Delgado pursues cutting hair as hobby and career

Courtesy of Chayanne Delgado

Delgado gives senior Jungle Rodriguez a haircut at Corte Latino, where Delgado currently works.

It was the simple act of watching Youtube videos that taught senior Chayanne Delgado how to cut hair. Delgado started from the bottom with his hair cutting skills, but is now a well-known barber around Harrisonburg and among his classmates.

“I started watching Youtube videos, and then I started cutting my brother’s hair, and I just learned from my mistakes from cutting his hair. I post my cuts on Snapchat and some of my customers advertise me,” Delgado said.

It was all nerves before he took the razor to his brother’s head, but it later turned out to be a calmer than expected experience.

“One day my brother asked me to cut his hair because our barber was not working, so then I cut his hair and got kind of good at it, so that’s how it started. It’s just something I like to do because I use to like cutting my own hair before I worked at a barber shop,” Delgado said.

Delgado’s barbering career now takes place at Corte Latino, where he balances out appointments and school work.

“I make time for both things. [Every day] after school at four, I just go straight to work, and then I get out at eight [to] focus on my school work. [On the weekends,] I work from nine to nine,” Delgado said.

One of Delgado’s current customers is junior Tre Butler, someone who transferred from another barber shop to go to Delgado’s.

“[I go to Chayanne because] he’s a real good barber and keeps me looking fly so I can get all the ladies. [I let him cut my hair because] I needed a new barber, and I had seen his pictures and it looked like he did a good job, so I was like let me hit him up,” Butler said.

Delgado has already made a plan to go to college after high school. He wants to open up a barber shop after college to pursue his dream of cutting hair.

“I plan on going to barber college after high school and opening my own barber shop in Miami. [The college I want to go to is] University of Miami, and they have a barbering college there,” Delgado said. “[To open up my barber shop], first I have to get my license, then I have to find a [location], rent it and get barber store things.”