We had the good fortune of connecting with Waverly Willis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Waverly, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I think the most important factor behind my success is my love of the charity work that I do. In my opinion if God has freely given you a talent that has enabled you to take care of yourself & your family you should periodically freely give that talent to help people. Once I started cutting hair for free at nursing homes,schools,recreation centers,hospitals ,day cares, churches ,juvenile detention centers,etc. my popular sky rocketed. I also started a blood pressure screenings program in my barbershops which brought local & national media to me. In the end my charitable nature increased my income. Ironically giving ultimately resulted in my team & I receiving

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Community service Urban Kutz Barbershop has 3 locations in Cleveland Ohio. Our foundation is grounded in community service. We champion many different innitiatives ranging from a partnership with Cleveland Clinic that checks clients blood pressure while waiting to get serviced to a child literacy program that has kids read books to us while they in our barber chairs while getting a haircut. We aim to be part of the fabric that makes up our community. The blood pressure program has literally saved lives. We’ve had clients on several occasions who’s blood pressure was so high that we had to have them skip the haircut & go directly to the emergency room. They all returned later to tell us the emergency could not figure how they were functioning because the blood pressure was so high & to thank us for the blood pressure screenings program

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Cleveland ,Ohio. We have some national treasures here . The Cleveland orchestra is ranked amongst the world’s best, the Cleveland museum of art is also world renowned, and the Rock & Roll hall a fame is a national wealth of music history. These are a few gems of Cleveland that I would share. Visitors are always pleasantly surprised when they find out how much of a foody city Cleveland is. We would definitely immerse ourselves in the restaurants of “#TheLand”

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mom,Wardell Willis is the person that influenced my heart for giving. She was always looking out for friends ,family & even strangers. She would not give money because she did not have any however anyone could get a ride somewhere or a good meal. It was not unusual for me to come downstairs & see some random person at our kitchen table eating. This was a normal day. She is the person that influenced me the most

Website: Waverlywillis.com

Instagram: @WaverlyWillis

Linkedin: Waverly Willis

Twitter: @WaverlyWillis

Facebook: WaverlyWins

Yelp: Barber Waverly Willis

Youtube: Waverly Willis

Other: UrbanKutzBarbershop.com My Barbershop chain TheUrbanBarberAssociation.org My nonprofit(501c3)

Image Credits
Lewis Burrell

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