Senior Angel Contreras takes a business call during an interview with The Pirates’ Hook. Photo By Saeed Lobbad
While most athletes go home from practice after a long day, senior Angel Contreras grabs his clippers and works well into the night on his other passion: cutting hair.
Contreras moved to Durham from California two years ago, enrolled at Riverside and immediately got involved in sports.
“Soccer is my whole life,” he said. “My first sport was basketball. I was always into sports.”
But he’s not just an athlete. When he isn’t at school or on the soccer field, he’s growing his haircut business.
Contreras never went to barber school. He started learning from his bedroom, watching YouTube tutorials.
“Literally straight trial and error,” he said. “I started on my brother, and then when no one would let me cut, I just cut myself.”
Contreras started his business in December 2024. He tries to get advice/tips from barbers who have more experience.
“At first, I would just stick with one barber, and that was my barber,” Contreras said. “Then I would always ask as many questions as I could.”
He went from cutting hair in a bathroom with a pair of Walmart clippers, to working with his own clients all around Durham.
Contreras uses many different setups. Most recently, he had a temporary barber shop at his friend’s car detailing shop for a couple of months. Now, he cuts in his house, in a space where he can keep all of his tools and equipment.
Photo By Saul Janiak Stein
It was hard for Contreras to balance giving attention to his passions for soccer and cutting hair. But in January, his two passions came together at a community event. Contreras volunteered to be part of a Bull City Futsal Academy Community Event and cut hair for anyone, for free.
“It was at a little futsal soccer event that they had hired me to go do free cuts over there,” he said. “I did like fifteen cuts in maybe five hours. Just quick cuts in and out.”
He was glad he was able to make people feel good, and it allowed him to work with a wider range of ages – kids all the way to adults – that was different from his typical clients.
Contreras hopes his passion will also make some money. As he tries to grow his business, he also hopes to make his family proud.
“My biggest inspiration is my mother,” he said, smiling. “I follow in her footsteps. She taught me how to work hard and everything. So I give it all to her. She taught me my hustle and my grind.”
