy Barber Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Timothy Liang.

Timothy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m from the Washington DC/Maryland area where I went to college and graduate school for Accounting. I worked as an Accountant for 9 years before opening my barbershop. I was having a quarter life crisis when I was 25 and impulsively moved to Oakland just looking for a change. When I got there I realized I’m still doing the same thing. I’m still doing Accounting. Now I’m just in a city where I don’t know anyone. While I was there I started getting more into cutting hair. I had always been interested in cutting hair. When I was in middle school I bought a pair of clippers from a random street vendor in New York and I would mess around and cut the sides of my hair. This was always just a hobby though and not something I took seriously at all. When I got to Oakland I started cutting my roommate’s hair all the time and was watching Youtube everyday trying to get better. I met my wife in Oakland and she is from the Inland Empire. Her dad was sick, so we moved down to Pasadena to be closer to her family. When we got there, I decided I was done with Accounting and started going to barber school at night at Paul Mitchell in Pasadena. I still was doing Accounting during the day and then Paul Mitchell til 10pm every night. When I finally finished that, we moved to Long Beach in the middle of the pandemic where I quit my job and opened the shop

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My time in barber school was definitely very challenging. I was still working full time as an accountant and then going to barber school til 10pm 5 days a week. There were plenty of times I didn’t think I was going to finish. Then when I finally did finish the pandemic happened. It was a long delayed process trying to take my licensing test with the state because of Covid. Eventually I was able to take it and get my license. I immediately started renting out a suite in Downtown Long Beach but it was right when Covid started spiking again in Fall/Winter 2020. We had the second shutdown, so I couldn’t open yet. Then when restrictions starting lifting I decided not to open until my wife and I could get vaccinated in June 2021. I finally opened the shop in July 2021 after paying 9 months of rent for the space.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I have a private one person barbershop in Downtown Long Beach. I’ve really tried to make the shop a welcoming environment where my clients can feel heard, cared for, and receive a personal service for each of them. In my experience, going to a new barbershop can be a really intimidating experience. A lot of shops you walk in and no one welcomes you or says anything. They just look at you and you don’t know what to do. I intentionally wanted my shop to be a one on one experience where you can have a personalized service and feel free to be yourself. In addition to this, it’s thought of in the barber industry that Asian hair is one of the hardest to deal with. A lot of barbers try to avoid cutting Asian clients, so a lot of Asian men grow up never experiencing a real barbershop experience. Being an Asian barber, I have a lot of Asian clients looking for a barber that understand Asian hair texture. I pride myself in really trying to understand what my clients want and delivering as best as possible so that they can leave happy and confident. A good haircut really changes how you feel about yourself and that’s something I want to give to everyone that sits in my chair.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My wife has played a huge part in me getting to this point. When we met I was still doing Accounting and just feeling lost with what I wanted to do with my life. She’s the one that encouraged me to take a tour of a barber school when I was just cutting friends in my apartment. She’s always supported me in this dream. I had a great well paying corporate job, but she just wanted me to be happy and pursue this passion of mine without knowing if I’d even be successful. Being with her really gave me the flexibility to try this and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.timothytrimothy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timothytrimothy/