DALLAS — The sound of hair clippers fills the air of Dapper Barber & and Co. in Garland, Texas, where you can find John Giesey most mornings.
The 21-year-old has only been cutting hair for a little more than a year, moving into this career path after losing his job at the start of the pandemic.
“Being a barber, bro, I just really felt like it was going to expand my knowledge and also give me free time to understand what I really want to do in life,” Giesey said.
In that short period, the barber, who also goes by “J2KRISP,” has taken up videography and found a flash of fame from a review that went viral on Twitter and Facebook. It was back in September when a gentleman walked into the barber shop, asking if anyone knew how to cut an afro. Giesey says he confidently raised his hand and told the man, who goes by “Buzzard,” he could do it.
In Buzzard’s Facebook post, he humorously applauded Giesey’s attention to detail, adding, “an hour later, I walked out with a masterpiece on my head.”
Giesey read other portions of the Facebook, including a part that really catapulted the post to the eyes of millions.
“What got everybody is when he was like, ‘first and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Martin Luther King for this magical moment in integration.”
Giesey’s repost on Twitter has reached more than 26 million people on Twitter with 50,000 retweets and nearly 500,000 likes.
“This is my guy, this is my brother right here,” Giesey said as he pointed at a picture of Buzzard.
“Clientele is growing, so it’s getting better for him, God is good,” Miqah Matthews said. Matthews is Giesey’s childhood friend and a loyal customer.
Matthews and Giesey grew up in the city of Garland, seeing their community grow before their very eyes.
“This is the Wing Stop we used to go to every day after school,” Giesey told Spectrum News 1 as he walked around the shopping center in Garland.
The growth of the young barber’s platform has given Giesey a new sense of purpose, compelling him to team up with other local businesses.
They provided free haircuts to everyone in the community on Nov. 21 to ring in the holiday season.
“I just woke up and was like, ‘you know what, bro? It’s for everybody, it’s for everybody,'” Giesey said.
The up and coming barber says he’s looking forward to organizing future events to give back to the city he loves and is proud to represent. Until then, Giesey says he’ll continue to sharpen his craft and have meaningful conversations with each person he meets at the barber chair.