Meet Gabriel.
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Gabriel is our staff barber, handyman, one of our assistant coaches, chauffeur, brother, uncle, and father… A man with many hats. Gabriel is no stranger to hard work as he started out working in construction at the age of 8, followed by many other stints in bricklaying, fishing, and as an “electrician”, to name a few. When we met Gabriel he was in a tough place. He had dabbled in drugs while working the tomato and berry farms, and was stuck addicted to alcohol.
After years of seeing MARKED around town and his sisters and wife working with us, Gabriel dared to share his dream of becoming a barber with us. And we decided to take a chance on him.
After a year of hard work, not only did Gabriel receive his certification as a barber, but he also recently got his drivers license!
He has put in hours every Saturday for a year, going to the city for school (an over 2 hour bus ride each way), countless hours during the week practicing free haircuts for the kids and young adults in the community.
We spoke with Gabriel about his next big dream, and he said it is to have a barbershop of his own, train up other young adults in the profession and continue to partner with MARKED in empowering the community.
He said when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, even though we just celebrated his 27 birthday, he said “I want to be like Carlos.” His son turned around without skipping a beat, “Papi yo quiero ser como tu cuando soy grande.”-- (Papi I want to be like you when I am big). How sweet is that.