Person of the Week: Ellington Shephard

The humming of clippers fills the room, held in the steady hands of the senior known as Ell the Barber. Prepped with all the tools he needs and good reputation amongst his peers to back him up. His fresh cuts bring confidence to the people who put their trust and follicles in the hands of student Ellington Shephard.

“It feels good because you can change someone’s outlook,” Shephard said. “Just with a haircut [because] a fresh cut can make you go from feeling down one day to feeling fresh.”

Every legend starts somewhere, and Shephard’s began with an overpriced haircut. For Shephard, looking good shouldn’t break the bank.

“I started cutting hair when I was a freshman,” Shepard said. “I got tired of paying $25 a haircut so I started cutting it myself.”

Through the support and adoration of Shephard’s work from his friends, news spread fast of his ability. And for the past three years it has been nothing but satisfied patrons, but Shephard did not receive this status over night, he practiced his work carefully and at the risk of his own head.

 “I just looked up Youtube videos and figured what worked and what didn’t work for [me],” Shephard said. “Every time I messed up basically I would go bald.”

Shephard hopes to take his skills further into college and even beyond. Honing his talent to be the best it can be for the future. He currently cuts two people a day, and people are welcomed to ask for a cut. Just make an appointment and wait patiently for the time to come.

“I would like to go into a career of barbering,” Shephard said. “I will probably cut hair for a while.”

Shephard is still a novice at cutting hair, yet for every artist there is something that inspires them to do their work. Researching on YouTube allowed Shephard to see another side to how barbers really help the people who allow them to cut their hair.

“I was inspired by this one guy who’s video I watched online.” Shephard said “He goes into communities and gives people cuts on weekends for free. People who are homeless or anyone who [approaches] him. [I see] how much it impacts their lives and if I have the ability to do this too then hey why not do it?”