Denver Barbershop Providing Second Chances For Justice-Impacted Talent

Photos courtesy of R&R Head Labs | R&R Head Labs barbershop is designed to be warm, open and flooded with natural light.

It’s a long-held truth that for many of us, hairdressers, stylists, barbers and manicurists end up becoming our friends, and often play the role of therapist as well.

From that perspective, the slightly mysterious moniker R&R Head Labs isn’t surprising for an up-and-coming Denver barbershop brand. What is surprising is the pool of talent this particular shop is pulling from: those who have been formerly incarcerated and the justice-impacted.

Founder and CEO Jamie Repenning (former CEO of Denver-based Floyd’s 99 Barbershop) says it’s an almost unheard-of business model. He knows of just one other shop, in Massachusetts, with a similar mission. The flagship location on Colfax and York has been building a team, a clientele and a reputation since opening its doors last February. Although Repenning’s hair-industry experience gave him the insight to believe in his idea, he credits a formative hiring experience in his fledgling professional life for the inspiration.

Jamie Repenning, founder and CEO of R&R Head Labs

It was 1997, and he was interviewing a man for an equipment-operator job at his family’s recycling company in Indiana. He felt an immediate and deep sense of trust about the candidate. “The next day, I called him to tell him he’s got the job, and he said, ‘There’s something I need to tell you about myself. I’ve been in prison for the last 28 years. I murdered my best friend in a drug deal when I was 18.’ I’d never heard anything like that before.”

Repenning’s heart told him to go forward with the hire. “I just thought that wouldn’t be right to change my mind after he chose to tell me that. He did not have to tell me. So, I gave him a chance. He was that first-guy-in, last-to-leave employee, and we’re still friends today.”

Repenning knew that after leaving Floyd’s, he needed a professional turn that held deeper meaning for him. The opportunity came in the form of a chance email from a Hollywood movie producer and prison-reform advocate, requesting his help obtaining licensing for hairdressers and barbers in the California prison system.

The path that came to fruition was a natural one, Repenning says. As he puts it, there is someone cutting hair in every prison on the planet. It is not common for his new hires to leave prison licensed, but he says they tend to come in far better versed in cutting all different types of hair.

“They’ll also tell you, in prison, when you do a bad haircut, there’s no escaping that guy. You’re going to see him at lunch, at dinner. If you do a bad haircut out here, you’ll probably never see that person again; they just don’t come back. The stakes are much higher in there. They’ve got to get it right!” he laughs.

Next to experience, Repenning is on the lookout for signs that his future hires are already on board with his mission to make the world a better place. “The minute they get out (of prison), they want to help the next guy. They barely have a place to live and have just found a job, and they’re already trying to help the next person out. It immediately tells me where their head is. That to me is awesome.”

Repenning helps new hires secure a spot in a local barber or cosmetology school while they complete their R&R Head Labs apprenticeship, often helping to procure funding for their education. Once they have proven themselves ready, recruits spend most of the first week on the floor working (they also have a teacher on staff), with one day a week spent in school.

Repenning says he is commonly asked if it’s harder to manage this population of employees. “We all have the same problems. Someone’s car broke down, or their girlfriend broke up with them. The big positive is that the people I’m hiring are generally more aware. The staff here are all dealing with their problems. They are willing to look inside themselves,” he says.

The colorful 1930s exterior of R&R Head Labs flagship at Colfax and York

Repenning credits techniques of group communication and management borrowed from various therapeutic environments for creating a harmonious flow among staff. “We have regular group meetings, and it’s incredibly direct. Such as, ‘I don’t like it when you do this because it makes me feel this way.’ We’ve learned the power of dealing with things so directly.”

Single mom and barber/cosmetologist Melinda Gonzalez served time in five county jails prior to coming to R&R Head Labs. “Here, I am so much more than that. Here I feel like I’m working for the greater good. I get to teach, I get to inspire, I get to coach, I get to help,” she says. Gonzalez and the rest of the R&R team regularly volunteer, telling their stories to Denver-area high school students who are struggling, and often giving time to cut hair for those in need.

Like many formerly incarcerated individuals, Gonzalez is also in recovery. She has two goals with every client: the morale boost that can come from a good haircut, and being a role model for change. “Success is possible,” she says. “I’ve been homeless, I’ve struggled financially, I’ve been through all these things, and my life is beautiful. I think people seeing that inspires them. You never know who you could touch; you never know who is going to be inspired.”

Employee Mike Montoya attended 22 schools before the eighth grade. “He didn’t know that’s not normal. It made him really tough—he was always fighting. Of course, he ended up in trouble,” says Repenning. “It’s so easy to be removed from that and say, ‘You’ve just got to make good decisions.’ Then they tell you their story, and I’m not so sure I wouldn’t have done the same thing to be a part of something, to belong,” he says. “I am the same; I just wasn’t subjected to that. I love those stories that make us understand and see that we are not that different.”

Repenning plans to expand with more locations in Colorado, with Boston, New York and San Francisco to follow. “We can only grow as fast as we can transfer our culture. There is an automatic timing delay, but there is no reason to go faster than that,” he explains.

He not only wants to offer more people meaningful employment, but also plans to grow every shop into a place that is actively changing negative beliefs in each community served. “I definitely have changed mine,” he admits, though he continues “to find places where I have a bias, and I (just) didn’t know.”

R&R has staffers who are experienced cutting, coloring and styling all types of hair for all genders and ages, children included. Other services include shaves, waxing, conditioning treatments and facials. Hair care lines include Kevin Murphy and Keune, as well as custom-mixed Labb products, which can be dialed up to better combat Colorado’s dry air.

In addition, the shop displays a gallery of available artwork by formerly or currently incarcerated artists that benefits the apprentice program. 

Anna Jensen is an international fashion journalist and stylist. She grew up in an equestrian family in Colorado and most days you’ll find her horsing around with her daughter or planning their next travel adventure!