Nate Imperio is 22 years old, and currently works as a Hair Cutter and Stylist at Bumble & Bumble in NYC. At 10, he moved to New Jersey from Manila with his family. He has been cutting hair since he was 14 and seriously pursued the career since he was 17. He just received his barber’s license from American Barbering Institute. He has worked at Filthy Rich barbershop in Woodside Queens, a well-known shop frequented by high-profile clients. Previous barber shops include Razorsharp barbershop and Original Sharp barbershop, both located in NJ. Though he is the first person in his family to pursue hairstyling and cutting, he continues to be passionate about the craft and aim to ultimately open his own shop.
Tell us about your daily routine in that occupation (a day in the life)?
For work, I commute from New Jersey into the city. From Tuesday to Friday, I wake up no later than 6:30 to catch the 7:15 bus so I can be at work by 10 and stay until closing at 7pm. It’s tough taking two hours to get to work and then another hour and a half to get home. At Bumble and Bumble, I am still in training, because their way is different. I used to cut for men but now I do both men and women which includes a lot of blow dries and styling. I’ve had to start from scratch to learn their process and then mix it with the skills I’ve had previously. It’s difficult, but like anything else, I can adjust. We have class days every other Wednesday, too. When I’m not in class, I’m assisting two stylists to try to absorb as much as I can from them. When I get home, I go to the gym. My day is pretty busy, but I like being busy.
What do you love about what you do?
I love meeting new people. I absolutely love it. One of the main reasons I got into barbering so fully was because I got to meet so many different people from different walks of life at the shops I’ve worked at. I love travelling, the last places I travelled to was Hong Kong and Japan. Sadly, I don’t always have the funds for it so I get to travel through people’s stories and experiences and I love that. When I do travel, I make it a point to talk to stylists from different places to learn their techniques and different ways of doing things. Just by doing that makes the trip well worth it. Also, as cliché as it sounds, I love making people feel good. If I do a good job and they’re happy, they have the confidence to take on their day. I just love cutting hair in itself as well. I love the technicality of it because it reminds me of architecture in a way. The way people build up the shapes by choosing to cut some pieces but purposely leave others to get the desired look interests me. My love for this career grows as the day goes.
What is your passion? How did you discover it?
My passion is hairdressing and barbering of course. I discovered it when I was 14. I started off cutting doing mostly men’s haircuts. When I was 10, my family and I just got to America and we were just trying to save money. Haircuts were mahal, (expensive) so my dad would cut my hair and I would be happy with it. My dad’s a nurse and he worked at three different hospitals. Because of that, he didn’t have time to give me haircuts anymore. At one point, my hair was getting long, so I tried to cut it myself and I did it so badly. At school you couldn’t wear hats, so when I messed up, everybody saw it so and I would be so embarrassed. That same day, I went home I tried to fix it. It was a bit better and from there I just kept trying to get better and better. Because of that though, nobody trusted me because they saw how I messed up. It makes sense because hair is a big deal. Cutting it dictates the way people’s image is gonna be for the next few weeks or month. In the beginning, I paid people 5 dollars to sit in my chair. I went off from there, and slowly got better. I’ve worked at three shops since, and I’m continuing to grow and expand my skill set.
Was there resistance to getting to where you are? What were they? How did you overcome them?
The resistance came from myself and my family. My mom and my dad are nurses, and the rest of my family are also nurses, lawyers, and teachers. Everyone has “stable” careers. They were unsure of my path, because they saw it as unstable. They tried to steer me away from it because that’s not where the money was. At 17, I was at an age where I wasn’t really sure of myself yet either. I did nursing for about a year and I figured out I didn’t like it at all. I transferred out and finished my associates degree in Criminal Justice thinking I’d be a cop or something. I started working at a barber shop while still attending school. At 17, I told myself I’ll give myself a year with haircutting and if it goes nowhere it’s done. Right before turning 19, an opportunity presented itself, and I moved myself to Queens so that I could work at Filthy Rich Barber Shop, a really well known barber shop among the community. Before I moved, I was all over the place and doing all kinds of things, but it was the way I had to discover myself. When I moved out, I thrived, because my back was against the wall. I later realized that’s when I am at my best. I realized that I wanted to be doing this for the rest of my life. I started tattooing myself so that I wouldn’t have any way to back out. I wanted to have so many tattoos that nobody would hire me. I want to build businesses to work for myself and my family. My favorite tattoo is the one on my knuckles. It’s an acronym HDSOBOLH which refers to “These hands are dedicated in service of others to bring opportunity, love and happiness.” My biggest goal for myself is to have enough so that I can give back in the same way others have done for me. I am very family oriented and since I work with my hands, I want these hands to serve people and their families.
What are some of your career highlights? Career goals?
Being able to work at Filthy Rich I previously mentioned was definitely a career highlight. It came with a lot of perks, I was able to cut somebody who was in the OVO, one of Drake’s friends. There were basketball players that I got to talk to. Working at Bumble and Bumble has also been a highlight, because it’s a great place for me to develop and learn hairdressing. I believe more highlights are yet to come. This past year, me and my friend wanted to open a barber shop of our own but decided against it when we realized we needed to mature more before that. As I’ve mentioned, that’s been a dream of mine and it still is. I don’t want to be working for anybody. I want the freedom and flexibility.
Anything in your current job that will help you in the future? Tell us the story behind that.
Hairdressing is a different beast on its own. The way they see hair is a different way I’ve been seeing it. They see hair for its free form and movement. In barbering, it was all about structure and using that to bring out the facial features of the customer. I’ve had to pause my barbering way of thinking and kind of start from scratch. In both fields though, it’s our job to really see the potential in that client. Everything they’re teaching me at Bumble and Bumble is new to me. I’m absorbing it like a sponge. The transition for me has been much easier though since I have the background of cutting. For the past few jobs, including the one I have now, I’ve also learned the importance of customer service. I’ve come across nice and terrible customers, but you need to cater to both. You just have to be flexible enough to deal with their personalities. As Filipinos, we are so hospitable, so for me it wasn’t hard at all.
What role, if any, does being Filipino or the Filipino culture play in your life, your work, or education? (good or bad)
I can’t think of anything bad, but a good quality Filipinos have is definitely the work ethic. My dad worked three jobs for 15 years, six days a week. It was crazy. My dad learned his work ethic from his own dad who was able to raise six kids. When I was working in Queens I realized I inherited that work ethic when I was working 6-7 days a week, but I liked it. I didn’t realize that was in me until I started working. I guess seeing my dad work the way he does made me like him in that sense. Like I said before, the trait of hospitality in Filipinos has helped me be very comfortable with both my clients and my friends. I remember my mom always asking me “Anak, kumakain kana ba?” “Son, have you eaten?”. That’s how my grandmother is and that’s how everybody in my family has been, so I extend this same trait with everyone. With customers, I sincerely ask what I could do for them to make their experience better. I constantly check in.
Hardest struggle/experience of pursuing the field you are in?
Aside from the commute, I think the hardest thing right now is being patient. I’m realizing that nothing comes easily. Anything worth it takes time. I find myself struggling a lot. I ask myself why I’m not learning this skill fast enough or when they’re teaching me things over and over and I’m still not getting it. I don’t compare myself or compete with the stylists I work with. Building clientele is a struggle, because there’s a lot of competition in the city and getting the client’s trust is a challenge. Hair is such a big deal for them and it is for me, too. The real struggle is not the competition, though, but the building of loyalty and trust with my clients and to keep them coming to me. I’ve lost many clients along the years because I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve learned from that as time has gone.
Practical advice for anyone who wants to go for a goal/dream similar to yours?
My biggest advice is patience. Hairdressing, or anything in a business, takes time to build. It takes a lot of effort to learn the skills and grow. If you think that you will succeed without putting in the time and effort, then please reconsider. People overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in ten years. Also, I would hope that you are a people person because there’s a lot of interaction everyday. It could be a very relaxing job if you enjoy it but could also be really stressful if you don’t. Also, do a lot of deep thinking and self-reflection. I’ve come to realize that in anything, you need to understand why you’re doing it. I believe that once you have that reason, the steps towards that goal will reveal themselves. With nursing. I didn’t see a future, so I moved elsewhere and I found a reason in haircutting. It becomes much easier when you have a reason for what you’re doing. Find the “why”.
For more of Nate and his work, follow him on Instagram @natenice
Tagalikha 