I want to start off this week with a beautiful story of giving back.
Mark Bustos is a New York City hairdresser who does something awesome on Sundays.
He uses his day off to give free haircuts to the homeless.
Inspired by a trip to the Philippines, he wanted to give back to the community. While he was there he hired a barber shop for a day and gave free haircuts to children he saw living in poverty or on the streets.
Back in NYC, he switches from styling at Three Squares Studio in Chelsea to walking the streets to find people in need. He can give up to 10 free haircuts every Sunday.
Mark has a huge following on Instagram and shares his story with the help of street photographer Devin Masga. Mark takes his hairdressing tools in a backpack and goes out to talk to people. He says I want to do something for you and offers them free haircuts. On Instagram he uses the hashtag #BeAwesomeToSomebody to share his message.
All of us can relate to the feeling of a fresh haircut. It makes you walk taller and feel better about yourself. A good hair day is a real feeling.
Creating that feeling all week in an upmarket salon, Mark takes that even further by giving haircuts and beard trims on the street. Mark says,
Receiving a haircut, no matter what the setting, can serve as a therapy session. We sometimes feel more comfortable speaking to our hairstylists, than any other people we interact with, even professional therapists. We sometimes tell our stylists things we don’t even tell our best friends. Maybe it’s the constant change in the physical position a stylist and client maintains, facing each other directly only for brief moments. Or maybe getting your hair done is a luxury we have grown to be comfortable receiving, for as far back as we can remember. It’s that patiently impatient feeling of grasping that sensation of self-confidence that lies just a few snips away.
Check out this video to see more of Mark’s story.
Mark’s message is that we can all do something to help others in need. We all have a skill we can give to others for free. If you don’t think you have a skill, maybe you can spare some money, or food. Even a smile to acknowledge someone can go a long way.
Follow Mark’s story on Instagram and I’d love you to think about how you can be awesome to somebody this week.
Simple acts of kindness can change the world.
Go out there and make this week beautiful.
I’m inspired to write and thank you for your selflessness. I’ve been a hairdresser for almost 50years and have, on my own donated my time and skill to people in many countries I have visited. i would like to get involved with A group or organization that leads this kind of trip for a group of likeminded individuals. Let me know if you have need of my services. Thank you
I’ve been following Mark on Instagram for a while now… I’m not even sure how I came across him… but I just totally admire what he does. You’re right – we all have skills and we can all make a positive difference to others, no matter how big or small. x
His captions are so inspiring, I love all that he shares. It’s so inspiring x
Best. Post. Ever.
This is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Tamaran, I found him so inspiring I couldn’t not share xx
What an awesome story–I love this idea and he’s absolutely right about the hairstylist/therapist thing. How great that these people get a haircut–aka a better image for things like job interviews–plus someone to talk to about their troubles at the same time!
I talk about life changing haircuts, but his work can really transform someone, inside and out x
This is just awesome! What a beautiful soul! Off to check out his feed on Instagram right now…
Reminds me that the world is full of good people, just like you Sammie x
I love stories like this! Every year when I get my tax return, I try to do a big shop for my local animal shelter seeing as they’re primarily no kill (apart from obvious medical necessity). If I can, I get something for them off of their wish list of big items, but if I’m not in a position to do that, I try to buy a small grocery shop for them at least. One year I won a Christmas pudding but we don’t eat them so I bought some custard and took it down there for the volunteers so they had a treat for lunch one day. It doesn’t ever feel like much but I try to give them what I can. I want them happy and functioning so that just in case my dog ever escaped, she has a safe shelter to go to.
that is so lovely, Vanessa! I’m sure those little things make a huge difference to them xx