You walk into the third floor bathroom in The Grove Residence Hall, look in the mirror and realize you need a haircut.
Wondering where and how you could get a fresh haircut, being so far from home, you look to the left and see a chair, backpack and barbering cape sitting in front of the last mirror, farthest from the door.
Mikiyas Wolde, a first year business major from Atlanta, Georgia, resides in The Grove, Quinnipiac University’s new residence hall.
Wolde began barbering during the coronavirus pandemic, which he has since turned into his own business. He started researching and watching tutorials on YouTube in middle school whenever he had nothing else to do.
“Besides sports highlights, the only other thing I would watch is like haircut tutorials,” Wolde said. “I was just watching (haircut tutorials) for fun for a long time.”
First year computer science major Kaab Dawit has known Wolde since fourth grade. The two attended the same boarding school in Virginia, Mountain Mission. Dawit was one of Wolde’s very first clients in the eighth grade, and still gets haircuts regularly.
“Personally I rarely get haircuts from other barbers but I feel as if (Wolde) gives me the same or even better treatment then other barbers I have went to,” Dawit said. “I would recommend him to other people on campus because I have seen his work for more than five years.”
The pandemic helped Wolde’s learning process because his friends had no one else to get haircuts from. Friends from middle and high school gave him permission to practice cutting their hair. With this, he was able to get valuable practice while giving out free haircuts — a win-win.
Nowadays, Wolde has transformed his hobby into a part-time business, hosting eight to 20 clients every week. He charges $20-25 depending on what the client asks for, making a haircut rather affordable for college students. While he has a large client base at Quinnipiac, he realizes school comes first.
“I try and keep it like pretty controlled because at the same time I am here for school,” Wolde said. “I do like an hour a day.”
Wolde does not have a professional setup on campus, but he is able to use The Grove bathroom as his makeshift workspace. A bathroom may not be the most appealing place in the world, but Wolde makes it work and makes his clients feel welcome and clean. Wolde is also flexible and understanding with making appointments.
Wolde has experience with almost every type of hair, but he will take on a challenge here and there. He also enjoys experimenting if a client is unsure of what haircut they want.
“I feel like my favorite haircuts are when I do something new and then it turns out way better than I expected,” Wolde said.
Wolde plans to continue haircutting throughout and after college, but he is currently studying to become a business consultant when he graduates.
