Many of us remember many first's in our life...your first crush, your first car, your first tattoo and at 40 years of age I had another first. I attended my first hair convention...as an educator...for Andis clippers! For me this would be like if my first date was with Jessica Alba...winning! Even though I have been in the hair profession for over a decade I never made it to a hair show. This is not all that strange for me...I have hundreds of tattoos and have never been to a tattoo convention....and other things in my life seem to go this way...maybe it's just that I love to "do" rather than "look". With that said I viewed this endeavor as a way to be taught rather than teach and that is exactly what happened. After meeting with The Clipper Guy- Ivan Zoot, I was introduced to Lynn...don't ask me to spell her last name, I couldn't even pronounce it at the show but she is amazing with the clippers on women's styles! She quickly took me under her wing and helped me get comfortable with being on stage and speaking to the crowd. Over the next three days we shared the stage and had a blast...she is a comedian in her spare time so there was never a dull moment. Love you Lynn. One of the highlights was being asked by The Major League Barber Crew to be a guest judge for the barber battle. These guys are super cool and the talented barbers who battled it out were amazing! MLB crew member Wanza and I were really impressed with the foundation work on the Brooklyn Bridge design. Wanza your a G!!! Over the three day event I was tutored by Ivan on many aspects of how to be a great educator and the fine details of the Andis tools I love so much. We also shared personal stories and became good friends...we connected like a set of Legos while speaking about family, friends and the existential questions about the meaning of life. Also Kenny "The Professional" Duncan was on hand to judge the battle on behalf of Andis. He gave me some great tips and insight into being a Andis educator. When it was all said and done I felt like I had won the lottery...all these great people shared their wisdom with me AND I got paid for it!!!! I did kinda hit the lotto money wise also..over the three days I won $235 playing Blackjack and to finish it off...on my flight home I was the last person to board the plane and I guess because I was dressed so nice the flight attendant assumed that the only open seat in first class was mine, so as she greeted me and motioned me toward the open seat I almost blew and said it wasn't mine but then I realized that in some Devine existential way the seat was meant for me. This brings me to the last but in no way least person I need to thank... Mr. Rodrick Samuels not only did I model my attire after him...which landed me the first class seat but he was there for me when I wasn't sure about my future in this profession...he supported me on a professional and personal level and without his help I would have never made this dream come true for myself. So in closing my advice to anyone who wants to be a educator is that as long as you understand that you have just as much to learn as you do to teach...then first class with always have a seat reserved for you.
Aloha
Elijah "Mos Faded" Mack
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