Meet Kelly J Glusovich

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly J Glusovich.

Hi Kelly J, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started clothing design and sales in 1993, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (LES). It was a small shop called Hi Post (’93-’95) on E. 11th St. that sold clothing, music (mix-tapes) and I cut hair also. It was the perfect trifecta. I was forced to leave that location due to the perception that I and the store’s operation were in league with the drug sales operation that was taking place outside on this and many other streets in the neighborhood.

This conflict led to closing Hi Post two years later. We opened Hi Life (’96-’00) in 1996 on a different block in the same area. Same concept with original clothing designs, music and hair, but more polished. This location was open for four years. I continued with retail locations in NY until 2006 when I moved to LA for a new energy and a new start. My last venture before moving to LA was The Lair (2004-06), a private location in a Brooklyn brownstone. This was the beginning of VIP treatment and practice for me. The building was sold out from under me and I was burnt out and needing a change of scenery.

I and my family moved to LA summer of 2006. I would work at my close friend’s (and manager from Hi Life, NY) at a shop he opened in North Hollywood. We soon after opened another Hi Life (2009-present) location in North Hollywood, this time as partners. Since then, I have opened other locations in effort to service clientele at different price points. In 2016, I partnered with MenEssentials in Glendale CA but dissolved that partnership for impropriety within the infrastructure. I opened 11th & B VIP Barbering (2016-present) the day after I left MenEssentials. There is no shortage of clients that enjoy the private and exclusive environment, so I developed and opened The Playroom (2018-present), a private loft/creative space that caters to the discerning client as well as serves as the base of operations for the clothing brand Hi Post that was resurrected in 2016 in pop-up shop events and then with online sales with the website in 2019; officialhipost.com.

Currently, I teach high school in Glendale CA (2006-present). I teach English and Social Studies. I also hold an Art credential and I developed high school ‘Intro to barbering’ curriculum and had a successful run for four years until Covid hit. My day consists of 7am hair clients, teaching high school academics from 8:30-3:30 and off to a location for more hair clients. I then go downtown to the loft to continue development of designs for garments and items for the brand.

I have always been hustle-hard type of worker. I am stimulated by doing multiple things that have creativity woven through. I am a barber for 34 years. I am a clothing designer for 29 years. I am a teacher for 22 years. These things offer me excitement every waking day.

Other things: I am a partner in a gallery/flex space in Lower Manhattan (2020-present). I organize fund-raisers and give-back events for the community. (Thanksgivingback, Tonsor & Tonic)

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been anything but smooth. And if it were; it would have been boring.

– Finance is always a challenge.

– Time to chase dreams vs. time with your family is a tight-wire act.

– The nay-sayers that are the people you trust but must ignore when igniting your dream.

– Your industry peers that seem to get the good breaks and opportunities, which is purely perception from outside.

– Simply sticking with it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a barber, designer and teacher. I strangely started all these endeavors in one place, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn (1986-1990).

I started cutting hair on my dorm balcony when the other dudes cutting hair either graduated or discontinued. I continued cutting after that into the present. I worked in shops, did house calls, set jobs, and hospital visit cuts. I have opened my own shops and barbering concepts.

I am a graphic design major at Pratt, so my approach to almost everything is creative and graphic. This is my edge for the clothing and related designs, though I did not start producing clothing items until 1993.

I began teaching professionally in 2000 but had coached basketball to teens and adolescents on and off for years, so the act of imparting needful information to members of my community via coaching or offering sage advice from behind the chair had already been a practice.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I have always been willing to roll the dice on situations. This is a gift as well as a curse. Technically, I have gambled my family unit and its security on my career. As a result, I am divorced and my adult children have quips and commentary about my hours away from home when they were little. To their defense, I was out much, trying to make things happen.

Also, the confidence to risk it all on your ideas and dreams is not common, but it is the thread that runs through entrepreneurs and business leaders. You have to be willing to risk safety and financial security to move into your dream situation(s).

I still have a willingness to bet it all on projects and things I believe in. I have long since stopped needing others’ approval or their financial support in order to start a project for myself.

Pricing:

• Haircut $100
• House call hair cut $350
• Average t-shirt $50
• Average sweatshirt $120

Contact Info:

• Website: officialhipost.com
• Instagram: @hipostimages
• Twitter: @hipost1
• Youtube: hipostimages

Image Credits
Headshot: Leila Lujan Photo of window reflection: myself Logo designs: myself Clothing design: myself Clothing photography: Edward Rivera