Day in and day out of vibrant lights, ecstatic clippers, and an extensive clientele, Brody Weitzel, a 22-year-old barber with 6 years of experience in the Eugene, Oregon area concentrates as he perfects the art of hairstyling. While things may seem as bright as mentioned, it did not start this way.
While balancing 3 sports in high school, Weitzel started to find interest in barbering when he would find his coach trying, but failing to cut hair. With 250$ from doing housework, an investment towards clippers was made and with confidence, tutorials, and a garage, Weitzel started cutting hair and promoting on social media to increase clientele, In the midst of this, came COVID. While this was a hard time for many, for Weitzel this was an opportunity to help get better at his craft and build up skills and customers. Everything started to become a reality when he was playing college baseball, but at the same time, also received overwhelming support from his family to pursue barber school and his new career. This is where he took his leap of faith and moved to Eugene from Portland, alone, with little cash. Weitzel suffered with many homeless nights, living couch to couch and sometimes in his car. Everything was going slow-paced until Weitzel’s car was broken into resulting in haircut equipment being stolen. This did not happen once, but two times throughout the year. Weitzel paid the majority of bills and schooling, which led to financial struggles, due to this, Weitzel had to settle for a short-term job as a busser to help get him back on his feet, Weitzel coined this as, “the light on the other side of the storm,” because he was finally able to receive his barber license and get hired at Endless Barber Co, a Eugene-based barbershop. “His work ethic, people skills, and exuberance are truly helpful when it comes to shop culture,” said his boss, Julio Mendoza.
Weitzel plans to open a shop and start a chain of barbershops. That incorporates releasing hair products such as styling gel due to his care for hair health. Retiring a barber is key to Weitzel’s end goal.