Life & Work with AJ White of Kansas City, MO

Today we’d like to introduce you to AJ White.

Hi AJ, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve lived my whole life on the north side of Kansas City, MO. When my brother and I were younger, our dad used to cut our hair on his bathroom sink. Halfway through 5th grade, with me getting a little older and starting to care about my appearance more, I asked our mom to take us to a “real barber”. She took us 5 minutes down the street to The Edge Barbershop where I met Jeremy. Little did I know that the relationship that I would build with him would change my life forever.

As a highschool graduation gift, Jeremy bought me a pair of clippers so I could cut my own hair and MAYBE make some pocket change while playing basketball in college. Determined, I began messing myself up all summer, to then cutting a couple teammates during Freshman and Sophomore year (90% free), and eventually I had gained a small clientele of other students at school by Junior year. Three months after moving back to KC for my Senior year, a chair opened at my childhood barbershop and I took it! Three years later, I am as excited to tell people that now, as I was back then.

If God had not put me in Jeremy’s chair back then, Lord knows what my life would be like right now. Through him I was given confidence, guidance, and companionship. I’ve been able to take our conversations from the chair and turn them into reality; whether that’s relationships, school/career opportunities, and life experiences itself. I know what blessing it’s been to have a Barber in my life, and that’s all I want to provide for every person that I am blessed with to sit in my chair.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth is pretty opposite. I went into college as a Biology major with a Psych minor. I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon since like, 10th Grade. I was always injured from sports and I liked my highschool physical trainer alot. He’s the one that got me interested in sports medicine.

Like I said I started cutting in college but that part was easy. The hard part was going to practice everyday to get verbally/emotionally/ and physically abused for 3-4 hours a day, still maintain A’s and B’s while taking 15-17 credit hours of bio and psych classes, and hold onto dearly the last few shreds of self-confidence I had due to only playing a total of 30 “in game” minutes during my 3 years there. Life was tough.

I remember coming home during one of my breaks at school, pulling up to Jeremy’s house and just said “I’m dropping out”. That’s when we had a real heart-to-heart about life after college and what being a barber looks like. He’s really the main reason I even finished my degree in Psychology when I transferred.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I like to tell people I don’t just “cut hair”, I provide an “experience”. I’m punctual, yet flexible with my people as well adaptable. My people love coming to me because they can safely bet that whatever uncomfortable situation/feeling they came in with, they feel lighter walking out. My extensive networks of tradesman, mechanics, educators, and community leaders and builders are also all accessible to anyone that meet.

I’m also very proficient with all ethnicities and textures. I generally specialize in trending cuts like the “Blow out taper” and “Wolf cuts” right now. I provide blurry tapers/fades, clean lines, ready-to-go styling, and customer satisfaction all within 30min-1hr depending on the service.

How do you think about luck?
What people call luck, I call God. When I moved back home i started cutting out of my apartment and was working the night shift at FedEx loading boxes on trucks for 4-6 hours. I did that for about 3 months and was ready to start making decisions for money that I shouldnt have. That week, Jeremy called and told me they had someone leave and a chair opened up in the shop.

God saved me from that path. He put me in a place where I’ve been surrounded by people I love and call family. Luck can’t do that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theedgebarbershopkc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigsouls.life?igsh=MWhqNmhkaTAxd3B0eg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr