Jose Cintron, a 21-year-old Florida Gulf Coast University student whose only barbershop experience was sitting in the chair, has opened a nearly 2,000-square-foot barbershop in University Village near campus. He is leaning on two managers who have been barbers for several years but have never managed a shop.
Hause of Fades held its ribbon-cutting on Oct. 18. The shop has 17 chairs, with 10 barbers working there so far. It also has a pool table, flat-screen TVs, LED lights, and every mirror carries the Instagram handle of the barber who works there.
Manager Nataly Galarza, 26, said they were going for "a modern man cave type vibe."
Cintron, who owns the shop with his parents, began building out the shop two years ago, when he was 19.
"The opportunity presented itself, and I just decided to pull the trigger and why not," he said.
The process took two years due to some setbacks. A women's salon in the same plaza held exclusivity rights, and the space also had to be divided with a new wall.
"The hardest part has honestly been the waiting game we've had to play," Cintron said.
He balances the shop with a morning workout, part-time work for a landscaping company and evening classes. He is on track to graduate in fall 2027 with a degree in construction management and is working toward his general contractor's license.
When the idea came to Cintron, he turned to Galarza and Angel Giovanni Andalon Ojeda, 27, to help run the shop. Both have cut hair for years, but this is their first time as managers.
Galarza, who has cut hair since high school, said she met Cintron at the first shop where she worked, where he had been going since he was a kid. After one of his appointments fell through, she offered him her open chair.
"From there, we just clicked, and he never left," she said.
Andalon Ojeda met Galarza in barber school. The two later worked at the same shop and were neighbors. He said he knew Cintron as a regular who came in nearly every week at another shop.
Cintron's lack of barbering experience did not concern him, Andalon Ojeda said.
"I didn't necessarily think that he needed to learn how to cut hair," he said. Cintron's vision for the community, and what he saw in them, "was more than enough," Andalon Ojeda said.
“He kind of ran everything by us. [But] I would say majority of it was him,” Galarza said. She said the managers offered input where they had expertise, such as which barber chairs would be most comfortable and what clients prefer. All three agree that faith plays a big role in the shop. Scripture was written on the walls during construction.
"When God calls me to something, I know He wouldn't bring me to anything that He wouldn't take me all the way through," Galarza said.
Cintron said the shop has brought him closer to God and the barbers.
"It definitely feels like a family now," he said.
The shop is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday by appointment only.
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