November 29, 2023

Regardless of your age, style, or profession, we all understand the confidence boost and positive feelings a haircut can bring. This simple truth spurred Fred Yeakey, founder and CEO of the Barbershop Male Mentoring Initiative, to start offering free haircuts after school to those who needed it most. Little did he know that over a decade later, his simple act of kindness would grow into a professional development program that has changed the trajectories and lives of many.

Grooming the Inner Man

Starting in 2010, at Arlington High School, an Indianapolis-based public school, Fred noticed that he was having trouble connecting and engaging with some of the male students in his classroom. Coming from disenfranchised communities with scarce opportunities, many of these students had already given up on education and themselves. However, Fred knew that under their tough exteriors laid untapped potential and an eagerness for growth. The only challenge was figuring out a way to connect. With many of these students still choosing to spend most of their free time at school, despite performing poorly in the classroom, Fred saw this after-hour hangout as an opportunity to pair his haircutting skills with his passion for mentoring.

As best explained by Fred,

“I wanted to create a place of belonging where I can actively engage our male students through relationships, through mentorships, and through conversation. Engaging with them outside of school helped keep them off the street, but also empowered them to be more involved and interested in school. Grooming the outer man allowed me to reveal and guide the inner man.”

Free haircuts might have been the reason that students started to walk through the door, but it is the lessons taught, and the sense of community created through the initiative that has kept them coming back!

A Decade in the Making

Since 2010, Fred has been constantly expanding and revamping the initiative to better meet the needs of the community. The most surprising change came when Fred took a job at the Excel Center, a tuition-free high school focused on assisting adults in obtaining their General Educational Development (GED) diploma. Fred saw similar challenges among these adult students but was initially hesitant about whether the barbershop could have the same effect.

“Even though I was cutting grown men’s hair, I was doing so with the same philosophy. And now in addition to teaching [adult students] how to be engaged in the classroom, I am teaching them how to be engaged as fathers, that it’s okay to fail but ‘you are not a failure!’" explained Fred.

Their haircuts eventually grew out, but the lessons being taught through the barbershop will stay with these students for the rest of their lives.

With alumni made up of professional athletes, US Veterans, and community leaders, it’s no secret that this atypical approach has many grateful graduates. However, there’s one success story, heard from a surprising source, that truly signifies the magnitude of the program. As of 2019, Fred joined the administration staff of Providence Cristo Rey High School (PCRHS) where in addition to continuing to cut hair, he acts as the Chief Partnership Officer tasked with obtaining and growing corporate partnerships to further support the school’s mission. While in the negotiation stages of a potential partnership, one of the representatives revealed that their child was a direct benefactor of Fred’s work and for that reason alone, she decided to give PCRHS a chance. Although he was delighted about the partnership, he couldn’t help but wonder when or how the two became connected.

After digging a little deeper, Fred discovered that he HAD CUT the hair of her child’s father, now a US Army Veteran, back in the late 2000s while running an out-of-school program called Kids With A Mission (K.W.A.M.) through the St. Vincent Unity Development Center. At that time this former student had a habit of sharing all the important life lessons he had learned from a teacher he affectionately called “Mr. Fred.” Even in his adult life, the former student still accredited most of his current success to the lessons and values Mr. Fred instilled.

With a tear in his eye, Fred revealed “You never really know how important this means to people because when you change someone’s mindset and character, they carry that value with them and pay it forward for generations."

Was it fate, luck, or just an example of how a simple gesture of kindness can have a ripple effect?

Finally Arriving Home

Although Fred has been doing the initiative for over 13 years now, the “barbershop” has never had a fixed location; instead, it has relied on empty classrooms. Or at least that was the case until Fred began collaborating with the Eight Eleven Foundation (EEF) and its President, Carlie Oakley.

“[Carlie] and I hit it off immediately because we saw that this partnership with Providence Cristo Rey and Eight Eleven is so much bigger and larger than the students" explained Fred.

In addition to supporting students through PCRHS’s traditional scholarship programs, EEF has also been spearheading the design and remodeling of an unused classroom in the basement of PCRHS to act as the first official home for the Barbershop Male Mentoring Initiative.

From replacing the ceiling and polishing the floor to painting a mural and applying creative graphics to the walls, the EEF spent the summer of 2023 building a worthy home for the barbershop. EEF has also donated two barber chairs, mini-fridges, a plasma TV, new shears, and even an old-fashioned barber pole to really give the classroom the atmosphere of a barbershop.

“We're proud of our efforts so far, which extend beyond scholarships, to support transformative initiatives like the barbershop. Fred's vision for the barbershop promises to leave a lasting legacy, impacting youth and communities for generations to come" shared Carlie.

Respect is the Best Currency

The barbershop officially became “open for business” with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 28th, 2023. It comes with little surprise that both Fred and his students have been eagerly awaiting the reveal, despite attempts to keep the plans a surprise. Even with the aid of a few sneak peeks, no one was quite prepared for how monumental the occasion was for Fred and his students. “Words cannot explain…when you have a place that is hallowed…where the students can say with pride ‘this is ours’ and alumni whose hair I was cutting in my 20’s can come back and say, ‘I was a part of this’, that’s just really special…” revealed Fred.

There’s no telling what the future holds for the Barbershop Male Mentoring Initiative and its new home. Although this occasion may be marking a new chapter, Fred insists that the program and its purpose will always remain the same. When looking back on his own life, Fred concludes that it was the relationships with role models like his parents, and even his older brother who taught him to cut hair, that instilled the values and character of who he is today. And now through the initiative, Fred is using this same relationship-focused approach to impact others. As best summed up by Fred himself,

“If I want to change communities, I have to do it one person at a time, and it has to be authentic.”