- We're brothers.

(Marichal laughing) - Been knowing him all his life.

(people laughing) - He's the older brother, I'm the younger brother.

- [Marichal] Our father was a master barber for over 50 years, so we actually grew up inside of the barbershop.

(upbeat percussive music) (light switch clicking) - We noticed how the barbershop operates not only as a barbershop, but as a business and as community, so that kinda gave us the idea later in life that the barbershop is that community place.

It helped direct us to where we sit at now.

(people laughing) (upbeat percussive music) (jazzy piano music) - What's up, my man?

- How're you doing?

(indistinct) All right.

Yes, sir.

- So what's been up, man?

- Nothing, taking it easy, how about yourself?

- (laughs) I'm doing cool, man.

If you look good, you feel good, right?

I've seen so many people come in down on their luck, not feeling well about themselves, and they get their hair cut and they look in the mirror, and their whole world change.

(jazzy piano music) There we go.

(jazzy piano music) So we make sure that when people are coming into the shop, that we give them our utmost attention and we give 'em the best service possible.

- I grew up in New Jersey, like, 14 miles out of Manhattan.

- [Marichal] And the other thing, I think, that's very important is having a listening ear, and that's the part we play.

- How's the family doing?

- Family's real good.

(jazzy piano music) Mom's is good, sisters, brothers... - That's good.

People are willing to express everything from family, to job, to whatever it may be that's bothering them.

- [Person] Yeah, another thing is people stopping.

- And it's a relationship thing too.

- Yeah, I think he hit the nail on the head.

These type of relationships that are built here, you know, are amazing.

So you had to talk to your younger self.

What would be some advice that you would give your younger self?

- You know, nothing's really that serious.

The most important thing is to be in the moment, and not be in such a hurry to get ahead of yourself.

I come here because I feel a sense of family, I feel a sense of community.

It's a great environment.

(indistinct) - Just being able to serve the community, I think, is a huge piece, right?

And I feel that I play the part in society that needs to be there because we have so much negativity around us, to see people reach, you know, happiness is key, and one of the ways that we were raised.

(gentle piano music) - [Narrator] They credit their parents for instilling a love for bringing joy to others, and it was growing up in their father's barbershop where Marichal and Rodney learned the craft of barbering and what it takes to run a business.

(gentle piano music) - So we would leave school and come to the barbershop to help out.

He was doing everybody's hair, all the main players in the community would come in, so we watched our father have a really huge connection inside of the community, and we learned how to be entrepreneurs as well.

(gentle piano music) (relaxed jazz music) - [Rodney] I think, with entrepreneurship, you just have to be ready for anything.

- Yeah, but I think that's what I like about it, right?

I like the whole... - The up and down and the... - Not knowing what's able... - What's around the corner.

- What's around the corner, right?

- It's an emotional up and down, it's an emotional wreck.

- But I think life is like that, right?

And don't... - Don't get frustrated by the failure because in order... - Yeah, because failure is... - Is a part of success.

- Is a step to success, right?

Now, you can make a better step and you can be successful in trying again, so it's okay to fail.

- A smile.

- A smile is success, that we're putting something in place that other people can enjoy.

- Do you think that we should maybe turn the chairs, you know, maybe have some haircutting happening while we're...?

- I mean, we can bring it in, yeah.

- And then, we can put the TV out in the back as well, so people could be in front and out.

- Yeah, most definitely.

- I'm kinda like the one that may come up with ideas and things like that, Rodney can be the enforcer, right?

He's the one that I can lean on when I come up with these crazy ideas sometimes, and he'd be like, "You think that'll work?"

And I'll be like, "Well, check this out, if we do it like this, this and this," he'll sleep on it and he'll call back, he'll say, "Yeah, let's do it," so yeah, this is my man.

We should go with the gold.

- With the gold and black, or...?

- With the gold, no black, yeah.

(gentle piano music) It's more than just the brotherhood, it's also a friendship that's there, so we've always been close, you know?

And I always made sure he was okay, he's always made sure that I was okay.

Yeah, man, that movie last night was crazy.

- You said it was pretty good, though.

- [Marichal] Yeah.

- He's always been an influence for me as far as I've always looked up to him as "Big Brother," that's "Big Brother," and as we got older, I thought it would change, but it hasn't changed.

It still gives me someone I'm able to lean on, and someone I'm able to talk to and trust.

What y'all think about the Kings this year?

(razor whirring) - [Person] I think they gonna be nice, man.

- We've always kinda been in business together, whether it was the rap group or whether it was a community newspaper called "The Master Report."

- [Narrator] But in the end, they were drawn to the same path their father had paved, and they worked alongside him for over a decade until his passing in 1998.

(gentle piano music) - So he did get a chance to see us take over the barbershop and keep it going.

- Keep it going.

(gentle piano music) - [Narrator] After the loss of their father, their mother joined them in the shop, helping to carry on the family legacy.

(gentle piano music) - And it was like, "How can we even make it greater?"

We would put music in there, we would put poetry in there.

We even had some comedy that we would also have in the shop, which would invite the community out and be a part of, and then, we started doing the free haircuts in the park, and at schools and community centers, and those type of things.

(gentle piano music) - [Narrator] Shortly after their mother's passing in 2021, the brothers deepened their commitment to the community even further.

Today, they're part of a growing national network of black barbers who serve as frontline mental-health advocates through the Confess Project of America Barber Coalition.

- With the Confess Project, they go around and they train barbers how to detect people that may be facing some type of a mental health crisis, and then, we give 'em resources, making sure that they're able to go to a clinician that will be able to help them with any type of mental health issues.

- It makes you feel real good inside because it makes it seem like, "Okay, I'm not just a barber standing behind a chair, I'm someone who's standing behind a chair actually helping out society."

Being a man of color, we're kinda tied as like, "Hold your chest up, stick your chest out, don't show any feelings," due to the fact that you don't want anyone to see you not be a man, so now, it gives 'em a chance to break down from being that, "I'm all-powerful, superhuman," being, to, "These are my feelings," so it opens that door for everyone to understand that everyone needs help, everyone needs someone to talk to.

(gentle percussive music) - To be able to work with the Confess Project, I think, you know, that our father has created a foundation for us to stand on and to grow.

(gentle percussive music) - And I think that's the biggest thing is, like, all those standards are still there and the foundation still stands as it once was.

(gentle percussive music)