Tulsa Barber Finds Success After Incarceration

A Tulsa barber has turned the skills learned from his time in prison into a thriving business.

Robert Hoston, also known as Chevy the Barber, is the owner of The Chophouse Barbershop and over the years, he has proven that success after incarceration is possible. Hoston spent a few years in prison and that is where he found his love for barbering. He says it was after he noticed a barber cutting hair in prison, and he wanted to learn how to cut hair.

"I started practicing and working on myself and then when the inmates saw I was working on myself they asked if I could edge them up, So I started edging up inmates," Hoston said.

The warden then allowed Hoston to become a barber. Eventually, he was put in charge of the prison barber shop, where he cut hair for 7 months.

He received a grant from the prison when he was released and Hoston used the money to get his diploma. Hoston has been cutting hair ever since. It has been almost two years since he opened The Chop House Barbershop.

Hoston has also developed a large social media following and uses it to bring in customers which now include a celebrity clientele.

"What I learned from being a barber is to stay doing it. It's repetition you, have to keep going until you get better you can't give up," Hoston said.

Hoston tells me he has seen a lot of people give up and when he was in prison it felt like it was his last chance to do something, so had more motivation than the average person.

"It felt good to make money legit, be able to pay my bills and take care of my family and make people happy, gain friends I felt accepted by society. I was welcomed and that's a really good feeling," Hoston said.

Hoston recently added a hair salon in the back of his shop, and he says he plans to open other businesses in the area.