MEET THE LEGEND BEHIND LEGENDS BARBERSHOP
When Eldorado Park teenager Sheldon Tatchell was looking for a way to make it and provide for his future, he found it in three things; faith, seeing himself as the captain of his ship, and having a vision of what a legend a barber could be – in his community – and far beyond.
Sheldon’s journey began on a stoep with nothing but a clipper, a chair, and a dream. Noticing that people would line up on the stoep every Saturday to get their haircut, sparked an interest in his heart and that curiosity, combined with his self belief and discipline, soon hit on the answer.
“Coming from a community like Eldorado Park, the barber is the go-to guy, he’s a super hero and it’s purely from the fact that he had a power to make you look good and feel good about yourself,” explains Sheldon, “that was a person I really aspired to be as a kid.”
From a young age, Sheldon would visit different barbers to learn the skill that he had a passion for. After visiting the barbers, Sheldon would practice what he observed at home. Skills learned through such dedication are now passed on for free to close the unemployment gap with aspiring barbers, through the Legends Training Academy.
“[With] people coming from different communities to learn the skill of cutting hair, the main thing is to empower each and every community with the skill in order for them to be employed at Legends one day,” explains Sheldon. As the business is rapidly increasing, more stores are being opened with the students of the academy being filtered into those stores.
“I think that for us it is so much empowerment not only from a community point of view but also for these guys to feed their families one day, and that is the main goal – for them to be empowered and to become legendary barbers one day.”
Living better means being able to escape poverty, not having to worry about your next meal, and it’s about a sustainable business, able to maintain families for generations.
“The name ‘Legends’ actually derives from us serving our elders in the old age homes and giving them haircuts on a monthly basis, and that’s where the name Legends Barbers comes from,” explains Sheldon.
“One of our goals was to open up five stores in five years, and through many trials and tribulations along the way, we ended up opening much more than that,” he says. Legends Barbers today has 50 stores spread out across South Africa and Namibia.
What’s in a humble haircut? As it turns out, one of Southern Africa’s most exciting business success stories – which began with little more than clippers, a chair and a determined spirit.
