Daily Inspiration: Meet Ronnell Jones

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronnell Jones.

Hi Ronnell, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started my barber career in at Cutting Edge hairstyling academy in 2005 in Kansas City Kansas. As I was entering barber school I was also opening my first barber shop, so as students were graduating I would offer a chair in my shop by the time I finished school I had all 7 chairs filled and the barber shop fully operational, but I did so well in barber school they wanted me to come back and be an educator in barbering. I started being a barber instructor in 2008 cutting edge went out of business in 2012 and I seen that it affected a lot of up and coming barbers killing their dreams of ever getting into the profession with no other schools In the area . I decided to get together with the other instructors that lost their jobs and truly wanted to help men and women to become independent contractors and self employed by entering the profession of barbering so we opened our first Barber school in 2014 with a small building with 15 chairs. We noticed we were getting more people than the location could hold, so we decided to go for the old school we worked for that closed and we got it . We now have 50 chairs available for students and in 2024 we opened a second location in Overland Park with 25 chairs with enough room to add 25 more. We plan to expand to 2 more locations within the next year or 2 . So not only do we give people a career that can be transferred all over the world but we also provide communities with discounted haircuts at $10 dollars and always $6 for our veterans and $6 Wendsdays for our senior citizens. Headlines Barber Academy has graduated over 300 men and women who has become barbers a lot of those graduates has gone on to open their own barber shops, I thank God for giving me the opportunity and ability to be able to help so many people to persuit their dreams .

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?
I’ve had to close some of my barbershops, the first one was in a bad location in my opinion but they opened a liquor store next door and it declined from there, but I had already opened a second location which wasn’t to far from that one but still not the greatest area but I was able to move all the barbers to the new location, eventually being in a bad area someone entered the barbershop and shot one of my barbers. And that was the end of that barbershop (the barber survived) . I tried another barbershop this time in Shawnee Kansas called the Grooming gallery but being so busy running the barber school I decided to just stick with that so I passed the shop on to my business partner at the time no money involved just the promise that whenever I decide to cut hair don’t give up my chair.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Educate men and women in the field of barbering

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are always enrolling new students. Word of mouth is always the best advertisement so spreading the word that Headlines Barber Academy is Now Enrolling!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Headlinesbarberacademy.com
• Instagram: Headlinesbarberacademy
• Facebook: Headlinesbarberacademy