Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Jose.
Hi Kevin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My passions for photography and haircutting started in their respective ways, yet both had the same foundations: pure interest and some lucky situations! Throughout my early high school years in NY, I always felt like I was waiting for something I couldn’t define at the time, which was a creative outlet. That would all change when the pandemic hit.
With all the free time due to the lockdown, I started taking and editing pictures of my surroundings on my phone. Once I started college at The University of Texas at Dallas, I got connected with the Multimedia Services Center and rented a camera from there (which I renewed about eight different times!). This lasted me throughout the whole first semester, and I was able to photograph my friends, a cappella team, fraternity, and anything interesting that crossed my path. This quickly led to my first actual camera purchase right before the second semester and the eventual creation of my photography business: KEJOFLICKS (pronounced KAY-JOE-FLICKS). Since then, I have been photographing portraits, family events, graduations, headshots, and everything in between!
Apart from photography, haircutting was yet another business uprooted by the pandemic. With three other men in the house and no accessibility to a barber, I went on a whim and bought a basic haircutting kit after my cashiering shift at the nearby CVS. This incited the early phases of my interest in haircutting, which inevitably came with its failures (my younger brother/test dummy could attest to this). But that didn’t stop me from continuing to practice on practically anyone willing to give me a chance. When I moved to Dallas with my family in 2021, I found myself not employing my haircutting skills out of necessity but rather out of interest. I started cutting a friend’s hair at the beginning of my freshman year at UTD, and this one friend turned into two, which turned into ten and so on. After I better grasped the basics, shadowed barbers around DFW, and bought higher-end gear, it finally became time to start my student barbering business: KEJOCUTS. Since its creation, KEJOCUTS has helped numerous kids around the UTD campus get a clean cut and has provided me with a unique passion!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Considering that I’m closer to the earlier stages of my business’ timelines, it has been relatively smooth for me and I am incredibly grateful for that. Yet, as any small business owner knows, balancing one’s personal ambitions and responsibilities with the business is a crucial part of this journey. As I progress through college to pursue a degree in Information Technology & Systems, I want to ensure I can tend to my academic responsibilities while keeping the businesses enjoyable, creative, and constantly growing.
We’ve been impressed with KEJOFLICKS and KEJOCUTS, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Through KEJOFLICKS, I’ve always wanted to accentuate pure and candid moments. Currently, I specialize in finding these moments in one-on-one portrait shoots and find these sessions the most rewarding when it comes to using my skill set. Working with one or a couple of clients at a time makes the process less of a transaction and more of a creative conversation. I also love to create a personal connection from the start and grow it throughout the shoot. It isn’t the easiest thing to pose for a photographer with whom you don’t feel comfortable, so this is one of the main objectives I have. I know I have performed a successful shoot when the client starts collaborating on the process by throwing out their own ideas for photos (which I absolutely love).
On the haircutting side with KEJOCUTS, I mainly specialize in clean-finish business style cuts and mid-length hair, providing services with beard shape-ups as well. Additionally, I am working on perfecting the “maintenance cut,” which is simply a cut one gets while they are growing out their hair. The unique value proposition I provide with my haircutting business resides in a few aspects:
- The convenience of having a barber on/near campus.
- Personalized consultations that consider hair texture, lifestyle, job, natural parting, etc.
- Preservation of hair length on top, which is where many standard barbers fall short (literally).
In terms of the actual haircut itself, I like to make it a personalized experience by playing music, catching up with the client if they’re a friend or creating a new connection if they’re not, constantly checking in to make sure everything is comfortable, and using cologne + product to give the cut a finishing touch!
With both businesses, my proudest moments come when clients check out the work and express pure happiness on their faces. When you have worked on your craft, and it starts to pay off with smiling faces, you can’t help but feel genuine pride and accomplishment – it is truly an amazing feeling!
What matters most to you? Why?
Keeping it fun! I have realized that it is really easy to forget your “why” when running a small business, especially when it begins as a genuine passion and slowly turns into a side hustle. It is very natural to feel burn-out, dissatisfaction, and loss of love for the art. That’s why I constantly remind myself of my “why.” To do so, I make sure to set aside time to experiment with both photography and haircutting, thus allowing for experimentation without having to worry about the stress of satisfying a client. Another way I keep things interesting is by investing in new gear. Getting more equipment for both businesses means more “figuring out” stages, which are my favorite!
Pricing:
- Adult Haircut: $25
- Student Haircut: $15
- Beard Line-Up: $10
- 1 hr Portrait Shoot: $110
- 2 hr Event Photography Shoot: $275
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/kejoflicks/?hl= en + https://www.instagram. com/kejocuts/?hl=en - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/company/ kejoflicks-photography/? viewAsMember=true + https:// www.linkedin.com/company/ kejocuts-haircutting/? viewAsMember=true
