A Haircut at Rutgers From a Super Bowl Champion

00:06
[Music]

00:21
[Applause]

00:24
until i hit the stage

00:34
what's up everybody welcome to greetings

00:36
from the garden state another episode

00:37
one of our launch episodes we're here at

00:39
the right cut on my cam we're here with

00:41
tim wright on the campus of rutgers

00:43
university in piscataway new jersey tim

00:45
welcome to the show hey thanks for

00:47
having me mike i'm excited man thank you

00:48
for having me here honestly full

00:50
disclosure as a bald man this is the

00:52
first time i've been in a barber shop in

00:54
a year and i feel

00:56
weird sitting in a barber chair that's

00:58
cool you know like it's like a throwback

01:00
kind of thing but you know once the hair

01:01
started to go then you know places like

01:03
this weren't really for for me exactly

01:05
now you got the perfect place this is

01:06
this can be your second home because

01:08
yeah our shaving services man will get

01:10
you nice and crispy okay nice ball fade

01:13
you know everything you need man we'll

01:14
get you right yep

01:16
i love it i love it so maybe after you

01:18
know we'll yeah we'll see what we could

01:20
do this mess on my face um but uh but

01:23
you were a guest on my other show the

01:24
morning spotlight we talked a little bit

01:26
about dome audio your background yeah um

01:28
but this we're going to get a little bit

01:29
more into the right cut because

01:31
obviously this is focused on new jersey

01:32
stuff and all that um so i'm really

01:34
excited just to learn more so maybe

01:36
let's take like your background yes um

01:38
so we can kind of talk about maybe some

01:40
of the things that you've accomplished

01:41
in your life and then kind of how that

01:43
ties into a barbershop yeah absolutely

01:46
so let's bring it back to where i was

01:48
born and raised neptune new jersey i was

01:50
raised by a village i had a lot of

01:52
influences from all the way my

01:54
grandparents down to my parents my aunts

01:56
and uncles my cousins relatives and

01:58
friends and i was the only child growing

02:01
up to about 13 and then my brother came

02:03
into the world but um you know i i grew

02:06
up landscaping with my grandparents and

02:08
that's why i really developed the

02:10
importance of hard work having a vision

02:13
seeing something that looks crazy in the

02:15
yard and then making it look beautiful

02:16
after you know several hours under the

02:18
sun of just of just putting that work in

02:21
and um that's where i just really

02:22
developed and loved the form of art

02:25
right and then i took that into the

02:27
classroom and i prided myself on having

02:29
the best handwriting and the best

02:31
projects i used to have all my friends

02:33
and classmates wanting to be in my group

02:35
because they knew what quality i could

02:36
produce right and then um at that time

02:39
my dad was taking me to the barber shop

02:41
literally every week to get a fresh cut

02:43
of course and at the age of 13

02:46
i experienced a bad haircut and my dad

02:48
said this will never happen again so he

02:51
went to buy a pair of clippers and it

02:53
was sitting in my room he cut my hair

02:55
one time and i watched how he did it but

02:57
i always used to observe the barbers in

02:59
the shop when i got cut because i love

03:01
art it was a form of art right but i was

03:03
just seeing what they doing and i knew

03:05
that when people walk out of a barber

03:07
shop a hair salon you look good you feel

03:10
good and it's transformative and so i

03:12
just love that component of it because

03:14
it wasn't just doing it in the yard but

03:16
it was actually impacting people yeah

03:18
right it's so going from cutting grass

03:20
to cutting cutting hair yes exactly on

03:23
cutting things yes exactly so

03:25
right so um

03:27
i picked up the pair of clippers and i

03:28
said i believe in my hand i believe in

03:30
myself like i could do this cut my hair

03:33
the rest was history i fell in love with

03:35
it every three days i was cutting my

03:36
hair and literally i started cutting my

03:38
friends in my neighborhood i started um

03:41
you know just watching videos on youtube

03:44
it wasn't really no instagram at that

03:46
time no social media so youtube was my

03:48
form of how can i like progress in my

03:51
skills and just learn the art and i just

03:54
fell in love with it like i couldn't

03:55
stop yeah so i went through high school

03:58
um and when i got to college here at

04:00
rutgers is when i started cutting my

04:02
teammates hair i started cutting kids

04:04
that represented all parts of the world

04:06
that came here to rutgers because it's

04:08
one of the most diverse schools in the

04:10
country yeah and so i was just getting

04:12
this feedback and and you know consumer

04:15
what they loved what they didn't like

04:17
and what made them feel good different

04:19
textures just the whole array of hair

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and um i said you know what

04:24
i love the name right i just feel like

04:27
it fits with so much things and i said

04:29
you know what the right cut i want i

04:30
want to make that a brand and um in my

04:33
junior senior year that's when i did

04:34
that and you know the coaches used to

04:36
pop down i used to cut coaches i used to

04:38
cut their children when they brought

04:39
them in because they never really leave

04:40
the facility so yeah right they'll bring

04:42
them in get cut and it'll just be like a

04:44
locker room full of just players

04:48
coaches staff and we used to talk about

04:50
it it was like really a mini barber shop

04:52
right right in a facility right of of

04:54
the ruckus football and um i said one

04:56
day when i have the means i want to come

04:58
back on campus and i want to open up the

05:01
first barbershop hair salon on any major

05:03
campus in the country and in 2016 i was

05:06
able to do that and um that was right in

05:09
the middle of my nfl career so i spent

05:11
six years in the nfl won the super bowl

05:13
with the new england patriots i had a

05:15
pretty solid career very you know i'm

05:17
very blessed and grateful with the

05:19
career i had but

05:20
entrepreneurship and disruptive business

05:22
models is my other passion yeah and so

05:25
um in 2016 i tore my acl

05:28
and i said okay nfl stands for not for

05:32
long of course it's national football

05:34
league but it's truly not for long

05:36
what's that next chapter look like what

05:37
does the rest of your life look like and

05:39
i said this is an opportunity for me to

05:41
solidify my foundation and build

05:44
something and so i did it i was able to

05:46
be here do my recovery here for my acl

05:49
and foresee my whole vision just

05:51
manifests in front of me yeah and um we

05:53
just celebrated five years on september

05:55
20th of this year 2021 and it's just

05:58
been incredible you know in terms of

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what this is as a staple for the

06:02
university of rutgers for the state of

06:04
new jersey and for everything that we're

06:06
bringing around hair culture you know

06:08
making people look good feel good and

06:10
really impacting lives yeah that was i

06:12
mean i don't know if i can get a better

06:14
answer than that we could just stop the

06:15
episode right now it was fantastic thank

06:16
you when you cut your own hair how do

06:18
you do the back that's what i would just

06:20
even when i'm just shaving my head i

06:21
miss the back all the time yeah so old

06:24
school mirror when you sit on it sit on

06:26
it it's always your counter first i know

06:27
it's like if you if you got that eye if

06:29
you got that confidence like you hold

06:31
the mirror up and you get the work and

06:33
so i've been cutting my own hair for the

06:35
last 18 years yeah and doing it every

06:37
week i cut my children still my

06:39
relatives and stuff and so i just love

06:41
what it is yeah that's awesome yeah and

06:43
what i also think is interesting is that

06:45
you said that this was like the right

06:47
cut is the first barber shop that's on

06:49
the campus of a major university yes i

06:51
find that like very surprising

06:54
but that's that's so cool i mean did you

06:56
think that that was going to be

06:57
something that would be an opportunity

06:59
to do right correct yes so this this

07:02
model here this is the flagship location

07:04
but this model has the opportunity to go

07:06
on every major campus in the country

07:08
right and truly be the identity and a

07:11
stomping ground for literally

07:13
females males everything in between to

07:16
actually come and get your hair serviced

07:17
so this is a brand that's being built

07:19
this is a business model and you know we

07:21
can duplicate that around the country

07:23
yeah which i think is so cool and you

07:24
know not something that i would have

07:26
ever even thought i mean that was the

07:27
first time i ever heard that from you

07:29
right there so

07:30
um but talk to me maybe about stuff

07:31
that's like kind of going on right now i

07:33
mean i every time i was joking with you

07:34
before we got on here literally every

07:36
time i turn on like you know in my

07:39
instagram app or whatever i see a video

07:41
of you guys you know there's barbers

07:43
basically in every chair there's a

07:45
person in every chair um so talk to me

07:48
about like the importance of maybe being

07:49
here on campus and just there's so much

07:52
stuff going on over here i mean i've

07:53
only been to rutgers a few times even

07:54
though i'm from new jersey right but

07:56
there's so many you know foot traffic

07:57
and all that like how does that um you

08:00
know how's that worked for you yeah so i

08:02
think it's a blend between being a

08:04
visionary and being a strategist and

08:06
also an executor right and so me

08:09
realizing that i had a one-man operation

08:12
cutting in the locker room of of all my

08:14
teammates like we had five cycles i went

08:17
i went i was at rutgers for five years

08:19
yeah so there was five cycles of classes

08:22
that i was able to to bless with a hair

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service and literally man i mean i

08:26
probably cut

08:27
several hundred people when i was here

08:29
at school so i took that i understood

08:31
that and i said

08:32
if i can turn this into a eight-man

08:34
operation on campus

08:36
it's a no-brainer in terms of the

08:38
success that we can see from being in

08:41
this location and i mean from the day

08:44
one we cut the tape we had 22 people

08:46
that got serviced by one barber on day

08:49
one of opening the shop and so the the

08:51
walk-in you know turn over the

08:53
appointments that we use for our system

08:56
and just it's just been a blessing and

08:57
it's kind of like a bubble within itself

09:00
because we're not competing against the

09:02
other rival barber shops that may be in

09:04
the in the you know the community and

09:06
general public this is it's a hundred

09:08
thousand people here on campus that all

09:11
have hair on top of their head in a

09:12
sense so it has to be served somewhere

09:14
yeah the right cut once you get right

09:16
you can't go wrong

09:19
um the other thing too that i would you

09:21
know was wondering is when you're when

09:23
you make that jump so you're in the nfl

09:25
um you're rehabbing you're here uh talk

09:28
to me maybe about the process that it

09:30
took to go from being you know cutting

09:32
your teammates and coaches and hair in

09:34
the locker room or you know your dorm

09:35
room or however that worked um to then

09:38
you know going into the the business

09:39
side because this

09:41
you know i know its essence and its core

09:43
it's the same correct but it's this is a

09:45
lot different this is an actual business

09:46
yeah so i i joke about this when i think

09:49
about my journey and my development as a

09:52
businessman entrepreneur um but it was

09:55
that acumen that

09:57
i always could could visualize what a

09:59
businessman looked like and what their

10:01
lifestyle was yeah and i said okay i

10:03
need a second phone

10:05
okay i need to study my craft i need to

10:08
like like tune into the other successful

10:11
people around the world it doesn't

10:12
matter what business they're in it's the

10:14
principle of business that really

10:16
matters and so i saw it after that i

10:18
soaked it in like a sponge i actually in

10:20
the nfl my in 2016 they had a class and

10:24
it was like you know intro to business

10:26
and um i was able to go out there to

10:28
michigan university and um stephen ross

10:31
had a big influence on me because he's

10:33
the he's the owner of the dolphins i

10:35
believe another franchise but he's the

10:37
largest donor for michigan in terms of

10:40
the development and the the money that

10:42
he actually put into the school right

10:44
and um

10:45
just just hearing him speak that day on

10:47
on the uh the intro of the class it was

10:50
transformative and i just said i'm

10:52
already starting this process with

10:53
building the model but i just learned so

10:56
much more throughout that week-long

10:57
class and it was a crash course but i

11:00
already knew what i wanted yeah and i

11:02
already had the acumen develop because

11:04
at the age of 13 i'm handling

11:05
appointments

11:07
i'm sacrificing like other things i

11:09
wanted to do as a kid but i just know

11:11
what i loved and i knew that i had to

11:13
approach it as a professional and give a

11:16
quality hair service every time i touch

11:18
someone's head and and that's where you

11:20
build brand that's where you build

11:22
loyalty that's where you know you just

11:24
build the foundation of what you do and

11:26
so um you know just just understanding

11:28
all those things i just approached it as

11:30
a student and i just so i soak up

11:33
knowledge even to this day um never

11:35
getting comfortable and understanding

11:37
that success is not owned it's rented

11:40
and rent is due every day right so you

11:42
can never get comfortable because that's

11:44
when things start to occur that's when

11:46
you know stuff starts slipping but

11:48
to bring a full circle and what we've

11:50
experienced from the pandemic we

11:52
literally

11:53
you know it was no students on campus

11:55
for about 18 months yeah

11:57
it was rough

11:58
learned a lot was able to reflect you

12:01
know whether that's personally in

12:03
business and everything in between and

12:05
um

12:06
starting september right after labor day

12:08
classes started students on campus it

12:10
was like like

12:12
a flip of a switch yeah and so you know

12:15
that was the the value proposition in

12:17
terms of the the folks that can come on

12:19
the team and they can see the value of

12:21
what they can how they can grow the

12:22
diversity you know the the type of

12:24
compensation they can make and just the

12:26
opportunity overall yeah and um we've

12:28
been able to attract and now we have all

12:30
chairs full eight chairs spinning and um

12:32
you know we just have a whole year in

12:34
front of us to really make a difference

12:36
on campus at rutgers and in the

12:38
neighboring community yeah i think

12:39
that's it's so great too and you know as

12:41
you're going through that answer i think

12:42
one of the cool things and like i

12:43
mentioned you were on the morning

12:44
spotlight with me we're talking about

12:46
dome audio and your career in the nfl we

12:47
talked a little bit about the right cut

12:49
and now that we're talking more about

12:50
the right cut one of the things that i

12:51
really like about you is you're not a

12:53
half-assed kind of guy like if you're

12:54
going to do something you're going to

12:56
whole asset you know i mean you're going

12:58
all in and that's one of the things that

12:59
i really like and why i feel like you're

13:00
having a lot of success right now um so

13:02
we're going to take our first break of

13:04
this episode um this is the greetings

13:06
from the gardens today podcast we're

13:07
here on the campus of rutgers university

13:09
at the right cut with tim wright himself

13:11
uh super bowl champ tim wright

13:15
exactly

13:16
i'm mike ham everybody listening we'll

13:17
be right back

13:19
it is time for today in new jersey

13:21
history on october 18th 1913 a statue

13:24
now nicknamed peg leg pete was unveiled

13:26
in front of nearly 6 000 people in

13:28
bergen square in jersey city the statue

13:31
recognizes peter stuyvesant the director

13:33
general responsible for the founding of

13:34
the village of bergen that is now known

13:36
as jersey city over 350 years ago and

13:39
that is today in new jersey history

13:44
[Music]

13:46
welcome back this is the greetings from

13:47
the garden state podcast i'm mike ham

13:48
we're here on the campus of rutgers

13:50
university at the right cut with tim

13:52
wright uh tim we just went through the

13:54
whole background your background your

13:56
career in the nfl and both here at uh

13:58
the right cut and kind of the background

14:00
of the business but i kind of want to

14:01
talk a lot a little bit about um you

14:04
know things that you've kind of

14:05
experienced over the five years that

14:06
you've been here so you told me in the

14:08
first segment that you just celebrated

14:09
your five year anniversary so

14:10
congratulations on that um but maybe

14:13
like as you've kind of progressed

14:14
through the business has it changed a

14:17
lot like the way that you approach it

14:18
the way that you know your involvement

14:20
level does that change yeah so you know

14:22
i do have to really give a lot of credit

14:25
to

14:26
the foundation of what the business was

14:28
built on and you know cutting my hair

14:30
for 18 years and then a lot of it you

14:32
know in high school at rutgers really

14:35
building a brand and um really bringing

14:37
those values and and integrating that

14:40
into the business it's held true

14:42
throughout the five years so that's

14:44
never wavered um and the the model and

14:47
vision of what the business can produce

14:49
has only amplified over the years um the

14:52
amount of people that we've touched

14:54
literally we've had 12 000 different

14:56
unique customers step foot in the right

14:58
cut and get serviced right and over 35

15:01
000 transactions already and we're just

15:03
scratching the surface so i've yet to

15:06
really feel like the business has

15:07
realized its optimal state of 100 you

15:11
know just everything clicking at once

15:12
yeah um and that's where i talked about

15:14
you know never being comfortable and

15:16
always exploring new things new

15:18
promotions uh new ways to incentivize a

15:21
team new ways to build culture and make

15:24
it more of a stamp in the community that

15:26
you're doing that you're providing a

15:27
service for so um i've learned a lot and

15:30
um you know when i first cut the tape

15:33
like i said having 22 people get

15:35
serviced by one barber and then you know

15:37
over the course of time hiring more

15:38
barbers and more impact and more

15:40
consumers it's just been just incredible

15:43
to witness but knowing that

15:46
this one operation

15:48
can still be expanded in a massive way

15:51
in a brand and a story that's so unique

15:53
and so organic to its truest sense um

15:56
that's what i'm very excited for so i

15:58
want to perfect what this is at this

16:01
location the flagship location of

16:03
where the right cut was built and really

16:05
be able to then reverse engineer the

16:07
vision of the end game to be on every

16:09
campus in the country and then start to

16:11
make that a reality

16:13
what

16:14
i mean i think i know what the answer is

16:15
but what would what makes the right cut

16:18
different than like your community

16:20
barbershop you know what i mean we're

16:21
talking about like this business model

16:23
can work on other campuses it's just

16:24
because you have access to a lot of

16:27
people all at one time

16:29
that's great so that's where it starts

16:31
but truly

16:32
the cycle of student classes that comes

16:36
every year you have a senior class that

16:37
leaves a freshman class that comes in

16:39
yeah so your core

16:41
demographic of your consumer base is is

16:44
always going to be within that you know

16:47
let's call it 18 to 24 year old range

16:50
but you know the it just keeps the

16:52
business youthful it just keeps that

16:54
fountain of youth pouring in and um the

16:56
new the new hairstyles or things that

16:59
come about that we see go viral these

17:01
are these are the customers that's

17:03
actually coming in and requesting that

17:04
and setting the tempo for what that is

17:06
yeah so it just keeps that that you've

17:08
grown in the environment and um you know

17:10
truly is the diversity of what a college

17:13
campus holds and that's the value

17:15
proposition that

17:16
the barbers who come to work for the

17:18
right cut and come on campus here they

17:20
understand that we're seeing every walk

17:22
of life that can come through this door

17:24
and it's allowing them to grow as a

17:26
master barber and that's what they all

17:28
want to be they all want to be able to

17:30
any type of customer any type of hair

17:32
type that comes in they can actually

17:34
provide that service and do it in an

17:35
incredible way right yeah and i i think

17:38
that that's also interesting too because

17:39
like when we're talking about you know

17:40
those differences you know for me i was

17:43
always a big when i had hair um you know

17:46
and i think a lot of people are like

17:47
this right you know they find someone

17:48
that they like that cuts their hair well

17:50
and they go to them

17:51
forever yeah you know i mean i had

17:53
someone like that and then i just was

17:54
like you know what am i doing um but

17:57
like here you don't really have that

17:59
because

18:00
people graduate and they go other places

18:03
that's right um and then i would imagine

18:05
also that maybe in the you know

18:07
piscataway community too does do you

18:10
connect with them as well i mean i'm

18:12
sure it's not just you know people here

18:13
at rutgers it's kind of you can expand

18:15
that a little bit outside absolutely so

18:16
we're open to everyone is we have you

18:19
know a base of clients that come in from

18:21
different parts in different areas of

18:23
new jersey they travel here to get their

18:24
air service yeah and it's true you know

18:27
when when you grew up you had a barber

18:29
you stuck with them if you moved you had

18:31
to find another barber so that's evident

18:33
with this model is because there's kids

18:35
coming from around the world

18:36
to rutgers university they need a barber

18:39
all of a sudden and now they can find a

18:40
home for the next four or five years if

18:42
they happen to you know live live here

18:44
after school they could continue to come

18:46
here as well so i think that's where the

18:48
inevitable shift happens where

18:50
you come here as a student or a faculty

18:52
you work here you're on campus you need

18:55
someone you need that service and it's

18:57
conveniently located right here yeah

18:58
that's that's awesome yeah so we've

19:00
touched on it too you know like

19:01
expanding into

19:03
other you know campuses and the model

19:05
can move and i know that we can't get

19:07
into like specifics right but you know

19:09
as you've kind of progressed into you

19:12
know expanding and going maybe to other

19:14
campuses and all that um is there

19:16
something that you know like what has

19:18
the reception been maybe is it positive

19:21
is it skeptical uh how does that work

19:23
yeah i think it's a multi-layered value

19:25
proposition

19:27
so

19:27
the proof of concept is solidified

19:30
the brand in a sense is solidified and

19:32
now we can amplify it to get the

19:35
awareness of other campus you know

19:38
whether they're on the committee the

19:39
board of the the school or they're down

19:42
to the students hey you seen that brand

19:43
have you seen that you know the right

19:45
cut on a jumbotron at the football game

19:47
like yeah what if our campus had a

19:48
barber shop that'd be

19:50
everything for us we don't have to go

19:51
off campus we're right here yeah and so

19:53
the value proposition for students the

19:55
value proposition for if you know the

19:58
the partnership or the the endorser or

20:00
folks who want to buy into the model uh

20:02
from a franchise standpoint that's there

20:05
the value proposition for the barbers

20:07
and the service providers and a you know

20:09
the stylist that's there because of the

20:11
diversity and i just think that it

20:13
brings a tremendous value to the

20:16
university or the campus and college

20:18
that we're going to because

20:19
it's in heartbeat it's a cornerstone

20:22
it's a culture and that's what this is

20:24
built on so you know i think it's a

20:25
multi-layered value proposition yeah

20:27
also talk to me a little bit about you

20:29
know we've done this is one of our

20:31
launch episodes like i mentioned so this

20:32
is going to be one of the first three

20:33
episodes that that launches and we're

20:35
talking to a lot of other people that

20:36
own businesses for future episodes um

20:39
that own restaurants that own bakeries

20:40
that own you know other small businesses

20:42
like that and i think that one of the

20:44
things that has been a like constant you

20:47
know theme throughout each of those

20:49
episodes um has been you know just a

20:52
general lack of workers like the labor

20:54
shortage obviously that's affecting

20:56
everybody um but then like we were

20:58
talking before we even started recording

20:59
that you're hiring people has that been

21:01
something that you've had to contend

21:02
with or is that just something that like

21:04
it just didn't maybe didn't affect you

21:05
as much yeah so you know i think the

21:07
foundation of

21:09
survival

21:10
is

21:11
your integrity

21:12
your relationships um that's been a core

21:15
hair at rutgers in terms of the rutgers

21:17
management in relation to the businesses

21:19
here on campus especially as it pertains

21:21
to the right cut yeah um that held true

21:24
and then i think it's the

21:26
foundation of the business

21:28
that stills allows to have it a

21:30
heartbeat

21:32
and then to be able to take that and

21:33
then go out and

21:35
we'll just cut it for what it is sell

21:37
the opportunity to people who are

21:39
looking for it yeah and so i think when

21:41
the students came back on campus and

21:43
everything opened back up it was a

21:45
no-brainer for people to say listen

21:47
we're turning away 20 to 30 walk-ins a

21:50
day yeah because we couldn't service it

21:52
at at that point of just starting school

21:54
again and all of a sudden

21:56
people see it for what it is and it's a

21:58
no-brainer so i think you know the

22:00
elements of why this business can thrive

22:04
um we're seeing it in real time and

22:06
that's and that's where we are today

22:07
yeah it's awesome yeah all right so

22:09
we're gonna take our second break our

22:10
last break of this episode um that it

22:12
was another fantastic segment this is

22:15
the greetings from the garden state

22:16
podcast i'm mike ham we're here on the

22:17
campus of rutgers university at the

22:19
right cut with super bowl champ tim

22:21
wright yes sir uh we will be right back

22:26
it is time for your new jersey fun fact

22:28
of the day did you know that the first

22:29
game of baseball played with modern

22:31
rules was played in hoboken new jersey

22:34
that is your new jersey fun fact of the

22:36
day

22:40
what's up everybody we're back here on

22:41
the greetings from the garden state

22:42
podcast i'm mike hamm he's tim wright

22:44
we're on the campus of rutgers

22:46
university almost messed that up somehow

22:48
i've only said it six times already i

22:50
had the right cut

22:51
so we've gone through the background of

22:53
the business we've kind of gone through

22:54
your background we've gone through you

22:56
know things that are kind of going on

22:57
now over the last five years of the

22:58
business being open and maybe some

23:00
future stuff for the business right um

23:02
let's talk about the community because

23:04
we've touched on it quite a bit and

23:05
obviously you're on a college campus on

23:07
the campus of a university and i think

23:10
that obviously there's clear tie-ins to

23:13
this community correct um but talk to me

23:15
maybe about like the relationship that

23:16
the right cut has with rutgers the

23:19
actual university itself and why that's

23:21
so important yeah no absolutely so it

23:23
starts with

23:24
starts with myself

23:26
and what i was able to solidify over the

23:29
five years that i went to school here

23:31
2008 to 2012

23:33
and like i said the principles of

23:35
integrity your character the brand that

23:38
you build and and the foundation is

23:40
built on

23:41
people can see right through it for what

23:43
it is there's no gray area is black and

23:45
white right and once you bring a value

23:47
proposition to the larger sense of the

23:50
population in the community of rutgers

23:52
that's why i was a no-brainer to open

23:54
this this establishment right here in

23:56
the heart of campus yeah and one that

23:58
could be a value across the country as

24:00
we talked about but you know being able

24:02
to connect with

24:04
your consumer base with your market um

24:06
having friendly promotions that that can

24:09
drive business and drive interest um

24:11
having loyalty programs that can then

24:14
keep them recurring as customers um and

24:16
then doing things that

24:18
far outreaches the the four walls of the

24:21
business and going out and touching the

24:22
community with events that you have you

24:25
know food drives or platforms where

24:27
students can also participate in what

24:29
you're doing um that's why i think it

24:32
really connects the community from the

24:34
outside that brings them in indoors and

24:36
then it's a reciprocal exchange at that

24:38
point yeah exactly and it's one of those

24:40
things too where like i mean you could

24:41
have started this anywhere you know

24:43
right you said you grew up in neptune

24:45
that's right you guys started in neptune

24:47
exactly like i'm going to open up a you

24:48
know community barbershop but instead

24:49
you came here right and i think that

24:51
it's just so interesting because you

24:52
know we've talked about it a ton in this

24:54
episode and you just answered it but

24:56
like the the connection that you have

24:58
with the community and it's basically

24:59
like everybody rowing up the boat in the

25:01
same direction

25:03
you know and i think that that's so

25:04
important for the school for the

25:05
community for you for everybody and it

25:07
just seems that it's working yes you

25:09
know and which is fantastic no

25:10
absolutely yeah no question um one of

25:12
the other things too and we're going to

25:14
get more into the community outreach as

25:15
we kind of progress through this segment

25:16
but um

25:18
you have the the barber school yes which

25:20
i think is just another very interesting

25:22
way to kind of connect with you know

25:24
aspiring barbers um and then it's almost

25:27
i mean you know this could be

25:29
not the right reason but it's almost

25:32
maybe like a funnel too for you know you

25:34
have a pool of people that you can you

25:36
know pull from to staff your

25:38
establishment so talk to me a little bit

25:39
about setting that up and why that was

25:41
an important part of this whole process

25:42
correct so that was

25:44
an integral piece in starting it off um

25:47
and really finding the talent and

25:48
finding hungry students who wanted an

25:51
opportunity so off the bat i just have

25:53
to you know share my love and props to

25:55
innovate uh barbara salon academy and

25:58
also robert fiance those are two schools

26:00
that's located in new jersey they have

26:02
several uh locations but just the the

26:05
what they produce there within their

26:07
student body the educators that you know

26:09
come and instruct there and get them

26:11
ready for real-world opportunities they

26:13
all are thirsting for as soon as they

26:16
graduate and even before that once once

26:18
they get permitted to going into an

26:21
establishment where

26:22
they're investing in their career

26:25
they're paying for school to get

26:27
educated and and do things the right way

26:29
and so for us to have a platform here at

26:32
the right cut where we do everything

26:33
right everything is permitted everything

26:35
is licensed everything is hand like

26:37
handled like a very professional

26:38
business right that is the

26:40
big vision in mind and reverse

26:42
engineering that to your first location

26:44
and doing it right that sets the

26:45
precedent of everything else that you do

26:47
as you go for big scale and so knowing

26:50
that the location was you know here on a

26:53
college campus i knew the volume was one

26:56
thing that we would never have to worry

26:57
about yeah when you go into certain

26:59
locations in in communities you realize

27:02
that those barber shops or hair salons

27:04
they're really just competing and

27:06
fighting over the same people yeah here

27:08
we have new people coming every single

27:10
day that's never been here and that's

27:13
looking for a place they can call home

27:15
for the next four years of their you

27:16
know time here at rutgers and so just

27:19
having those outlets of barbers that you

27:21
know are in those academies that's right

27:23
near the school is just phenomenal

27:25
because we can go out there and we can

27:26
show them what we do

27:28
you could step foot in here and you

27:30
could sense it right away as soon as you

27:31
walk in the doors and that's what we're

27:33
about the repetition

27:35
the the you know just turning it over

27:37
doing the same thing over and over again

27:39
successfully in the right way and just

27:42
the the proof of concept of what we have

27:43
is what we lay our hat on do you do it

27:45
here like right here in the shop so

27:47
we've brought we've brought classes here

27:49
um you know we've reached out to the

27:50
school through our relationships and

27:52
they brought their students right in

27:53
here to see it in real time happening

27:55
and um you know a mixture of them coming

27:57
in individually as well is what they're

27:59
able to see in real time yeah awesome

28:01
awesome and then

28:03
the other thing too that we were going

28:04
to talk about with the community side of

28:05
it was maybe does the community

28:08
relationship expand beyond just rutgers

28:10
yes um so let's talk a little bit about

28:12
that why that's also important rather

28:14
than just staying here in your little

28:15
bubble at the university correct no the

28:17
outreach is very important and um in

28:20
2015 i established me and my family

28:22
established i found family foundation

28:24
called the right way academy and so it's

28:27
a 501c3 you know obviously tax you know

28:29
tax deductible and all that stuff and um

28:32
we we we put that in place so that we

28:34
can reach the community in a mass amount

28:37
of ways so it's a very broad foundation

28:40
but our focus and mission is to impact

28:42
the way folks experience life and the

28:45
quality of life that they have and so

28:47
where we could provide resources

28:49
platforms education instruction um you

28:52
know touching the community through a

28:54
food drive and then going out on the

28:56
field and not only teaching you how to

28:58
play the sport you play but bringing you

29:00
into the classroom and show you why

29:01
that's important right stepping foot in

29:03
in a barber shop and showing you why the

29:06
community of people who you know

29:08
circulate this university circulate the

29:10
neighboring towns around that can come

29:11
into one place and get a synergistic

29:14
type of environment and in a positive

29:16
environment that then pours back out

29:18
into the community so i understand that

29:20
this world evolves you know together and

29:23
it's a collection of indep individual

29:25
people that live in their own homes but

29:27
then you go out into society and it's

29:30
how do you conduct yourself you know

29:31
what are the influences of that and what

29:34
are the resources and platforms that can

29:36
make you better at whatever you aspire

29:38
to be or do right and so that's what the

29:40
foundation is focused on and that's what

29:42
we're able to bring here the right cut

29:44
in all the community around yeah exactly

29:46
i think that's awesome was that

29:47
something

29:48
that

29:49
what was like the impetus behind

29:50
starting that like what what made you

29:52
decide like hey we're going to set up a

29:53
foundation we're going to just help

29:54
people yeah was it just you know like

29:56
talking to you yeah so it was it was

29:58
basically a culmination of

30:00
me being influenced by so many people

30:03
growing up like i said it was my

30:05
immediate family but it was coaches it

30:07
was guidance counselors it was teachers

30:09
it was just you know local mentors and

30:12
dads of of other you know friends that i

30:15
had most importantly my father pouring

30:17
into me and understanding like

30:19
the core of integrity and character is

30:21
very important yeah hard work is is one

30:23
that connects everything together and

30:25
and connecting dots and being a resource

30:27
and i wanted to be

30:29
that person that brought that back

30:30
together because that's what brought me

30:32
up and that's what gave me the

30:33
opportunity so i wanted to give that to

30:35
others as well right yeah which is which

30:37
is awesome so um if people are listening

30:40
to this episode maybe they're students

30:42
here at rutgers and they are somehow

30:44
unaware that you guys exist

30:46
or they're you know part of the

30:47
community or they're just interested in

30:49
to like learning more so let's let's do

30:51
first we'll hit the websites and then

30:52
we'll kind of go through you know maybe

30:54
how the process works so what's the

30:56
website where can they go so we use a

30:58
system called square which a lot of

31:00
people may be familiar with but you can

31:02
go right on

31:05
www.thewrightcut.net to book your

31:07
appointment seamlessly learn more about

31:09
the story um of course you know you

31:11
could submit an application for

31:12
internship or a working opportunity to

31:15
come in this environment and get you

31:16
know everything we offer yeah um but you

31:18
could follow us on instagram at

31:21
twcbs and as you said mike you know if

31:24
you've seen a lot of activity on there

31:26
so we're just kind of activity yeah

31:27
we're going to continue to blow that out

31:28
and show the world so the campus show

31:30
the community what we're about and what

31:32
we have here um of course you can follow

31:35
me on instagram at tim wright 81 yep um

31:38
and and those are pretty much all the

31:39
ways to reach us and um you know you

31:41
could connect with us by walking in and

31:43
seeing what we have as well do you need

31:45
an appointment you can just walk right

31:46
in right it's walk-ins and appointments

31:47
so i would recommend appointment so that

31:50
you could solidify your spot but

31:51
walk-ins are totally available and then

31:53
do you also see i mean this is we just

31:55
went through this whole thing but also

31:57
you know maybe like uh like choosing a

32:00
barber like if you find something that

32:02
you really like and you can do something

32:03
like that i would imagine too yeah so we

32:05
you know that's where we tag all of the

32:06
barbers within the framework of the

32:08
business so you can see their individual

32:10
pages and everybody at work to be able

32:12
to choose like who you may want to go to

32:14
yeah um but of course the the the demand

32:17
is is so crazy that sometimes you just

32:19
got to fit in with who you fit in and

32:21
we're big about you know just break

32:23
developing and evolving our barbers as

32:25
well so giving them the education to get

32:27
their skills more and more and more at

32:30
the higher level level so that's that's

32:31
what we're about yeah which i also think

32:33
is another thing that's interesting

32:34
because a lot of times when you see

32:35
businesses and they're posting about

32:37
staff whether it's a barbershop or

32:38
whatever a lot of times they don't tag

32:40
the people that are actually working

32:42
there and ultimately like that's who the

32:44
clientele that's who they have their

32:46
relationships with the more you're able

32:48
to indoctrinate them with those people

32:50
yes i think that that would create an

32:51
even stronger relationship which was one

32:52
of the things that i thought was really

32:53
cool as i'm seeing all these things that

32:55
you're doing absolutely you're like

32:56
always tagging people and the stories in

32:58
the post like you're always putting you

32:59
know them first because obviously

33:01
they're the drivers of this business

33:03
correct absolutely yes very important

33:05
yeah definitely um all right cool so i

33:08
think that i think we hit everything did

33:10
we miss anything important i don't think

33:11
so i don't think so yeah we captured it

33:13
mike we definitely can't fit it for sure

33:14
yeah um all right awesome so we we hit

33:17
him with the links we hit him with the

33:18
instagram handle uh so make sure that we

33:20
put those in the show notes uh so if you

33:22
guys do want to learn more about what

33:23
tim has going on here at the right cup

33:25
you can definitely check that out um tim

33:27
second episode with you first one on

33:29
this new podcast cannot thank you enough

33:31
for doing this with me yes this was

33:32
awesome the barber chair still feels a

33:34
little bit weird to me after the last

33:36
year but uh but yeah i i mean maybe i

33:39
can get comfortable

33:40
we'll see yeah we'll get you right hey

33:42
once you get right you can't go wrong

33:43
can't go wrong i love it

33:45
awesome awesome thank you so much thank

33:46
you man and everybody else thank you for

33:48
listening and we'll catch you next time

33:58
[Music]

33:58
[Applause]

34:04
night

34:06
[Music]

34:11
[Music]

34:24
you